I'd like to better understand/appreciate orchestras and orchestral music. What resources would you recommend? [more inside]
posted on Oct 25, 2005 - 11 answers

Question from a musical layman--I just went to a great New Year's classical concert and two things I always wondered about struck me again: 1) Why does an orchestra need a conductor? I know it's for tempo, but most of the time the musicians don't even seem to be looking at the conductor. Would the players be completely lost without him/her? And 2) why do musicians need the sheet music? All other types of musicians don't need sheet music...surely they've memorized the piece they're playing....even I know exactly how, say, Beethoven's 5th sounds like (though I couldn't play it to save my life).

Go easy on me, I know the answers must be painfully obvious to many of you.
posted on Jan 1, 2005 - 34 answers

Can musically-inclined mefi-ites tell me what the conductor of an orchestra/band is supposed to do? I think at the most basic level they're supposed to keep the beat, but surely that can't be all?
posted on Dec 22, 2003 - 11 answers

Can musically-inclined mefi-ites tell me what the conductor of an orchestra/band is supposed to do? I think at the most basic level they're supposed to keep the beat, but surely that can't be all?
posted on Dec 22, 2003 - 11 answers