The Beat Stops Here

In The Beat Stops Here: Lessons on and off the Podium for Today's Conductor, master conductor Mark Gibson addresses the technique of conducting as an extension of intimate knowledge of the score to the hands and arms. He employs a variety of everyday activities and motions (brushing the dog, Tinkerbelle, the "door knob") to describe the physical aspects of the role. He advocates a comprehensive, detailed approach to score study, addressing major works bar-by-bar in terms of both musical analysis and conducting method. Finally, Gibson explores the various roles a conductor plays, as a teacher, a scholar and a member of the musical community. His writing is highly focused, with an occasionally tongue-in-cheek, discussing everything from motivic development in Brahms to how to hold a knife and fork in public. In short, The Beat Stops Here is a compendium of style and substance in the real world of today's conductor.

Director of Orchestral Studies at the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, Mark Gibson enjoys a teaching and conducting career that spans four decades and three continents. Among his former students are many of today's up and coming maestros, including Xian Zhang, Tung-Chieh Chuang, Annunziata Tomaro and Olivier Ochanine. Mr. Gibson is a native of New Jersey.

Acknowledgements Preface Foreword: Teaching Conducting List of Musical Examples and Illustrations
PART 1: REPERTOIRE LESSONS Introduction to Repertoire Lessons A Glossary of Conducting Gesture
Chapter 1. Overture Ludwig van Beethoven: "Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus," Op. 43 (1801) Gioacchino Rossini: La Cenerentola (1817) Felix Mendelssohn: "Die schöne Melusine," Op. 32 (1833) Giuseppe Verdi: Les Vêpres Siciliennes (I Vespri Siciliani) (1855) Johannes Brahms: Tragische Ouvertüre, Op. 81 (1880) Chapter 2. Opera Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527 (1787) Sestetto: "Solo, solo in buio loco" Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera (1859) Finale 3º Scena e Romanza: "Forse la soglia attinse...Ma se m'è forza perderti" Jules Massenet: Manon (1884) Duo: "Pardonnez-moi, Dieu de toute puissance" Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly (1904) Duetto: "Viene la sera" Chapter 3. Smaller symphonic works W.A.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 29 in A Major, K. 201 (1774) Antonín Dvorák: Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66 (1883) Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales (1911, orch. 1912) Chapter 4. Concerto and solo works Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto no. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (1805-6) Gustav Mahler: Des knaben Wunderhorn (1887-1899); Four songs Jean Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 (1904) Chapter 5. Larger symphonic works Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35 (1888) Igor Stravinsky: Petrouchka: Scènes burlesques en 4 tableaux (1911, rev. 1947)
PART 2: PROFESSIONAL LESSONS Chapter 6. The Conductor as Teacher Not the Eternal Tao Are Two Hands Better? MAKE YOUR OWN METRONOME! Storytelling Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes Developing Score Reading Skills (by A. Tomaro) Quantifiable Chapter 7. The Conductor as Scholar On Rewriting the Act 3 Finale of Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles (1863) Heroism Denied: Movement Order in Mahler's Sixth Symphony (1903-4, rev. 1906) Puccini's Turandot (1924): A Conductor's Perspective Chapter 8. The Conductor as Leader Working with the Orchestra: Bill of Rights Three-part Conducting Rules More Rules for the Road Talk Show - a cautionary tale Quiz Show Working in the Opera House:"Gott, welch dunkel hier!" Working with Singers: A Breed Apart Working with Chorus: Dreamers of Dreams Building a Career: Ou voulez-vous allez?
POSTSCRIPT: Present and Future Tense Appendix A: Musical works and editions Appendix B: Texts and Translations Appendix C: Tempo Indications and Metronome Markings Appendix D: Endnotes Appendix E: Resource materials/bibliography
INDEX