Truly inspiring....my dream profession...a conductor....i was fortunate to have the opportunity to do so my director saw something in me.......great video
I never had seen such a great conductor teaching conducting with analysis of the score and video footage. Thank you very much Maestro. My respect to you. Hats off to you.
Totally agreed. Been watching a lot of videos with the orchestra playing rather than a static photo recently, and figured it was time to educate myself more on the job of the conductor. Two words in the serach bar and "voila". Long live the internet.
I loved watching this so much. I'm a music video producer and I could relate to a lot of it and learned things as well. But that said, it's always so encouraging to see people like Mr. Schwarz who dedicate themselves to music for the right reasons. His total appreciation for the composer and the music, and the orchestra musicians is really wonderful to see.
A real fantastic Maestro. Great lesson, maybe the best on RUclips, I always look at your videos, especially those for analyzing Beethoven and Dvorak, and I love the videos for the interviews with the musicians in the orchestra, many things I've to know about some instruments. Please make more videos about conducting! Many thanks Maestro.
Love this Conductor! He really gives you a total understanding as to what is going on, not only in his head, but in the orchestra's heads. Gives an admirer of music like me, a whole knew perspective and appreciation for both the Conductor and the ladies and gentleman who make up this beautiful Orchestra! Thank you Gerard! Would love to see you in person one day if you are ever in my area.
I like how he says that he never tells the orchestra what to do. This means that they are actually watching him, which means they know their music and instruments well enough to look up. This gives me a warm feeling
Quel sublime Professeur ! Such a MAN ! Que D.ieu vous porte et vous protège toujours.Vous est un Prophète dans le royaume de la musique.God bless you for ever & ever Maestro Gerard Schwarz ! Thank you so much ; I Love you madly as a Professor .
The only time I saw a conductor explain what he did, was on the PBS series “Orchestra” where Georg Solti explained to Dudley Moore his methods. Then he had Moore conduct Strauss’ “Don Juan.” This is really excellent and even has the conductor explain meanings of symbols to people who may not know them. Very good job with one of my favorite Beethoven works. Thank you. This is a treasure.
Never in my life I had seen the meaning of all the symbols on the charts. I love ocherstrated songs and when I listen to them i move my hands and make gestures but without knowing what they meant. After watching this lovely video I can tell I was born to direct an orchestra, just need to practice!
Thank you so very much for such a wonderful explanation. I hope to see several more of your presentations. Very clear and with fantastic lessons for those of us who love classical music but are musically "challenged" when it comes to playing!
I LOVE this video. Thank you sooooooooooo much for this wonderful detailed explanation, and for using such a wonderful example piece. I LOVE THE FIFTH. My favorite movementhappens to be the second movement, but I love the whole entire piece. Your using this first movement as the example for conducting is indescribably wonderful. I love classical music. LOL. It's extremely addicting!!
+Peter Foster Youre terribly right, classical music is addicting...extremely. And thats not a bad thing, if i ever feel like bad listening classical music is just the right cure.
I'm the same in that I enjoy the second movement of the symphony the most as well, followed by the whirlwind of a finale. I'm almost the same with the ninth in that I love the slow movement, but the last movement is just utterly astonishing and brings everything together.
Mr. Schwarz, may I thank you wholeheartedly. A superb lecture, made brilliantly accessible to the musically non-trained music lover. You have unlocked some delicious secrets of the Beethoven 5th which I shall surely treasure. Thank you again - the very fine orchestra has the same confident poise and sound as the Berlin Phil and the Vienna Phil. How I wish you would all come to London!
Thank you so much for this Mr. Schwarz, it was very helpful and you have a beautiful way of conducting and communicating. I love how deeply you respect the composer and I'm also thankful that you always say "he or she" as some people unfortunately still forget to include women. So Thank You! :) Looking forward to watching more of your videos and conducting.
I would be fascinated to see what would happen with him in front of a really fine concert band. Some of the things that he does break all the traditional band conducting rules, like how he holds his baton, and most band conductors I have seen wouldn't conduct all the eighth notes like he does. In the wind ensemble I play in (several of us have at least one music degree), we had an orchestra guy audition to be our director, and it took several rehearsals to get used to his gesture vocabulary, because it was a lot, uh, floppier and his gestures were bigger than than band directors usually do. I really liked how he analyzed the score and showed why he did what he did. That was really cool.
A brilliant lesson from a very accessible conductor. Unfortunately fo me I will miss a planned 5th Symphony workshop in London scheduled for this September due to wedding commitments. I am hoping I will be well versed for when the 7th comes up
So Interesting.....Thank you for such a great explanation I have always wondered what is going through the conductors mind and what exactly all the arms waving mean.
What an excellent video. My comment line is not enough to describe what i learned. I am NOT a pro musician. I just love music. Let's get straight, people don't understand conductors. This video makes me his neighbor or rather a visitor. Thank you.
Great respect to these musicians for being so amazing and looking at the conductor. Any advice of looking at the conductor and not getting lost in the music, please?😅
GariGainza study the music until you don’t have it completely memorized, but to the point that when you hear the music you can figure out where that part is
Easy. Peripheral vision. Use it. Practice being able to read the music while seeing the conductor's beat in your peripheral vision. For entrances and cut-offs, actually be looking at him/her, or be glancing up. But know where you are on the page so you don't lose your place when you look back at your music.
One of the greatest unanswered questions ever - whats a conductor doing there - and why? Thank you very much for explaining this. So, in fact, it makes more sense to always "view" an orchestra (with conductor) instead of only listening (without conductor) to it...??
Mr. Gerard my RESPECT AS a music Director. For years i. Was wondering all those Elegant movememts until now you explained. i feel to be a music Director moved me doing the same while seeing this extraordinary video .thank you for sharing your talent and this is useful information for my grades 4&5 . Wow from a Music Dreamer to play one day in a Orchestra. From Little Paradise Belize .yours truly Nevia Elizabeth Chan
Maestro, thank you for this very clear and helpful lesson. At university we were taught that the downbeat is always down, yet in practice this doesn't seem to be the case every time. Can I ask you please explain how you see this--do you think of the conducting 'pattern', do your hands 'bounce' upwards on the downbeat?
***** The downbeat is the downward motion that indicates the first beat of a measure. When conducting, if the piece begins on the first beat of the measure, you always start with an upbeat, so that the ensemble can tell when the downbeat is coming. You might pause at the top of the upbeat and gather the ensemble together before commencing the downbeat, or you might launch directly into the downbeat, depending on the group, the piece, and the circumstances. In any case, as a matter of practical necessity, you do need to raise your hand in order to drop it. (If the piece begins on an upbeat, you adjust your hand motions accordingly.) As you can see from the score, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony begins sounding on the second note of the first measure, the downbeat being a rest. Since the downbeat in this case is silent, the first note played will take place while the conductor's hand is moving upward, which may give the impression of an "upward downbeat." But getting the rhythm right is important for the feel of the piece, because Beethoven does not want his first four notes in the rhythm "1-2-3-1," but rather in the rhythm "-and-2-and-1." You may find the difference to be subtle, but those are actually two quite distinct rhythms, and they have different effects on the audience's experience of the piece.
I have another question. Although there is a general layout for orchestras, there are still small differences for each one. I wonder if a new conductor should try to remember the specific layout of the orchestra he's conducting upon. I suppose rehearsals could solve this problem?
Brilliant. Now, I would like to ask Mr.Schwarz as a conductor, why did Beethoven not use the timpani at the very beginning? The music sounds much more intense and somber whitout the timpani, but why?
I noticed that some of the orchestra members are looking at their scores. How can they follow the conductor's guidance and read the score sheet at the same time?
well couple things.. they’ve rehearsed this enough that they don’t need the conductor at all times.. it is enough sometimes to listen to that which is around you, ie the music. the orchestra is a team and like any good team they can communicate and work together effectively without words or even looking at one another.. essentially, believe it or not, it is almost all ‘by feel’
I've never been good at math so that's why I can't read music. I play by with feeling. But I like this guy. Not boring very informative.thanks for posting.
54lex I’m terrible at maths and I’m a professional musician /teacher and conductor ! Don’t give up! I just have to concentrate that little bit harder .
I have noticed with all conductors that if the passage is forte, they have wide open eyes as well as big movements and if the passage is piano, they sort of bounce and have their eyes closed.
it is, but many orchestral conductors prefer to conduct slightly ahead of the beat, or rather, the orchestra often prefers to play behind the conductor. The fist violins are usually pretty close to the conductor's beat, but not every musician can look up from their music and look at the conductor so there is a bit of a delay. As long as the orchestra is together (I.e. they agree on the beat) it doesn't matter. Some conductors prefer that the musicians play exactly on his/her beat and others don't mind the delay. It's personal preference
I like this guy. He has great respect for the composers.
Respect for the composers and for the orchestra musicians as well. Very nice to see.
Truly inspiring....my dream profession...a conductor....i was fortunate to have the opportunity to do so my director saw something in me.......great video
Yea..... Conductor always says my score is wrong.....
And the performers as well.
Starting with a reasonable tempo. So many conductors take this piece way too fast.
"My job is to be there when they need me."
To always be prepared, to maintain focus. Such obvious, simple, but great words.
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
I never had seen such a great conductor teaching conducting with analysis of the score and video footage. Thank you very much Maestro. My respect to you. Hats off to you.
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
I have been wondering about this since I was a little kid. the internet is really awesome
Totally agreed. Been watching a lot of videos with the orchestra playing rather than a static photo recently, and figured it was time to educate myself more on the job of the conductor. Two words in the serach bar and "voila". Long live the internet.
same here!
He conducts too slowly (please see Benjamin Zander's interpretation)
me too.......
@@georgehaslehoffshacklebolt7566 I think it is matter of preference
The lesson in the beginning he says you can skip if you know it ends at 3:33
Thank you kindly.
I just learned more about music in the last 15 minutes than I ever knew in my life. Thank you so much for this.
Best lesson ever. He is a great communicator. He makes complicated things really simple that even a 5 yo could understand.
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
15 yo*
Wonderful video. I learned more about music and conducting in those 24 minutes than in all the music classes I took in school. Thank you!
I loved watching this so much. I'm a music video producer and I could relate to a lot of it and learned things as well. But that said, it's always so encouraging to see people like Mr. Schwarz who dedicate themselves to music for the right reasons. His total appreciation for the composer and the music, and the orchestra musicians is really wonderful to see.
I would have killed to have him as my music teacher, he's brilliant!
Me too! AHH-MAZING 🎼🎶🎹🎺🎷🎻
Absolute brilliance... From a 19 year olds perspective. Skills as precious as these will hopefully never die out.
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
A very truthful appraisal by a modest guy. He as good as admits that a fine orchestra like this hardly needs him.
Agreed!
Thanks bro.
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
A real fantastic Maestro.
Great lesson, maybe the best on RUclips,
I always look at your videos, especially those for analyzing Beethoven and Dvorak, and I love the videos for the interviews with the musicians in the orchestra, many things I've to know about some instruments.
Please make more videos about conducting!
Many thanks Maestro.
Love this Conductor! He really gives you a total understanding as to what is going on, not only in his head, but in the orchestra's heads. Gives an admirer of music like me, a whole knew perspective and appreciation for both the Conductor and the ladies and gentleman who make up this beautiful Orchestra! Thank you Gerard! Would love to see you in person one day if you are ever in my area.
You transfer information gracefully and have quite a large respect for composers and musicians alike. Great job Gerard
I like how he says that he never tells the orchestra what to do. This means that they are actually watching him, which means they know their music and instruments well enough to look up. This gives me a warm feeling
Quel sublime Professeur ! Such a MAN ! Que D.ieu vous porte et vous protège toujours.Vous est un Prophète dans le royaume de la musique.God bless you for ever & ever Maestro Gerard Schwarz ! Thank you so much ; I Love you madly as a Professor .
The only time I saw a conductor explain what he did, was on the PBS series “Orchestra” where Georg Solti explained to Dudley Moore his methods. Then he had Moore conduct Strauss’ “Don Juan.” This is really excellent and even has the conductor explain meanings of symbols to people who may not know them. Very good job with one of my favorite Beethoven works. Thank you. This is a treasure.
So informative and entertaining... Thanks!!!!
Such an amazing music teacher. Loved this video.
Bravo! Terrific lesson, and I totally agree that you conduct what the composer wrote.
1st Chair, Bass Section, Peninsula Symphony Orchestra, Bay Area
Are you a conductor? If yes, can you answer a few of my questions about conducting if that's ok with you?
Never in my life I had seen the meaning of all the symbols on the charts. I love ocherstrated songs and when I listen to them i move my hands and make gestures but without knowing what they meant. After watching this lovely video I can tell I was born to direct an orchestra, just need to practice!
How’s it going
Thank you for sharing this video! It was incredibly interesting to watch for me!
Thank you so very much for such a wonderful explanation. I hope to see several more of your presentations. Very clear and with fantastic lessons for those of us who love classical music but are musically "challenged" when it comes to playing!
I call this "Conducting Made Easy". Thanks for the great lesson.
I LOVE this video. Thank you sooooooooooo much for this wonderful detailed explanation, and for using such a wonderful example piece. I LOVE THE FIFTH. My favorite movementhappens to be the second movement, but I love the whole entire piece. Your using this first movement as the example for conducting is indescribably wonderful. I love classical music. LOL. It's extremely addicting!!
+Peter Foster Youre terribly right, classical music is addicting...extremely. And thats not a bad thing, if i ever feel like bad listening classical music is just the right cure.
I'm the same in that I enjoy the second movement of the symphony the most as well, followed by the whirlwind of a finale. I'm almost the same with the ninth in that I love the slow movement, but the last movement is just utterly astonishing and brings everything together.
Very instructive to give us all the details
I'm happy I did Orchestra and Played Violin for 4-5 Years, this is just beautiful. Once you've played an instrument this is just so interesting.
I agree. 4 years of flute in highschool and I'm addicted
Great introduction to not merely conducting, but to some very basics in music.
Mr. Schwarz, may I thank you wholeheartedly. A superb lecture, made brilliantly accessible to the musically non-trained music lover. You have unlocked some delicious secrets of the Beethoven 5th which I shall surely treasure. Thank you again - the very fine orchestra has the same confident poise and sound as the Berlin Phil and the Vienna Phil. How I wish you would all come to London!
Thanks for helping me conduct my school orchestra, I really needed the help.
Thank you so much for the wonderful lesson in conducting...
Thank you so much for this Mr. Schwarz, it was very helpful and you have a beautiful way of conducting and communicating. I love how deeply you respect the composer and I'm also thankful that you always say "he or she" as some people unfortunately still forget to include women. So Thank You! :) Looking forward to watching more of your videos and conducting.
Haha I loved it when he said, "Am I greater than Brahms?"
Nothing better than watching his cheeks flap when he conducts ff
hahahha
FF ... flappy face
Hahaha it's the Meaning of power
Enjoyed watching this and explained so much. I'm very basic in reading music, this was great.
It is really awesome lesson for me. Thank you so much Mr. Gerard Schwarz.
He is a great teacher to us the upcoming musicians
This is really great. Such a fine insight for me, who is not a music professional but loves classical music more than anything else in life.
Never seen a video like this... You are a true MAESTRO!
Wonderful! Thank you.
"Beethoven says keep it loud." Expect me to be in full compliance, maestro.
I would be fascinated to see what would happen with him in front of a really fine concert band. Some of the things that he does break all the traditional band conducting rules, like how he holds his baton, and most band conductors I have seen wouldn't conduct all the eighth notes like he does. In the wind ensemble I play in (several of us have at least one music degree), we had an orchestra guy audition to be our director, and it took several rehearsals to get used to his gesture vocabulary, because it was a lot, uh, floppier and his gestures were bigger than than band directors usually do.
I really liked how he analyzed the score and showed why he did what he did. That was really cool.
Great didactics and video. I loved it. Thank you!
A brilliant lesson from a very accessible conductor. Unfortunately fo me I will miss a planned 5th Symphony workshop in London scheduled for this September due to wedding commitments. I am hoping I will be well versed for when the 7th comes up
This kind of information and eduction is critical, well done --thanks!
So Interesting.....Thank you for such a great explanation I have always wondered what is going through the conductors mind and what exactly all the arms waving mean.
"My job is to be there when they need me."
Thank you very much for this lesson
I would love to conduct a symphony orchestra. This is a great video. “My job is to be there when they need me!” Gold.
Wonderful, Mr. Schwarz! I assume you are a teacher also! You explain things so well! Thank you very much!!!!!!
Thanks for the great insight into the prospective of a composer
Conducting, is almost like dancing. You're trying to interpret how you feel the piece should be played.
+ANx3h That is true
What an excellent video. My comment line is not enough to describe what i learned. I am NOT a pro musician. I just love music. Let's get straight, people don't understand conductors. This video makes me his neighbor or rather a visitor. Thank you.
Thank you for your short course on conducting, I wonder, when do the musician have the time to read their partition if they watch you constantly?
Simply great, thank you so much for this video.
great videos it makes sense what conductors are doing
Thanks very much sir for Sharing this Video
Great respect to these musicians for being so amazing and looking at the conductor. Any advice of looking at the conductor and not getting lost in the music, please?😅
GariGainza study the music until you don’t have it completely memorized, but to the point that when you hear the music you can figure out where that part is
Easy. Peripheral vision. Use it. Practice being able to read the music while seeing the conductor's beat in your peripheral vision. For entrances and cut-offs, actually be looking at him/her, or be glancing up. But know where you are on the page so you don't lose your place when you look back at your music.
Always wondered how this worked, very interesting, great instruction
Something i have been wondering for years and years. Thank you Sir.
Thank you very much for this video. Appreciated.
So well done. Great respect for the masters.
Very informative. This man seems very cool and I appreciate his insight into his art.
He's such a clear thinker. Great pacing of this first mvmt. Too many conductors race through it.
One of the greatest unanswered questions ever - whats a conductor doing there - and why? Thank you very much for explaining this.
So, in fact, it makes more sense to always "view" an orchestra (with conductor) instead of only listening (without conductor) to it...??
Maestro Gerard Schwarz, tons of thanks for this top-notch video.
Ah... Now every crazy posture made by conductor make sense :) Thanks for the lesson!!
Brilliant upload thanks
Mr. Gerard my RESPECT AS a music Director. For years i. Was wondering all those Elegant movememts until now you explained. i feel to be a music Director moved me doing the same while seeing this extraordinary video .thank you for sharing your talent and this is useful information for my grades 4&5 . Wow from a Music Dreamer to play one day in a Orchestra. From Little Paradise Belize .yours truly Nevia Elizabeth Chan
Just wonderful !!
Thank you so much. Beautifull video
Thank you for the lesson sir.
Finally some1 explaining it.
He seems humble. He is brilliant. He knows how to teach
WOW! Thank you so much.
Maestro, thank you for this very clear and helpful lesson.
At university we were taught that the downbeat is always down, yet in practice this doesn't seem to be the case every time. Can I ask you please explain how you see this--do you think of the conducting 'pattern', do your hands 'bounce' upwards on the downbeat?
*****
The downbeat is the downward motion that indicates the first beat of a measure. When conducting, if the piece begins on the first beat of the measure, you always start with an upbeat, so that the ensemble can tell when the downbeat is coming. You might pause at the top of the upbeat and gather the ensemble together before commencing the downbeat, or you might launch directly into the downbeat, depending on the group, the piece, and the circumstances. In any case, as a matter of practical necessity, you do need to raise your hand in order to drop it. (If the piece begins on an upbeat, you adjust your hand motions accordingly.) As you can see from the score, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony begins sounding on the second note of the first measure, the downbeat being a rest. Since the downbeat in this case is silent, the first note played will take place while the conductor's hand is moving upward, which may give the impression of an "upward downbeat." But getting the rhythm right is important for the feel of the piece, because Beethoven does not want his first four notes in the rhythm "1-2-3-1," but rather in the rhythm "-and-2-and-1." You may find the difference to be subtle, but those are actually two quite distinct rhythms, and they have different effects on the audience's experience of the piece.
That was awesome! Thank you
I have another question. Although there is a general layout for orchestras, there are still small differences for each one. I wonder if a new conductor should try to remember the specific layout of the orchestra he's conducting upon. I suppose rehearsals could solve this problem?
The subtle tempo control is brilliant
At this moment 8:52, how are those 3 chords played by the violins? Are they supposed to play 3 notes at a time? See the pentagram in the moment 9:07
Brilliant. Now, I would like to ask Mr.Schwarz as a conductor, why did Beethoven not use the timpani at the very beginning? The music sounds much more intense and somber whitout the timpani, but why?
I noticed that some of the orchestra members are looking at their scores. How can they follow the conductor's guidance and read the score sheet at the same time?
peripheral vision - they likely also have the music memorized.
That's what I was always wondering too.
Peripheral vision
well couple things.. they’ve rehearsed this enough that they don’t need the conductor at all times.. it is enough sometimes to listen to that which is around you, ie the music. the orchestra is a team and like any good team they can communicate and work together effectively without words or even looking at one another.. essentially, believe it or not, it is almost all ‘by feel’
@fibsernum30 what a great response thank you
thank you very very much i don,t know how to explain but you are fantastic i,m wondering do you teach in pravet class ?
Sir, you are great!
What a man! :)
Thank you Gerard. I bet you are great to play for.
good clear explanation; thank you
love to conduct an orchestra in our church, i pray we can have someday.
Great tips Maestro!
Wow. Excellent. Thanks
I've never been good at math so that's why I can't read music. I play by with feeling. But I like this guy. Not boring very informative.thanks for posting.
54lex I’m terrible at maths and I’m a professional musician /teacher and conductor ! Don’t give up! I just have to concentrate that little bit harder .
How can the musicians watch the page and you at the same time?
Thank you!
5th of Beethoven (gives me duckbumps. Great lesson. All kids should learn this while in school.
Why do I hear a triplet at the beginning instead of and 2 and 1? 🤔
Kudos to the video editor !
I have noticed with all conductors that if the passage is forte, they have wide open eyes as well as big movements and if the passage is piano, they sort of bounce and have their eyes closed.
It would be great if the orchestra recording was in time with the video...
it is, but many orchestral conductors prefer to conduct slightly ahead of the beat, or rather, the orchestra often prefers to play behind the conductor. The fist violins are usually pretty close to the conductor's beat, but not every musician can look up from their music and look at the conductor so there is a bit of a delay. As long as the orchestra is together (I.e. they agree on the beat) it doesn't matter.
Some conductors prefer that the musicians play exactly on his/her beat and others don't mind the delay. It's personal preference
Great lesson in conducting. I hope to conduct orchestras to some degree in the future.