Have you ever wondered why choirs and orchestras need a director or conductor – why they have to have some person standing in front swinging his or her arms in the air as though ready to fly? Can’t the singers or players get along just fine by themselves? Can you imagine Beethoven standing in front of his Vienna orchestra trying to keep the beat when he couldn’t hear a note of his symphony?  Was it all some strange joke, or merely a crude display of ego?  And what is an article about conducting doing in a column called From The Organ Bench?

For those of us who occupy positions in which both organ playing and choir directing are required, the solution is simple: Do one or the other and give up the ruse that one person can do both successfully! The dilemma is clear—the mind can handle only so much data at once, so either the organ playing suffers or the choir is left pretty much on their own. It’s like having the organ grinder and the monkey all in one!

But before we get carried away considering the plight of the poor organist/director, let’s see why it’s important to have someone conduct the musical offering. The object of any musical rendition is to share with the listeners the truest representation of the musical work conceived by its composer. That means meeting all the requirements of vocal range, vowel production, breathing and articulation indicated or suggested in the score, to name a few. It is important that the text come forward clearly, understandable by the remotest listener.  It’s also important that the music to which the text is set project its own integrity, enhancing the words, giving greater meaning, and amplifying the aesthetic experience for everyone, regardless of their musical knowledge, background, or preferences. But, perhaps above all, the choir must sing together as an ensemble, blending their voices and acting as a unified body to present the music in its optimum artistic form. This does require a director, who acts as both a key interpreter and shaper of the musical sound. Those hand motions and accompanying gyrations are intended to bring the singers along, encouraging them to produce the desired effect and musical result.

The director is at once the authority-in-residence and the musical dictator, a sure invitation to ego-types to finally get to lord it over the group assembled before him or her and unload frustrations long held within. But the conscientious director will put all of that aside and focus on the message of the work in all humility, looking for heavenly guidance and wisdom. It is in this latter vein that the present author wishes to reside. Arm-swinging and gyrations notwithstanding, it is a great responsibility and privilege to stand as the conduit through which the glory of God is passed from composer to singer to listener in one blessed, continuous wave of love. May it ever be so! Amen.