re: Are orchestral conductors full of shite?

I’ll add in some thoughts from someone who was a conducting major for a bit.

You develop a certain style of movement as a conductor over time. So your orchestra learns your style as you work with them and they register it automatically. How you flourish certain movements to indicate what you want with volume or how to end on a specific note. All those arm movements and wrist turns and flicks are thought out and developed over time.

A conductor spends hours upon hours with a score. You have to remember, they have to know every single note of every single instrument in the orchestra. And be able to give cues and marks to the end players. You’ll notice with some watching, the conductor usually is giving the cue for something a beat or two before the musicians actually hit it, in many cases. And as said above, most of this is just for reference for the musicians and show for the audience. You the audience subconsciously anticipate what’s coming becuse of the way the conductor is working.

And as stated above, most of the real work is done in rehearsal. At the professional level, most musicians have played the majority of the “master works” at one point and time in their life. And have listened to the majority of more. On top of that, they often aren’t just orchestra musicians. Many are teachers, and play in a smattering of other ensembles. They know thousands of pieces of work, at probably 80% accuracy.