The conductor's score analysis for performance: Past and present trends

The purpose of this study is to survey the development of analysis and conducting into what has become the process of conductor's score analysis for performance with focus on trends as they exist in conductors of both the past and the present. The study will open with surveys of the histories of the two fields of analysis and conducting, and the evolution of conductor's score analysis for performance. It will then utilize the example of one particular work, J. S. Bach's Magnificat in D, BWV 243. Historical investigation will show how the work has been studied with regard to implications for performance through writings by both theorists and conductors. The examples will show how discussions on performance have evolved. Focus of the final section of the study is on current trends of analysis for performance as exhibited through interviews with twelve selected present-day American conductors. Varied styles and levels of preparation are revealed.;The diversity of styles and levels of preparation found in the analysis and score preparation used by various established conductors of both the past and the present will demonstrate first that the process itself enhances the level of understanding of the composer's score. Furthermore, the interviews will articulate the fact that what works for one successful conductor does not necessarily work equally well for another, and no one procedure will be found successful in every situation.