Conducting

The concert is ready to begin. The lights go down, the audience muffles the last few coughs and the program rustling gradually subsides, then a brief moment of complete silence…., The conductor’s baton raised in preparation. A 100 pairs of eyes watch the maestro intently, their finely tuned instruments at the ready, many of them worth as much as your house, each musician eagerly anticipating the downbeat, that simple gesture indicating it’s time to begin blowing, bowing, plucking and striking their instruments.

The downbeat finally arrives and the sound emanating from this intricate finely tuned musical machine washes over the maestro, his arms open in a gesture of welcome to the instantaneous voluptuous heavenly sonic massage. The first time a conductor experiences this truly wonderful sensation, they are humbled by it. But after a while, all humility is forgotten and the conductor begins to believe that he/she is actually making the sounds coming from this army of musical crusaders. In their mind, it goes something like this: God —> Beethoven —> Conductor —> Orchestra. The maestro receiving musical messages from long dead Beethoven and only one step removed from the almighty.