Sir Adrian Boult explains his conducting technique (video)

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8 жыл бұрын

From a BBC documentary on Sir Adrian Boult (1889-1983).
I am an ardent admirer of Boult's interpretations.
Peter Heyworth wrote in The Observer: "From Arthur Nikisch he had early acquired an immaculate stick technique and was quietly scathing about conductors who used their anatomy to indicate their artistic requirements. [...] In an occupation ridden with inflated egos and circus tricksters Boult brought a rare probity to everything he undertook."
It is interesting that when one observes his conducting style, from the outside there is always calmness, elegance, self-control and economy of movement and gesture, but with this style he often achieved great results with the orchestra characterized by a warm, refined, living sound, full of expression and fire. Behind every work he conducted there was immense knowledge and thoroughness.
I think these principles also hold true for many of the truly great pianists of the past.

Пікірлер: 50

@scabbycatcat4202 6 жыл бұрын

In my opinion Boult was the finest of all the British conductors and one of the worlds finest.

@nikolazekic549 2 жыл бұрын

I love everything about this gentleman, including the received pronounciation he used... I have some 78s of him conducting Elgar's works... I am slowly digitising them, so that people can enjoy them...

@johncourneil7826 5 жыл бұрын

Yes, Nikisch, Walter and quite a few others have had a positive influence on him. But his conducting 'style' decidedly evolved in a personal way, powerful for sheer concentration and precision and, at the same time, 'minimalist' on gestures unlike the more 'boiling' Barbirolli to name one example. Sir Adrian will always remain one of the greatest musicians, for numerous reasons. We will continue to discover that greatness through the countless recordings he has done through the years as a treasure trove of musical legacy for all of us to hear. I like the fact that there can be a different approach to music, a la Boult vs the other equallly excellent Barbirolli, Beecham, Previn, etc...

@phillipecook3227 3 жыл бұрын

Have you ever seen Furtwangler? He had the physical coordination of a rag doll and yet the results ....

@vololibero8330 6 жыл бұрын

My favourite conductor without doubt.

@chriscann7627 3 жыл бұрын

What a marvellous piece of film - I was particularly struck by the slightly impish half-smile as he conducted the Holst.

@ritawing1064 5 жыл бұрын

I took part in performances of "Dream of Gerontius" with Sir Adrian, well remember the stick technique...and his reminiscences of Elgar!

@scabbycatcat4202 3 жыл бұрын

Ah yes , the Dream of Gerontius- to which Elgar wrote " this is the best of me ". I simply do not understand how a man of such GENIUS could produce a work of such CRAP !!! I have been a musician for over 50 years and studied all Elgars works. Yet Gerontius makes no sense to me at all , as well as other of my friends and colleagues feel the same way.

@ritawing1064 3 жыл бұрын

@@scabbycatcat4202 A lost zeitgeist, I think.

@snaaptaker 6 жыл бұрын

Wonderful! He's one of my very favorite conductors, too. Thanks much, Erwin. ☺

@alanwitton5980 2 жыл бұрын

A great conductor! We'll never see his like again

@andrewedwards6233 7 жыл бұрын

Sir Adrian was born just a short walk away from where I live.

@alexkije 5 жыл бұрын

Cheers for posting this.

@allenwilliams1306 2 жыл бұрын

Believe it or not, I did guess what Boult was conducting without hearing the music. You can see exactly what the music sounds like: now, what do I know that sounds like that? Elgar? No. Probably English, though... VW? Perhaps, but nothing springs to mind. Holst? AH! It's The Perfect Fool! It's a jolly good party game. Boult once visited the young Mark Elder in his dressing room after one of the latter's performances. Boult said “Ah-ha! I see you are one of the sweaty ones”. It seems to me that Boult's technique has the great advantage that when he did use his whole arm, this was so out of the ordinary that it was perfectly clear to the musicians that he meant them really to go for it. If a conductor is always waving his arms about, it is much less clear what he actually wants, and he has to resort to ludicrous grandiloquent gestures and melodramatic miming, sometimes jumping into the air, to get the point across, like (the almost always awful) Leonard Bernstein.

@paulprocopolis 8 жыл бұрын

Fascinating - and instructive!

@bobparsons77 4 жыл бұрын

He came to conduct the Bedford School Orchestra!!

@RobinBeaumont 6 жыл бұрын

it would be fantastic to see the whole of the documentary 'point of the stick'

@ggriglio 4 жыл бұрын

Highly underrated conductor. Here's a recording of the Enigma variations with the LSO, much worth listening to.

@scabbycatcat4202 3 жыл бұрын

Yes but that recording is not in the same league as the 1963 recording with the London PHILHARMONIC orchestra. There is no one , repeat NO ONE who brings a better climax to Nimrod than Boult in that recording. I have studied dozens of them.

@ggriglio 3 жыл бұрын

@@scabbycatcat4202 yes, that's a really great recording

@iwasglad122 2 жыл бұрын

According to Sir William McKie, Organist & Master of the Choristers, Westminster Abbey and Director of Music for the Queen's Coronation Service in 1953, Boult (who conducted the orchestral music before and after the actual service) summed up Walton's brand new Coronation Te Deum in one word, "PAGAN!" I wonder what he thought of Belshazzar's Feast???!!!

@leitfie3579 2 ай бұрын

Who knows? But he made a very good recording of it in the early 195os with Dennis Noble.

@fido652 2 жыл бұрын

Britten , according to the diaries, loathed every performance Boult ever gave.

@AustinArto 4 жыл бұрын

I have one of his sticks at home (a family heirloom), and I now understand so much more about how he used it, even in this short excerpt. I've searched for "The Point of the Stick" (a full documentary), but there is nothing online. Does anyone know of a resource?

@alialansari7046 4 жыл бұрын

You wouldn't by any chance think of selling that stick would you? 😋😋😋 If you ever consider please let me know. I'll make it worthwhile 😁 Thanks!

@AustinArto 4 жыл бұрын

@@alialansari7046 - It's a family heirloom; it's not for sale. Thanks for your interest, though. I view it very much as my grandmother's baton, and Sir Adrian as it's benefactor. Best wishes to you.

@tonarinototoro1455 6 ай бұрын

What are the dimensions of the baton? wood? Length etc thanks

@AustinArto 6 ай бұрын

@@tonarinototoro1455 - The baton is approximately 390 mm long, including the 72 mm long cork grip which has an approximate diameter of 18 mm with rounded ends. The wood is painted with cream gloss paint, rendering the wood species indeterminate. The paint is chipped in places, suggesting podium strikes. The grip was originally given a layer of rubber bands by Sir Adrian; these are long gone. The baton has developed a slight curvature with age; the curve is like that of a violin bow's arco relief.

@AustinArto 6 ай бұрын

@@tonarinototoro1455 - Some extra information: The full ~30-minyute video is now online with KZfaq. At the beginning of the video you have a close-up of Sir Adrian's baton, complete with his customary rubber bands. My stick is not the one shown; my grandmother's studies were from years before the film was made. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/aculla511JrZn6M.html

@phillipecook3227 3 жыл бұрын

I wish this had been much longer. It's remarkable to think his teacher was on working terms with Brahms, Wagner and Bruckner. I've just finished John Lucas's biography of Beecham; he and Boult were not on warm terms. Btw does anyone know who the orchestra is playing the excerpt from Perfect Fool?

@nikolazekic549 2 жыл бұрын

EDWARD ELGAR ENIGMA (variations on an original theme) Op.36 B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra Conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Recorded in Abbey Road studio no.1, for His Master's Voice, on three 78 RPM discs, DB 8068-8070, on 26. March 1936. Released in May of the same year. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gtycn7KanavMomg.html

@scabbycatcat4202 3 жыл бұрын

I thought it unforgivable for Todd Handley to comment " A great conductor yes, but not a great man " ! He did not really explain or elaborate on why he held such views. You should always be extremely careful about what you say about someone who is not here to defend themselves , that is if you have any decency at all about you.

@AlexanderVerney-Elliott-ep7dw 4 жыл бұрын

Boult was a great conductor; second-rate and third-rate conductors like Harding, Rattle, Thielemann, Nelsons and Dudamel need to watch this class in conducting and may learn something.....

@scabbycatcat4202 3 жыл бұрын

Quite a controversial comment. I would rather speak of " different " as opposed to second rate. There's many a recording I have dismissed as crap only to discover later that it does have its own DIFFERENT merits. Listen to Elgar march 4 conducted by Groves with the RLPO. Its exceptionally slow but note how after a few listens that Bass drum grows on you !!

@stevenj9970 10 ай бұрын

NAW, they won't learn from a great conductor, they've mostly learned from an 'acting' school....quite like the various soloisits of today...

@charlescoleman5509 6 жыл бұрын

Is that Vernon Handley narrating?

@robertfrankgill5962 6 жыл бұрын

Charles Coleman I wouldn't mind betting it is. I remember reading an article by Handley in which he is supposed to have said to Handley something along the lines of "You moved your foot just then. Was there any special reason for that? All very 'showy' but you shouldn't confuse the orchestra with needless gestures."

@tomgauterin1723 3 жыл бұрын

Yes, it is.

@juliahannant1923 2 күн бұрын

A remarkable likeness to Edward Elgar.

@johnschlesinger2009 2 ай бұрын

Richrd Strauss was even more minimalist in his approach.

@christopherrobinson3502 4 жыл бұрын

@stephenestall9044 2 жыл бұрын

A very individual conducting technique using the tips of two fingers - doesn't appeal to me and certainly nothing like Nikisch.

@herbertwells8757 7 жыл бұрын

Ah, yes, Sir Nigel Twitt-Thornwaite.

@leitfie3579 7 жыл бұрын

This, I think, is Glenn Gould's daft nickname for Boult ; a silly name for a very serious, effective and sometimes misunderstood musician.

@pianopera 7 жыл бұрын

Agreed. In fact, for me, Gould and his grotesque interpretations & ideas are much more a caricature than Sir Adrian's, who can stand the test of time.

@mrinman7407 7 жыл бұрын

Yes, Boult fits the stereotype caricatured so often by Arthur Lowe.

@phillipecook3227 3 жыл бұрын

As a pianist Gould was a genius but he was a lousy singer and an even worse comedian.

@andreaguarino8207 3 жыл бұрын

The best British conductor together with Barbirolli. Beecham is a fake

@hyweljames788 3 жыл бұрын

You should try listening again to Beecham’s recordings, of Mozart, of Haydn, of Bizet, of Puccini, of Delius. He was a magician. Different in many ways from Boult and Barbirolli, but equally as good and, frankly, more broadly sympathic to a wider range of composers. Having said that, I do not approve of “rating” one musician against another - the art of music is too wonderful for that! Have another listen...

@phillipecook3227 3 жыл бұрын

What???