Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Expressive conducting gestures: Reflections on the function of the left hand
Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Department of Composition and Conducting.
2017 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE creditsStudent thesis [Artistic work]
Abstract [en]

This thesis will explore the function of the conductor’s left hand, with emphasis on its expressive possibilities and the gestures. In the first chapter, the role of the conductor is discussed, and some problems around the field of expressive gestures are brought up.

In the second chapter, I present the history of conducting, or rather the history of musical leadership, as the practice of conducting we are familiar with today began in the late 19th Century. In this chapter, I also include some paragraphs about gesture and its role and function outside of musical leadership, such as public speaking.

In chapter three, I examine a selection of instruction books and how they treat the use of the left hand. During the work on this material I found several quotations and thoughts from conductors, in letters and interviews, presented in chapter four. This is interesting for this study, because it offers the personal opinions and experiences of well-established conductors and conducting teachers. It also shows how the opinions on the use of the left hand have changed over the past century.

Chapter five is a lengthy chapter of research on this topic. Not all is directly connected to the left hand, but all is in connection to gesture in some way.

These chapters form the basis of a discussion, where findings in previous chapters are pointed out and debated, and the authors personal opinion is presented. At the end follows suggestions on how this topic can be further researched and how one can create a repertoire of expressive gestures.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2017. , p. 48
Keywords [en]
conductor, conducting, left-hand, expressive gestures
National Category
Music
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kmh:diva-2396OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kmh-2396DiVA, id: diva2:1099047
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2017-05-29 Created: 2017-05-29 Last updated: 2017-05-29Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(2356 kB)7879 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 2356 kBChecksum SHA-512
f902991f267a28eae7dadeba6594c12ddd3365404ab65d6c5d486631590dee3566c8e405a245956acb92f1f89ef19cd7c394934e9ead2da9417b0a18603df9e3
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf
fulltext(116 kB)115 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT02.pdfFile size 116 kBChecksum SHA-512
58f7c759fd1aa6fadbda0a7965a6e8756ff8600273d1f4b58a24bb7bd91f1e5f648e6fd70c77e607404f63af50b65e3799f56f3c046f26ef136dc24510e01e74
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

By organisation
Department of Composition and Conducting
Music

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 7994 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

urn-nbn

Altmetric score

urn-nbn
Total: 1100 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf