Any musical instrument needs a performer. Under the sensitive fingers of the master reveals the true essence of the work. And this is especially important when an instrument is understood as an entire orchestra.
It is hard to imagine how much a subtle ear, an understanding of the work, a lively perception should have a conductor. This is a master who catches every note on the fly, a subtle nuance that understands flaws, tracks the most invisible dissonances and failures in the body called an orchestra. If a player needs a separate instrument, then an orchestra needs a conductor, since for a person the whole orchestra is the very instrument on which wonderful melodies can be played.
Conductors - where are they from
It is interesting to note that finally conducting art took shape only in the nineteenth century. However, already in the early bas-reliefs of Assyrian and Egyptian civilizations there were images where one person with a kind of wand controlled a group of people playing musical instruments. Something similar happened in Ancient Greece, where a special person controlled the performance of music using hand gestures.
The closest relative of the conductor’s wand is the violin bow, as it was the concertmaster or first violin who often set the pace.
It should be said that in the early stages of the development of orchestral performance it was not as complicated as it is at present. And the conductor was not always necessary. Partly by the further development and regular complication of the works, the art of the conductor was justified, as well as the need for it.
19th century - conductors of our time
A further complication of symphonic music, an increase in the number of instruments in the orchestra, required that all this be supervised by a special person - the conductor. He held in his hands a special stick in the form of a tube of leather or simply rolled up notes into a tube. The wooden stick familiar to everyone appeared only at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Vienna Conductor Ignaz von Mosel was the first to use it.
It is interesting, but initially for decency the conductor ran the orchestra, facing the audience.
In the practice of performers there was a tradition that composers themselves often performed their works. They toured with their own orchestra or performed music in a permanent place of residence. The composer in this case acted as a conductor.
