The Milan Lectures, part 3 David Whitwell On the origins of Symbols for Dynamics Here we discuss the symbols for dynamics used in the notation of music—the lower case p of the Italian word piano and the lower case f…
The Milan Lectures, part 2 David Whitwell Where does Music Exist? In the first lecture in this series I mentioned that Aristotle invented a new branch of philosophy called Aesthetics. He also was the first to point out that if…
The Milan Lectures, part 1 David Whitwell What is the Purpose of Performance? This is a very important decision for which every conductor must make a choice in preparing a performance: Am I going to give an aesthetic performance or…
Music is a special language for communicating feeling. Your job as the conductor is to work out what the composer felt, not what they wrote. There is no music in a score. Only grammar. Felix Weingartner says that the conductor…
Music is a special language to communicate feeling. All aspects of music performance—composing, repertoire selection, programming, rehearsal technique, conducting and baton technique, recording—should stem from this fundamental truth. Unfortunately, when conducting our ensembles we rarely get to the point where…
The wind band could perform a great public service in bringing aesthetic repertoire to an audience which has little access to it.
Considerations for the future of wind bands, part 3 First we must redefine the word “Music.” Music is something which happens live before a listener. A recording of music is not music. A recording is again only a symbol of…
Music is a special language for communicating feeling or emotions to the listener. We all understand this, but we do not teach this.
The great genetic role of the right hemisphere of the brain is what creates meaning in music and is what we mean by "musicality" in performance.
The choice of every conductor is to be either an entertainer or a source of uplifting and enlightening the audience. This choice will determine the cultural identity of bands in the future.