As a kid, I just assumed it was aesthetic. Like, someone for an audience of non-musicians to project themselves on to.

As an adult, I recognize that this is almost certainly not the case. Presumably the conductor plays a role that is necessary and helpful to the rest of the orchestra... but I'll be damned if I can't quite figure out what that is. Surely its not just timing? Can't the players just... listen to one another to work that out?

Rotoscoped silhouette of Leopold Stokowski from Fantasia (1940)
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[–] 12 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think even in professional settings anything might happen when the performance starts, so it becomes valuable to have someone at the front who can hear everything in context and signal for corrections if something is too loud or quiet, or out of time.

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  • [–] 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

    This is it, conductors hear every single goddamn note you're playing even if you can hardly hear it yourself, and if there's a problem they're gonna let you know about it right there on the spot during the performance even while keeping track of all the other shit at the same time

    I don't know how they do it and can only assume they're some kinda wizard

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