The State of Being in combination with Anatomical Exercises

For the last 10 years I have had a strong focus on the "body instrument", both through my conducting and through my teaching at Norwegian Academy of Music or at universities and international masterclasses in foreign countries. In addition to eyes, mimic, facial expression and movements with body, head, arms, wrists, hands and fingers, the expression “the body instrument” also includes the level of the mental and musical presence of the moment and hence, the quality of non-verbal communication.

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As described in Enclosure 6, the goal and the purpose of The Anatomy of Conducting is to facilitate and enhance the communication with the musicians by giving the conductor a tool, or a conducting grammar. The two main principles of the Anatomy are a) leaving out unnecessary beats (but not the pulse!) and b) applying beating patterns with emphasize on sideways movements. When mastering this grammar and then forgetting it, the music making between the conductor and the orchestra can be more refreshing and spontaneous, with a large degree of gestural freedom on top of the underlying pulse and beating patterns.

By applying the Anatomical system into a musical context, the conductor’s understanding of the necessity of musical presence will emerge in the absence of too much beating. The change from beating to being is therefore an ultimate essence in the art of conducting, and the combination of being and necessary beating works together symbiotically. As a consequence, the orchestra will play without too much gestural interference. This state of being is the key to the deep communication between the conductor and the orchestra, that is prerequisite in order to make music together.

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An adequate and ultimate combination of being – beating gives the conductor and the musicians the opportunity to create a “space” between them, in which the music emerges and becomes a common achievement. In this “space”, the music itself becomes the subject, and the hierarchic context where “orchestra does what conductor says” becomes non-existing.

The conductor is still the one who is responsible for laying the ground by initiating musical aspects and qualities, but beyond that, the orchestra takes the responsibility. They play by themselves, together with the conductor. This “State of Being” is the key to the deep communication between the conductor and the orchestra that is prerequisite for making music together. Through this combination of being and beating, it is possible to obtain a collaborative constellation where music making to a larger degree happens or emerges rather than a situation where the conductor tries to make it happen, independently of style and character.  What should be taken into consideration is the fact that, sometimes the conductor’s movement emerges as response to the sound produced by the musicians. 

Therefore, one can talk about a “meeting” between two types of sound sources; the conductor’s inner sound and the responding sound produced by the orchestra. The conductor’s task is to handle the collision between the sound sources with ease, clarity and presence, and with a free and non-restricted and non-constrained body language and repertoire of movements in the non-verbal communication context. One approach to this aspect has been my intensive work with the movement system of Qigong.