Conductor
The best question I was ever asked:
Are you a musician standing on the podium? or are you only a conductor?
The teacher was making a point.
His view is that conductors are first excellent musicians - not people with conductor-sized ambition; not people only with “ideas” about music but who have zero relevant playing or singing experience; not people who think that being a conductor is about hanging on to the coat-tails of another conductor to build a career.
Excellent musicians have great playing/singing skills; excellent musicians understand form; excellent musicians understand harmonic analysis; excellent musicians understand counterpoint; excellent musicians have great ears; excellent musicians can completely analyze their music. I trained with great conducting teachers who all believed this: Anthony Maeillo at George Mason University, Gustave Meier at Peabody Conservatory, and Colin Metters at the Royal Academy of Music.
Do not make your first choice for learning your music to sit down and conduct along to various recordings. There is nothing about that which can be recommended to strengthen your invidividual musicianship, or your individual musical choices. If you are first a parrot of others ideas, work on your skills until you are no longer first a parrot. If you are not a musician first, then you can not be a conductor at all.
It’s possible to start here:
1) Scan the score (try starting at the end of movements, and scan backwards to the beginning. Sometimes what the composer does at the end of the piece is incredibly informative about the journey the composer is taking with the middle material, and how complex or simple the beginning material may be in comparison).
2) Mark out obvious points of structure. At these obvious structure points, mark in the general key area.
3) Complete a harmonic analysis of all movements. All bars. All half-bars and beats if it’s a dense harmonic structure. Yes, this will take you a LOT of time.
4). At this point, you will have the structural and harmonic analysis completed. Now is a good time to study a bit of the history of the composer, and place the composition within the time-line of other compositional works by the composer, and within the timeline of works by other composers.
5) Time to get back to analysis. Make a sketch of the structure of each moment in a notebook. Sketch out the various themes, and note their key areas. You’ll begin to see the harmonic rotation of the key areas of the themes, and it will be apparent if the composer is rotating the harmonic distance of the themes to a wide degree, or only to a relatively close degree. What does this tell you about the pacing of the piece?
6). It’s helpful to note at this point, as well in the notebook, if the moments contain any particular instrumental solos, or other unique aspects that are worth remembering in terms of texture or unique individuality.
7) Now it’s time for the detail work. In each movement, begin to sort out melody, countermelody, counterpuntal work, particular rhythmic elements that create the motor for the harmonic movement you analyzed, and other important aspects of texture. Are there any compelling things that deserve deeper thought, like the use of range, or extended techniques, or different instruments being used for similar material in an exposition or recapitulation, or needing to blend colors across different sections?
8) Separate out the articulations and how heavy or daring they should be in regards to total ensemble.
9) Consider the relative dynamic and relative color of each section, in regards to ensemble.
10) Make your detailed musical decisions.
One of the most important things for every conductor to determine is what is individual within the ensemble, and what is relational. Rehearsals are pretty exciting for everyone if you already have these questions answered before you step on the podium. If not, most musicians will be bored with you.
You’re still not conducting to other conductor’s recordings.. There is not point in that. But after all your ideas are set and your work is done, then consider discovering what other conductors had to say about the piece, and the musical decisions they made..
By the way, in between all this time - it is imperative that you build a legible and articulate conducting technique. Your players have all their technical ability. You should too.