Carter Burwell Quotes

In symphonic music, when you are conducting, you do the same thing. You are feeling the whole orchestra, thinking ahead so you can prepare for a change.

Technique is communication: the two words are synonymous in conductors.

The most difficult problem in conducting is intonation. You must know what is wrong and how to correct it.

I kind of alternate between conducting and playing and kind of juggling those things, but I don't use a baton.

Conducting has more to do with singing and breathing than with piano-playing.

Conducting is a strange thing to teach.

Good conductors know when to push and when to lay back. I've known so many great conductors that I'm still doing what I can to learn the craft of this role.

I really want to get better at conducting.

When I started, I'd never had a conducting lesson in my life; I could just do it.

Basically speaking, conducting is quite a healthy profession.

Conducting is way over my head.

Today, conducting is a question of ego: a lot of people believe they are actually playing the music.

I do basically what a conductor does with a baton, except I also play along with the orchestra. So I have to juggle the roles of playing the concertmaster; sometimes I drop the violin and wave my arms.

The real art of conducting consists in transitions.

I have so much regard for the art of conducting. It's easy to look not so good up there.

A great conductor is an alchemical force: someone who can absorb the historical weight of a famous melody, the expectations of an audience, and the mercurial brilliance of a host of musicians, and shape them all to his or her interpretative ends.

We have to put expressions in a song when we sing it.

Through conducting, you express through your arms, through your face and even the body, what you want to tell, so the musicians of the orchestra understand.

My whole life, I've been watching conductors. I was 7 the first time I played with a conductor. Seeing the ones that do it well, it's an amazing thing.

Of course the most difficult thing on the violin is always intonation. The second one is rhythm. If you play in tune, in time with a good sound that's already high level. Those three are the main things.

We need improvement in the style of performance. There is no more advantage in a musician who plays and conducts than in one who is only a beater of rhythm.

After playing now for 60 years, it's still very challenging for me to play a simple melody and have it clean and touch the reed at the proper time in the proper way.

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.

It's been very exciting for me to start directing and conducting, exploring the symphonic repertoire, which I've always loved.

Good conductors know when to let an orchestra lead itself. Ninety percent of what a conductor does comes in the rehearsal - the vision, the structure, the architecture.