The Composer's Advocate: A Radical Orthodoxy for Musicians

by Erich Leinsdorf

"An excellent piece of writing, exhibiting splendid communicative sensitivity and command of language, and fully representative of the remarkable mind of the author. . . . A book any musician, or any serious student or concertgoer, will find stimulating, provocative and instructive."
-- Robert C. Marsh, Chicago Sun-Times
"Wise, detailed and valuable book. . . . Should become a set text for all performing artists.
-- Andrew Porter, The New Yorker
"Throughout the book, Leinsdorf displays his knowledge and wisdom with a near total lack of pretense or vanity. This work must be considered one of the most significant books on conducting ever written, ranking in importance with those of Wagner and Weingartner. Its scope, however, suggests that it should be read not only by conductors but by every practicing musician."
-- Robert Johnson, Music Library Association Notes
"Concise, witty and rewarding. . . . That Maestro Leinsdorf is an extraordinarily astute and sensitive musician is evident on every page of The Composer’s Advocate . Musicians will find his insights profound and his ideas compelling."
-- Hugh Wolff, Washington Post Book World
"Leinsdorf’s book will be of interest to anyone curious about how music is translated from the printed page into sound."
-- Harry Haskell, The Kansas City Star

Genres: Music

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1981

About the author

Austrian émigré conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish more books were written in this scolding, cantankerous tone. This was a pleasure from beginning to end. Leinsdorf's learned advice is aimed at young conductors, but this is really a book for any type of classical musician, ensemble player or soloist, or someone deeply interested in classical music. There's a decent amount of technical discussion, particularly in the two chapters titled "Knowing the Right Tempo," but they can still be read profitably by amateurs. Leinsdorf is hardcore: in order to figure out the right tempo for a piece of music or a movement, you have to be familiar not just with the conventions of the time period, but with much of the rest of the composer's music.

The text is peppered charmingly with acerbic anecdotes about performers who shared the stage with Leinsdorf but wanted to do it their own way. Sample: "How difficult it is to reestablish lost traditions was made clear to me some years ago when I was invited to perform Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Holland. Long before rehearsing the work I had (I thought) settled with the chorus master that the double choir for all the dramatic utterances, the eight part opening choral fantasia, and the final pieces would be sung by a maximum of forty-eight voices, or six voices to a part, and that the other two hundred members of the choral society would be placed around and above the stage, as if they were the community singing the chorales. Unexpectedly, this attempt to use a force appropriate to the needs of polyphonic writing was ill-received by the two hundred chorus members who had sung the entire work for many years and were sure that their method was the proper and traditional way to perform Bach."

[Amari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tough old bird, Leinsdorf. I rolled my eyes more than once. That said, The Composer's Advocate is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, an absolute must for any serious musician.

[Mod? · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is valuable as an insight into Leinsdorf's points of view, not only on how to approach scores as a conductor, but also on the practice of the industry over his career (and from the specific time point of 1981).

Parts of it are very amusing; the anecdotes intended as such, of course, but also the sheer volume of things that are apparently completely obvious, but which no one else knows.

[Joshua Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on conducting that I've read. Incredible amount of information packed into 210 pages.