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CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION

Expressive conducting is the movements or gestures made by conductors

intended to invoke an ensemble of musicians to respond by reproducing the
‘musical message’ of a score (Yontz 2001:10). This form of conducting also
aims to communicate the interpretation of a work to the musicians. Expression
can be communicated via movement of any part of a conductor’s body, facial
expression, and eye contact. For the purposes of this thesis, it is assumed that the
ensemble members have a basic understanding of the notes and rhythms of the
music, and will respond to the conductor’s performance direction. My main
research question is whether bodily-kinaesthetic skills, expressive movement,
and non-verbal communication can enhance methods of expressive conducting.
An expressive conductor uses various types of movements of the hands, arms,
face and body as part of the process of conducting, depending on the skill level
of the ensemble, the level of experience the ensemble has of the work at hand,
and the requirements of the music. Three gestural modes may be used:
declamatory, corrective, and narrative (Koch 2003:136-140). In the declamatory
mode, the conductor’s musical conception is demonstrated as clearly as possible
through symbolic gesture. In corrective mode, the conducting gesture aims to
achieve performance accuracy and precision of tempo, dynamics and
articulation, the main focus being on preventing errors. In narrative mode, the
conductor grants greater autonomy to the ensemble with the expectation that it
will perform with accuracy and sensitivity. A conductor’s role in narrative mode
is to highlight desired features of the interpretation for the ensemble to bring out
in its performance.

The literature to date has not covered the enhancement of expressive conducting
at differing levels of entering behaviour. The term ‘entering behaviour’ will be
used throughout this thesis, as defined by John De Cecco to mean: ‘the present
status of the student’s knowledge and skill in reference to a future status the
teacher wants him to attain’ (De Cecco 1968:59). High entering behaviour
therefore implies that there is a high degree of initial competency before
instruction has been undertaken, while low entering behaviour means there is a
low, or negligible, degree. A learner’s entering behaviour can be influenced by
prior experiences and ability to acquire new knowledge or skills in a certain area.