# If you could conduct one piece what would it be?



## Radames

They had a contest in an upstate NY orchestra early this year where the winner got to conduct a piece. If you won what piece would you choose to conduct? Presumably it would have to be a short piece, not a concert performance of Gotterdammerung. Since I'm no musician it would have to be something easy. The easiest pieces I would think would be things that are very rhythmic. Spanish music seems to be heavily influenced by dances and might be best. Chabrier's Espana comes to mind. Rimsky's Capriccio Espagnol too. And the final dance from Manuel de Falla's 3 Cornered Hat. Or a march. Walton's Crown Imperial is my favorite. Those are my top 4. Hard to pick from those. Might be fun to see how fast I could get the orchestra to play at the end of the Capriccio Espagnol.


----------



## omega

If it had to be a short piece, why not _The Forgotten Offerings_ by Messiaen? Sibelius' Fifth Symphony? They are not easy pieces (and I'm sure my conducting would be disastrous), but it would be great fun (at least for me).


----------



## Radames

An entire symphony is too long. Maybe one movement would be ok.


----------



## hpowders

That's easy. The Mahler Symphony No. 8, but it can't be with a mickey mouse orchestra and vocal soloists and choirs still in high school. And it can't be in some small studio like 8H that Toscanini recorded in.

You get me Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Berlin or Vienna orchestras and I conduct it in Symphony Hall, Boston, Carnegie Hall, NYC or the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and let me pick the choirs and soloists, then all I have to say is "when do we begin?"


----------



## Symphonical

Movements 4 and 5 of Symphonie Fantastique. Most fun a conductor could have. Such amazing movements as well so that would be it for me.


----------



## Radames

hpowders said:


> That's easy. The Mahler Symphony No. 8, but it can't be with a mickey mouse orchestra and vocal soloists and choirs still in high school. And it can't be in some small studio like 8H that Toscanini recorded in.
> 
> You get me Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Berlin or Vienna orchestras and let me pick the choirs and soloists then all I have to say is "when do we begin?"


A few years ago they did it in Quebec City to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its founding in 1608. They had 150 musicians and 850 vocalists. It was in the middle of winter though and the weather was not great for me to go up there. Doubt they would have let me conduct though. Still I often sit near the stage in case the conductor falls off - I could just jump up on the podium and fill in.


----------



## Morimur

Radames said:


> A few years ago they did it in Quebec City to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its founding in 1608. They had 150 musicians and 850 vocalists. It was in the middle of winter though and the weather was not great for me to go up there. Doubt they would have let me conduct though. Still I often sit near the stage in case the conductor falls off - I could just jump up on the podium and fill in.


Is Quebec City your home town? Beautiful place.


----------



## Radames

Morimur said:


> Is Quebec City your home town? Beautiful place.


No, I'm from the US, but I go to Canada all the time. Mainly Montreal and Ottawa.


----------



## Kopachris

I'd want to conduct Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony. I've listened to it enough times following the score that I think I could pull it off. It might not be a great performance, but it would be a ton of fun.


----------



## hpowders

Radames said:


> A few years ago they did it in Quebec City to commemorate the 400th anniversary of its founding in 1608. They had 150 musicians and 850 vocalists. It was in the middle of winter though and the weather was not great for me to go up there. Doubt they would have let me conduct though. Still I often sit near the stage in case the conductor falls off - I could just jump up on the podium and fill in.


Wish I could hear it done "live"!


----------



## hpowders

Kopachris said:


> I'd want to conduct Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony. I've listened to it enough times following the score that I think I could pull it off. It might not be a great performance, but it would be a ton of fun.


The third movement can be tricky with all those pluckers!


----------



## SixFootScowl

With my musical abilities? Chopsticks! :lol:


----------



## dgee

Brahms Tragic Overture - could finally be heard how it's meant to sound. 


Who am I kidding? But it would be fun


----------



## Guest

Surely you'd have to go large??
I'd go for Turangalila - if I got any of it wrong, it might not notice, given the gorgeous controlled cacophony!


----------



## Cosmos

The last movement of Liszt's Faust Symphony would be..._devilish_ fun


----------



## Guest

Something by Schnittke. When you juxtapose his avant-garde stuff with his formal "olden style" passages, it gives an amusing impression of the orchestra just "falling apart" mid-movement - so maybe the audience wouldn't know the difference?


----------



## PetrB

Whatever it is, it would probably be conducted 'from the keyboard.'


----------



## ptr

^^ I'm very much like Petr, from the piano and something capricious like Jean Francaix's Piano Concerto! (I would hate myself if I F¤#d Up some music I genuinely love!)

/ptr


----------



## Skilmarilion

For sheer exhilaration it would have to be the _Rondo-Burleske_ from Mahler's 9th.

Or perhaps Prokofiev's 2nd piano concerto from the keyboard -- just to show the world what _really_ can be done.


----------



## PetrB

hpowders said:


> You get me Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Berlin or Vienna orchestras and I conduct it in Symphony Hall, Boston, Carnegie Hall, NYC or the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and let me pick the choirs and soloists, then all I have to say is "when do we begin?"


Sounds very much like fantasy football league time


----------



## Celloissimo

PetrB said:


> Sounds very much like fantasy football league time


Honestly dude, Fantasy Orchestra could be a thing. A colossal waste of time, but a thing nonetheless.


----------



## Guest

Celloissimo said:


> Honestly dude, Fantasy Orchestra could be a thing. A colossal waste of time, but a thing nonetheless.


Fantasy chamber ensemble would be more realistic for us. Who wants to bet PetrB drafts a pianist in the first round?


----------



## Vaneyes

I hate "cold conducting". I always do 20 minutes of vigorous treadmill before hitting the stage.

My CM choice, Mussorgsky (arr. Ravel) "Pictures".

Sidenote: My golf course choice, Cypress Point.


----------



## senza sordino

I'd choose something like Beethoven's Ninth, of Mahler's Fifth.


----------



## hpowders

Busoni's Fantasia Contrappuntistica.

Available to play conduct or explain.


----------



## Haydn man

Just give me the Berlin Phil and they can play what the hell they like as long as it is big and noisy&#55357;&#56836;


----------



## Itullian

Beethoven's 9th, I guess.
Or Tristan.


----------



## BaronScarpia

hpowders said:


> That's easy. The Mahler Symphony No. 8, but it can't be with a mickey mouse orchestra and vocal soloists and choirs still in high school. And it can't be in some small studio like 8H that Toscanini recorded in.
> 
> You get me Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Berlin or Vienna orchestras and I conduct it in Symphony Hall, Boston, Carnegie Hall, NYC or the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and let me pick the choirs and soloists, then all I have to say is "when do we begin?"


I can't imagine what you were like as a child at Christmas!

My choice? Two words. The second is 'bohème'.


----------



## Radames

Kopachris said:


> I'd want to conduct Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony. I've listened to it enough times following the score that I think I could pull it off. It might not be a great performance, but it would be a ton of fun.


I would want to do that one because no one gets the finale right.


----------



## Itullian

Lohengrin cause I could do it better.


----------



## QuietGuy

I'd pick the last section of Ravel's Ma Mere L'Oye -- a quiet, dignified piece with a glorious fanfare/finale.


----------



## Guest

Well, if I really had one shot at conducting*, I might as well go over the top about it and get my money's worth:
Schoenberg's *Gurrelieder*. 




*I studied conducting for one semester. It is a skill I wish I could have developed more. It was not to be.


----------



## Rach d minor

I am very familiar with many "large" scale works such as symphonies, concertos and the like and I have an obsession with full works and it bothers me ALOT when they play only a single movement or when people clap in between movements. But with all that said there is nothing id rather conduct than the intermezzo from cavaleria rusticana by Mascagni.


----------



## DiesIraeCX

I'd choose the 1st movement of Beethoven's 9th, because it's my favorite movement and because I'm extremely picky over how it should be played. It can make a break a recording of the 9th for me. It would be a mix of the 1st movement from Karajan's 1963 and Fricsay's 1958 recordings.


----------



## hpowders

^^^Let me know when it comes out on CD.


----------



## DiesIraeCX

hpowders said:


> ^^^Let me know when it comes out on CD.


Haha, as an actual recording, it would be a disaster! I'd dare not ruin Beethoven's 9th.

However, in "Pretend Land", it sounds wonderful!


----------



## Xaltotun

Oh, I wouldn't be able to do it. But in a fantasy world, I might choose Bruckner's 5th symphony and give it dynamics in an apocalyptic scale. For a smaller scale, I might choose the Hallulujah chorus from Schmidt's _Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln_ for more apocalyptic over-the-topness for the sheer fun of it.

_Haaal - le - luuuh - jaaaah

crazy pause

HAAAAAAAL - LE - LUUUUUH - JAAAAAAAAAAAH

even crazier pause

BAM BAM BAM *BAM* BAM BAM BAM *BAM* BAM *BAAAAAAH*_


----------



## Avey

When I read this topic's title, I immediately thought of *Ives'* _Second_. And that may go well, actually.

I could be on-point with the rhythm, instrumental cues, dynamic expression, etc. It is not terribly long. Orchestration is not particularly dense, before the ending of the piece, of course.

But the audience would likely be either (1) entirely disappointed in the finale, or (2) intrigued by the unique absence of a coherent, sane conductor. That is, I would have the lights dimmed on the horn and cello monologues, possibly even step down off the podium at those moments; I would be flailing wildly when the upper and lower strings, as well as the brass, exchange melodic lines; I would be jumping up and down, spinning, eyes closed, smiling, gay and entirely chaotic, haphazard, if you will, attempting to toss out cues and down beats in my head, which exist only there; and I would be struck rigid on the final chord, smiling, if not laughing, for both Ives' note and my woeful attempt at self-aggrandizing in conducting this wholly American piece.

This all makes me wonder how conductors ever _keep it together_ up there -- with all that fantastic sound and all.


----------



## mikey

Spem in Alium would be fun trying to handle 8 choirs, then if you got lost, even more fun for them


----------



## hpowders

I would like to conduct the chamber version of Copland's Appalachian Spring. 

I'm free Mondays and Thursdays.


----------



## nightscape

Why, I was just conducting _Eine Alpensinfonie_ just last night from my computer chair!  Headphones firmed attached, arms flailing. I'm sure it was artful.


----------



## Torkelburger

I would pick something obscure so that people would have a more difficult time criticizing it. But it would have to be a masterpiece at the same time so as to have the best chance of making a good impression. I would like for it to be a piece that would allow me to at least attempt to display my musicality. I would like to do a symphony so as to get the full range of emotion and enough time, etc. Therefore I would probably pick a Robert Simpson symphony. Probably the 7th or 9th, possibly the 3rd. If that wasn't possible I might pick Martinu's 4th or 6th.


----------



## Animato

I would like to conduct Tchaikovskij's sixth symphony "Pathetique". I know this oevre nearly by heart and everytime I listen to it, I wonder, if some parts may be played even more expressive than in some of the good recordings (like the one by Svetlanov or Bernstein). It is always very exciting to listen to the last bars of the first movement, if the trombones succeed to play the final chord even more piano than the cornis just before. That thrills me !!!


----------



## Tristan

I'd love to conduct Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3. I've already air-conducted it in my room while listening to it on record, so I'd be prepared


----------



## Andrei

Well it would NOT be Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto with Martha Argerich playing - I would not be able to keep up with her.

Carmina Burana would have to be fun! Think of the rehearsals, bossing all those people about!

I have conducted before, it was an amazing experience, dangerous and hair raising too! It happened when I cut some electircal wires when the mains had not been switched off.


----------



## MoonlightSonata

Mozart's 40th symphony - the changes in mood and style would be most enjoyable to direct.


----------



## Couac Addict

Play whatever you want, I'll just be doing my_ thing._


----------



## Andrei

Couac Addict said:


> Play whatever you want, I'll just be doing my_ thing._


Oh my giddy aunt! You could put that ding-dong's antics against any allegro. (Still, it is nice to see True Love, even if it is with himself.)


----------



## ptr

I would also love to resurrect and lead Juan Delgada's Operetta "Keine Zeit für Liebe" (1961?) in a one of performance with Anneliese Rothenberger, Nicolai Gedda and Fritz Wunderlich. Delgada was the pseudonym for the multi talented composer and notorious mythomaniac, embezzler etc. Swede Johnny Bode during his hay day in Vienna in the lateish 1950's...

Bode recorded and wrote hundreds of popular songs in the 20's and 30's in his native Sweden, went high on the Nazi ideology bandwagon during the war and tried to milk it for what it was worth, had a "successful" career as an Operetta composer in the 50's Vienna and wrote several albums worth of pornographic songs in the late sixties and seventies, he made a bunch of money, but was always broke cuz spent all of it and then some on fast women, beautiful cars and caviar and the finest champagne for lavish breakfasts!

/ptr


----------



## Cosmos

Changing my old answer: I would want to conduct any of Mahler's symphonies


----------



## Guest

This wil do for me,just for fun.:tiphat:


----------



## Aaconn

I would say the entire Carmina Burana.


----------



## andyadler

Bruckner Symphony No. 8. Haas edition.


----------



## tgtr0660

Brahms's 1st, to show them how the opening is actually done


----------



## DeepR

Beethoven 3, first movement would be just fine.


----------



## Kije

Definitely Stravinsky's _The Rite of Spring_, or at least the first part. Also, the the violin concerto by Sibelius or _Tabula rasa_ by Arvo Pärt.

EDIT:I take it back; the second movement of the _Surprise Symphony_ by Haydn would be cool.


----------



## Pugg

Beethoven's fifth piano concerto.
Playing and conducting.....


----------



## SiegendesLicht

Prelude to Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. It is such a joyful, uplifting piece to listen to, I can only imagine how much fun it would be to conduct.


----------



## hpowders

Sibelius Symphony No. 7. That way I get paid and don't have to stay there more than a half hour.
I have other things to do!


----------



## Autocrat

Rossini, William Tell Overture. Sure, it's been done to death, but everyone walks away happy in the end. One of the easier ones as well, which would be appropriate as I am a terrible conductor.


----------



## Krummhorn

Symphony No 3 in C minor ... Saint-Saens ... for organ and orchestra.


----------



## KenOC

Krummhorn said:


> Symphony No 3 in C minor ... Saint-Saens ... for organ and orchestra.


You'd conduct from the organ? Never heard of that, but it would be interesting!


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde

I would _love_ to conduct Mozart's 29th symphony. It seems uncharacteristic of me to really want that to be a "must" for me, but I think I would be able to just get _so much_ out of it.


----------



## hpowders

At this point in time, I would prefer to conduct the adagio from the Mahler 10, but not with any provincial hack orchestra.
It must be the Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw or Chicago Symphony. 
Otherwise, you folks are just wasting my time.


----------



## Autocrat

hpowders said:


> At this point in time, I would prefer to conduct the adagio from the Mahler 10, but not with any provincial hack orchestra.
> It must be the Vienna Philharmonic, Concertgebouw or Chicago Symphony.
> Otherwise, you folks are just wasting my time.


How would you feel about hosting a reunion of Abbado's Lucerne Festival Orchestra?


----------



## TheOtherStrauss

Short Piece: R Strauss Till Eulenspiegel
Symphony: Rachmaninoff No. 2
Concerto: Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante Op. 125
Chamber: Dvorak Serenade for Winds Op. 44


----------



## AClockworkOrange

Thinking about this, whilst I would by default say Beethoven's Ninth - and did somewhere in this thread previously - there is one other symphony I would love to conduct if it were a one-off situation.

*Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1 "The Gothic"*

The power of the composition, the energy of the massed vocal and instrumental forces and the privilege of being in the eye of the musical storm - yes please!

Plus this piece doesn't get performed enough (not that any of Havergal Brian's compositions do sadly).

It would have to be with top-tier orchestra(s), choirs and ample rehearsal time in a worthy venue. In terms of fantasy booking I would want to fire up the time machine and use the Kingsway Hall. This would be a private experience in the flesh but recorded for posterity in old-school analog. The artwork would be something along the predictable lines of black & white gothic architecture (which suits me because I adore gothic architecture and black & white photography).

I realise this goes past conducting but when it comes to fantasy booking - it would be a waste not to go all in :lol:


----------

