THE LEADING EDGE

For those ensembles willing to take the plunge, performing without a conductor can lead to a greater sense of collaboration, fulfilment and, ultimately, responsibility. Jacqueline Vanasse hears from some of the string players involved in such groups

Fluid hierarchy: Ensemble Metamorphosis

CREDIT

There is something quite seductive about the democracy of the conductorless orchestra. That musicians can share an artistic vision without having to go through the intermediary of a conductor renders the experience of playing in an orchestra less autocratic and more collaborative.

But the absence of the maestro is really only the start of it. The conductorless experience goes much deeper: it gets to the core of what it is to be a musician and can be a tremendous learning tool. While such ensembles have no conductor per se, for the purposes of efficiency they still maintain a certain hierarchy of authority. In a traditional symphony orchestra, the conductor makes the majority of decisions, but without that authority figure, all decision-making must naturally be distributed among ensemble members. The musicians of the New York-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and others such as the Belgradebased string group Ensemble Metamorphosis, push the distribution of leadership one step further by rotating the seating. Every piece in the programme has a different concertmaster, making any sense of hierarchy completely fluid.

One aspect of conductorless settings that cannot be entirely hierarchy-free, however, is rehearsing. Violinist Todd Phillips of the Orpheus CO recalls the early days of the ensemble’s rehearsals. ‘I started playing in the group in 1982 and remember rehearsing for nine hours a day every day for a whole week when preparing for a tour. That’s a lot of rehearsals! It was much more of a free-for-all as far as decision-making was concerned. With time, this became streamlined into what we call the “core group”, which comprises those who are section leaders in any given piece. Rank-and-file players are still allowed to say anything at any point, but given the limited rehearsal time, you have to pick and choose when you might want to say something if you are not in a leadership role.’

When everyone has the equal right to contribute to rehearsal discussions, the process can, in fact, become too democratic, which can lead to a weak musical result. ‘One has to find a very fine balance,’ says Candida Thompson, artistic director and leader of the string ensemble Amsterdam Sinfonietta. ‘If there is too much compromise, you can weaken the result because there is no single strong idea, so it is always terribly important to have a system in place to provide that.’ Thus, it is usually the concertmaster and the other principal players who are responsible for interpretation and the shaping of rehearsals, as well as for more enhanced communication in concert performances. ‘It often starts with me preparing the parts,’ says Thompson. ‘After that, we have a leaders’ rehearsal, which is like a chamber music rehearsal – basically, a string quintet.

We make decisions together, putting everything in the pot, but we still having a strong direction, which we reassess and strengthen once we come together with the whole group.’

Even though the concertmaster takes on most of the responsibility in a conductorless setting, their role is quite different from that of the conductor. ‘As a leader, I try to gather everybody together as opposed to commanding everybody – and that’s an important distinction,’ says Phillips. Violist Saša Mirković, co-founder, artistic director and manager of Ensemble Metamorphosis, says that it is the duty of theleader of an ensemble without a conductor to give the musicians opportunities. ‘It is about feeling, energy and freedom. Everyone should be able to give from themselves, to give a new energy to the ensemble. As the leader, you need to be open and to give the musicians the freedom to contribute ideas. Then your task is to collect and mix those ideas. There is less the feeling that people are following you and more the feeling that you are all growing together, every step of the way.’

Candida Thompson (far left) and Amsterdam Sinfonietta

RONALD KNAPP

‘IF THERE IS TOO MUCH COMPROMISE, YOU CAN WEAKEN THE RESULT BECAUSE THERE IS NO SINGLE STRONG IDEA’

ENSEMBLE METAMORPHOSIS

‘AS THE LEADER, YOU NEED TO BE OPEN AND TO GIVE THE MUSICIANS THE FREEDOM TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS. THEN YOUR TASK IS TO COLLECT AND MIX THOSE IDE AS’

Musicians in conductorless ensembles therefore do not rehearse to achieve a conductor’s vision, but instead practise together to achieve a collective goal. The fact that the impulses are coming from each of the players lends a wholly different dynamic to the ensemble. ‘As a player, you have a preconception of what you want to hear in the music,’ says Phillips, ‘but your colleagues have other ideas and so something new comes out of it all – something no one had previously thought of.’

When playing in an entity where no one person is imposing their ideas and where the common view is discussed and negotiated as a whole, musicians need to be quickly and actively absorbing what is going on around them. ‘A musician is not just waiting to be given their lead – every musician is responsible for playing at the right moment,’ says the artistic director of Quebec’s Longueuil Symphony Orchestra, Alexandre Da Costa, who ‘conducts’ from the violin. ‘Everyone needs to have a much deeper understanding of the score and to know what is happening in every section. This ends up being a lot more work, but it is also more rewarding as it makes the process of music making much more organic.’

With a conventional conductor, the orchestra can sometimes surrender all responsibility for decision-making and stop listening to the players around them. Without a conductor, however, the players have no choice but to take responsibility for their actions. ‘The sense of engagement is more intense for everybody,’ says Stephanie Gonley, concertmaster of the English Chamber Orchestra (ECO). ‘My gestural style does not change that much when I am directing the orchestra. Instead, the main difference is that everybody’s emphasis has shifted from the visual to the aural – the emphasis is on listening because there are fewer visual cues. People listen intensely and engage as chamber musicians. They have the sense that more is required of them.’ Thompson agrees: ‘You are forced to listen when there is no conductor, and you are much more connected with the sound that you are making. You are actively reacting to something as opposed to watching it and then reacting.’

Because responsibility is given back to the musicians, a conductorless setting can be fantastic for learning – a place to hone ensemble skills and problem-solving. ‘I find it most irritating when a conductor accuses the orchestra of not playing together,’ says Thompson. ‘It’s not helpful and offers no solution. When players perform without a conductor, they have to find solutions for themselves.’ They do this by asking questions then resolving them collectively, says Thompson: ‘They ask themselves, “Are we breathing together?” “Are we using the same bow speed?” “Are we making the same sound colour?” There are so many aspects of playing together to consider, so many solutions – and you have to try them all until it comes together.’

For Gonley, who was appointed concertmaster of the ECO in 1991, aged 24, this additional responsibility changed her perspective on music making entirely. ‘When I started with the ECO, the other players had to tolerate me learning on the job,’ she admits. ‘I think in the early days I was quite naive about certain things. I probably even stole ideas from other musicians and just enhanced them. My style of direction definitely evolved over time from slightly random decision-making to an organic process. When I am directing, I spend a lot of time and energy preparing the score. I think about pretty much every note and from every player’s point of view. Once you begin taking responsibility for every phrase like that, you can’t switch it off any more.’

In this way, the conductorless experience can be very beneficial for students as it can help them to understand the general importance of reacting to what’s happening around them. ‘Students can apply the conductorless experience to their symphony orchestra training with a conductor – it can help them to become more aware and be really reactive to a conductor’s stick,’ says Thompson, who runs conductorless projects at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and with students in the Netherlands.

Phillips has had a similar experience when running conductorless projects at the Cleveland Institute of Music, noticing how the students immediately become much more involved and committed. ‘I try to get students to give their opinions. They are always a little bit cautious and hesitant at first, but after a while the feeling that what they say counts and that they have a valuable role to play in the music making process brings such a different response from everyone in the group.’

As for Alexander Gilman, leader and artistic director of string orchestra the LGT Young Soloists, he believes that playing without a conductor gives youngsters the greatest possible opportunity to gain experience of being a musician. ‘When they play as a soloist with us, they learn how to communicate, how to lead and how to go through a piece without being led; and at the same time, when they are part of the ensemble, they learn how to listen and to adjust.

A conductor makes life easier, and therefore I think it’s a very healthy thing to work in a conductorless ensemble – where young players gain experience as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral musicians without being controlled or protected by a conductor.’

‘IN OUR ENSEMBLE, YOUNG PLAYERS GAIN EXPERIENCE AS SOLOISTS, CHAMBER MUSICIANS AND ORCHESTRAL MUSICIANS WITHOUT BEING CONTROLLED OR PROTECTED BY A CONDUCTOR’

LGT Young Soloists

PRISKA KETTERER CREDIT

Hugo Ticciati and O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra at Ulriksdal Palace Theatre, near Stockholm

TICCIATI PHOTO KAUPO KIKKAS. O/MODERNT PHOTO CHRISTOFFER HÄSTBACKA

The only limitation that may result from an orchestra not having a conductor would seem to be reduced range of repertoire. The role of conductor in its modern form did not exist until the 19th century, and conducting technique developed in reaction to the increasing complexity of scores (which began – among other things – to specify variations in tempo and nuance) and the ever expanding size of the orchestra. ‘There is a bracket of repertoire that possibly works best without a conductor,’ explains Gonley, ‘and there is a bracket that takes much more rehearsal time without a conductor than it does with one but can nonetheless be done conductorless – and maybe is more rewarding in the end. However, there is also repertoire that simply is not practical to attempt without a conductor, such as large symphonic pieces and complex rhythmical ones. They are pieces where musicians need support beyond what I can offer while I am playing myself.’

Yet for Hugo Ticciati, founder and artistic director of the Swedish string ensemble O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, who conducts from the violin, the word ‘conductorless’ should appear in inverted commas, as we tend to have an old, Romantic conception of what a conductor is: ‘Many of the great orchestras are essentially “conductorless” because despite their hierarchical structure, they are allowed to express themselves through the enabling capacity of the conductor. The critical element in all conducting is the energy of the conductor. The conductor does not have to wave their arms around; their magnetic personality and their aura do the work. Therefore there is not much of a difference whether you conduct from the violin or from the podium, or if you are a percussionist who is the energetic driving force behind the ensemble. I think the word “conductor” has a whole lot of associations that are possibly misleading.’

Hugo Ticciati of O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Nevertheless, playing in an orchestra without a conductor is a fresh and vibrant experience for many musicians, who appreciate the added responsibility that it offers. It releases various restrictions and allows a certain directness between the music and the players, who are required to expand their skill set by embracing new challenges. Orchestral musicians, soloists and composers enjoy this lack of barriers. ‘I can say that soloists and composers definitely love having that kind of directness with the players, that sense of back and forth,’ says Phillips.

‘And as good a rapport as one might enjoy with a conductor, without a conductor there is one less filter to go through for everyone.’

In the end, the reason for a performance working – either with or without a conductor – comes down to mutual respect and the support that musicians give to each other. ‘As a musician, you respond to the music; it’s like a give and take with the composer,’ continues Phillips. ‘Ultimately, when we’re performing, we’re not just recreating every detail that we rehearsed. There is this heightened sense of needing each other, and that we have to trust each other or it’s not going to work.

Each player’s feeling of ownership of the performance is certainly the most striking quality of conductorless ensembles, and one of the most rewarding things for a musician.’

This sense of ownership and pride in the performance has even inspired people outside the musical field to adopt the conductorless orchestra’s working model. ‘The concept of distributed leadership can easily be transferred to any company’s administration,’ says Alexander Scheirle, executive director of the Orpheus CO. ‘Because it gives the opportunity for everyone to contribute and feel like a part of the process, it is greatly fulfilling for anyone involved. If you have a boss who tells you what to do every step of the way, you are not contributing to your full potential and do not have the same sense of ownership of the end product. Referring to an orchestra without a conductor as “conductorless” might not be right, because it is actually conductorful; it is not leaderless, it is leaderful.’