Ten Commandments of Conducting

Remember that you are making music not to amuse yourself, but to delight your audience.

• Strauss was not out to rob the conductor of pleasure, but, in pragmatic terms, to remind him of the end consumer. The conductor is the focal point of the orchestra, a position that can engender narcissism. Humility serves him well. Contemporary maestro Alan Gilbert stresses that his decisions as a conductor are based on the music and the orchestra, "rather than some personal gratification."

You should not perspire when you are conducting; only the audience should get warm.

• Strauss did not view a conductor as a drum major, but as a facilitator. Subtly maintaining tempo and dynamics, cueing only when necessary and gently emphasizing musical phrases are a few roles assigned within this minimalist approach that discouraged wild movements. A panel commissioned by the League of American Orchestras in 1997 declared that the conductor's body language should affirm the musicians. As the subsequent rules indicate, Strauss believed otherwise.

Conduct Salome and Elektra as if they were Mendelssohn; fairy music.

• The light touch is a hallmark of Strauss's conducting philosophy, if not of his compositions. From his standpoint as a musical author, Strauss understood the power of his own operas as written, and was hesitant to have a conductor add more force where none is needed.

Never look at the brass encouragingly; except with a quick glance for an important lead-in.

• A trombone player may be insulted by this maxim, but it fits with Strauss's understanding of balance. The brass can easily overwhelm every other section without realizing it. An overactive brass section is impressive to the audience perhaps, but detrimental to the overall sound of a symphony orchestra. Recognizing the brass players' enormous potential for volume, Strauss sought to tap their power sparingly.

On the contrary, never let the horns and woodwind out of your sight; if you hear them at all they are already too loud.

• While lacking the projection of a fully staffed brass section, the woodwinds are nonetheless also a force to be suppressed, according to Richard Strauss. In this case, however, he believed muffling their sound called for active visual intimidation. This is an interesting insight into the psychology of musicians who worked with him; brass players came to interpret the conductor's gaze as affirmation whereas the woodwinds saw it as punishment.

If you think the brass is not strong enough, tone them down two points further.

• Did Richard Strauss hate brass? If his musical scores are any indication, the answer would be no. Based on a sophisticated understanding of acoustics, and empathy for the listener as evidenced by the first rule, Strauss understood that what passes for limited volume on stage can transform to obnoxious blare when it reaches the audience.

It is not enough yourself to hear every word of the singer--which you know by heart anyway; the public must also be able to follow it without effort. If they don't understand what is happening, they fall asleep.

• Again, Strauss's concern is with the opera attendee in the back row. In the same way a stage actor must wear heavy make-up for her facial features to be discerned from a distance, so too must a singer exaggerate diction in order to be perceived correctly. The conductor must manage the balance in vocal scores as well as instrumental.

Always accompany the singer so as to enable him to sing without exertion.

• The common theme of balance is again evident in this commandment. A singer who has to shout will compromise vocal quality and sacrifice the lyrical expression for loudness. This explains why so many of Strauss's exhortations to instrumentalists sound so repressive.

When you think you have reached the limits of prestissimo, double the pace.

• A piece could never move too fast for Richard Strauss. Prestissimo the most rapid of tempos; still, Strauss sensed hesitation on the part of young conductors to hasten the orchestra appropriately along. Thus we have a well-intentioned but draconian-sounding directive to push the players, and conductor if necessary, beyond their comfort zones.

If you follow these rules carefully, you will, with your fine gifts and your great accomplishments, always be the darling of your listeners.

• He ends his list as he began, with listeners in mind. The audience, to Strauss, is an important client. The customer comes first, regardless of any artistic egos or hurt feelings in the symphony. Richard Strauss wanted his audiences to remember his performances with pleasure, and insisted that his players subordinate themselves to that aim.