The art of, you know, like, arm-waving

I’m often asked “what does a conductor actually do?” (My favourite variant of this was “so does your arm-waving, you know, like, mean anything?”, to which I had no coherent answer.)

My usual response is to talk it down.

“Nobody knows.”

“I have no idea, and neither do the players.”

“When you find out, do be sure to tell me.”

Standard self-deprecation, and buying in to the mystique. Conducting is an unknowable thing. Let’s keep it that way.

But at the heart of the matter is a basic truth, that I again like to present as a joke.

“The fundamental task is to stand in front of any given group of musicians and not make them worse.”