Body, Mind and Spirit: The Art of Recreating Music from the Conductor's Perspective
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Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Draper, Paul
Bendrups, Dan
Year published
2015
Metadata
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This project investigates the practice of conducting from the conductor's perspective, informed by the author's professional practice over more than three decades. It considers the nature of conducting as professional practice through the long-held philosophical construct of a triumvirate of forces underpinning human endeavour: mind, body and spirit. The project considers these terms, and then applies this understanding to a series of professional practice contexts: a master class with conductors; a summer school involving conducting students; and a reflexive investigation of conducting practice.
The aims of this research ...
View more >This project investigates the practice of conducting from the conductor's perspective, informed by the author's professional practice over more than three decades. It considers the nature of conducting as professional practice through the long-held philosophical construct of a triumvirate of forces underpinning human endeavour: mind, body and spirit. The project considers these terms, and then applies this understanding to a series of professional practice contexts: a master class with conductors; a summer school involving conducting students; and a reflexive investigation of conducting practice. The aims of this research are to ascertain the effectiveness of an individual's conducting practice, and to examine what effect a conductor could have on the audience and how they received the composer's initial intent. The research does so in a discursive mode, via a series of questions that link the perception of indivisible mind, body and spirit, ultimately proposing an understanding of how these elements can be a measure of the complete conductor. The application of this concept to the conductor imposes concepts of knowledge beyond music score, physical skills beyond time beating and instrumental application, and psychology that reaches into the minds of the conductor, and the musicians, as well as into the receptors of the audience.
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View more >This project investigates the practice of conducting from the conductor's perspective, informed by the author's professional practice over more than three decades. It considers the nature of conducting as professional practice through the long-held philosophical construct of a triumvirate of forces underpinning human endeavour: mind, body and spirit. The project considers these terms, and then applies this understanding to a series of professional practice contexts: a master class with conductors; a summer school involving conducting students; and a reflexive investigation of conducting practice. The aims of this research are to ascertain the effectiveness of an individual's conducting practice, and to examine what effect a conductor could have on the audience and how they received the composer's initial intent. The research does so in a discursive mode, via a series of questions that link the perception of indivisible mind, body and spirit, ultimately proposing an understanding of how these elements can be a measure of the complete conductor. The application of this concept to the conductor imposes concepts of knowledge beyond music score, physical skills beyond time beating and instrumental application, and psychology that reaches into the minds of the conductor, and the musicians, as well as into the receptors of the audience.
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Thesis Type
Thesis (Masters)
Degree Program
Master of Music Research (MMusRes)
School
Queensland Conservatorium of Music
Copyright Statement
The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise.
Item Access Status
Public
Note
This theses has been scanned
Subject
Conducting (Music)
Conductors interpretation
Conducting practice