ConductIT Workbook

You will find most of the excerpts from the Workbook within the Technique chapters of the Study Room, with detailed explanations of the context for which they are designed.

First, here you will find in tab 1, a list of the excerpts contained in the workbook with a brief explanation of the purpose of each. Tab 2 shows all the scores collected in downloadable pdf files. Three of the excerpts are written for a larger ensemble (although there are quartet or quartet + piano versions of these as well). The parts for those larger ensemble versions are shown in Workbook 45, 46 and 47.

Each workbook excerpt has video demonstrations, and you can find them in this playlist.

YouTube playlist of all excerpts: ConductIT Workbook Playlist

Tip: YouTube doesn’t make it easy to search within a playlist, but if you type ctrl+F on a PC or command+F on a Mac, you can search by the workbook number, or excerpt title.

ConductIT Workbooks
List of excerpts

ConductIT Workbook Scores
to download

Workbook
45

Workbook
46

Workbook
47

1.	Tchaikovsky	Overture from Romeo and Juliet
		Basic: Legato beating in 4/4 time Advanced: conducting the rhythm of the music, not the pattern; phrasing
2.	Mendelssohn	Symphony No.3, 1st movement
		Basic: Leagto beating in 3/4 time, crescendo and diminuendo Advanced: considering dynamic structure and articulation
3.	Tchaikovsky	Overture from the Nutcracker
		Basic: Staccato beating in 2/4 time Advanced: Indicating accents; considering if all beats are necessary
4.	Dvořák	Symphony No.8, 1st movement
		Basic: Legato beating in 2 pattern Advanced: phrasing; phrases beginning with anacrusis
5.	Mussorgsky	‘The Old Castle’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
		Basic: legato beating in compound time Advanced: conducting accompaniment lines
6.	Hesketh	‘Catching of Quails’ from Danceries
		Basic: conducting in 1, Advanced: syncopations; considering articulations when in 1
7.	Beethoven	Symphony No.2, 3rd movement
		Basic: conducting in 1, : subito dynamic changes
8.	Shostakovich	Symphony No.5, 3rd movement
		Basic: beginning on beat 2 of the measure Advanced: soft dynamics in slow tempo; clarity of intention in a musical sense rather than a beating sense
9.	Bizet	Prelude from L’Arlésienne Suite No.1
		Basic: beginning on beat 3 of the measure Advanced: conducting the same music in different characters
10.	Holst	Suite No.1 in Eb, 3rd movement
		Basic: beginning on beat 2 of alla breve Advanced: accents on weak beats
11.	Grainger	‘The Brisk Young Sailor’ from Lincolnshire Posy
		Basic: beginning on an offbeat Advanced: rapidly changing articulations
12.	Mozart	Symphony No.40, 3rd movement
		Basic: beginning in 1 with an upbeat Advanced: phrasing in 1
13.	Bach	Ein fest Burg ist unser Gott, 8th movement
		Basic: dealing with fermatas in different ways Advanced: phrasing and interpretation of music with very little notation
14.	Smith	The Star Spangled Banner
		Basic: fermatas
15.	Mussorgsky	‘Catacombs’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
		Basic: fermatasAdvanced: sustaining loud dynamics; subito dynamic changes
16.	Haydn	Symphony No.94, ‘Surprise’, 2nd movement
		Basic: sudden and surprising dynamic changes Advanced: co-ordinating arco and pizzicato
17.	Mozart	Overture from The Magic Flute
		Basic: subito dynamic changes on offbeats Advanced: the difference between forte and sforzato
18.	Elgar	Pomp and Circumstance March No.1
		Basic: slowing down and establishing a new tempo Advanced: articulation; beginning loud on an offbeat
19.	Grieg	‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ from Peer Gynt Suite No.1
		Basic: speeding up and transitioning into a new pattern
20.	Holst	Suite No.2 in F, 2nd movement, ‘Song without words’
		Basic: phrasing when very little information is given by the composer Advanced: accompanying a solo line
21.	Elgar	Theme from Enigma Variations
		Basic: tempo rubato Advanced: articulation; knowing a particular composer’s language
22.	Shostakovich	Waltz 2 from Jazz Suite No.2
		Basic: conducting a waltz Advanced: ‘dancing’ with a soloist and interpreting
23.	Mahler	Symphony No.1, 2nd movement
		Basic: conducting in 1 in quite a slow tempo Advanced: articulation and dynamics; hinting at subdivision within the pattern
24.	Mussorgsky	‘Promenade I’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
		Basic: 5 and 6 patterns Advanced: the different dynamics and characters of the 3 Promenades
25.	Mussorgsky	‘Promenade II’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
26.	Mussorgsky	‘Promenade III’ from Pictures at an Exhibition
27.	Hesketh	‘My Lady’s Rest’ from Danceries
		Basic: slow music in 6 Advanced: decision making about which line to conduct; rehearsal strategy
28.	Bernstein	Slava!
		Basic: beating in 7/8 Advanced: what value of preparatory beat to give; rehearsal strategy
29.	Tchaikovsky	Symphony No.6, 2nd movement
		Basic: beating a 5 pattern in 2 Advanced: decision making; conducting expressively in irregular meters
30.	Holst	Suite No.2 in F, 3rd movement, ‘Song of the Blacksmith’
		Basic: mixed meters Advanced: controlling music with many beats that nobody plays on
31.	Bernstein	‘America’ from West Side Story
		Basic: mixed meters Advanced: what value of preparatory beat to give; rehearsal strategy; characterisation
32.	ConductIT	Mocktet
		Basic: complex mixed meters Advanced: marking the score; transition to a new tempo
33.	Rossini	Overture from The Barber of Seville
		Basic: subdividing Advanced: combining subdivision with bigger beats; placement of very short upbeat notes
34.	Debussy	Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
		Basic: subdividing Advanced: leaving a soloist to be free but everyone else knowing where they are; mix of subdividing and not
35.	Grainger	‘Lord Melbourne’ from Lincolnshire Posy
		Basic: aleatoric music Advanced: decision making; clarity
36.	ConductIT	Accents and Augurs
		Basic: accents on and off the beat
37.	Sibelius	Finlandia
		Basic: accents on weak beats Advanced: structuring loud dynamcs and accents
38.	Brahms	Hungarian Dance No.5
		Basic: changing between beating in 2 and 1 Advanced: accompanying a solo line; interpretations and traditions
39.	Beethoven	Symphony No.1, 4th movement
		Basic: transition from slow introduction to fast section Advanced: how the preparatory gesture can connect to a variety of rhythmic ideas
40.	Beethoven	Symphony No.3, 1st movement
		Basic: decision making about tempo and what to beat Advanced: interpretation; trusting the musicians; loud dynamics versus accents
41.	Beethoven	Symphony No.5, 1st movement
		Basic: starting Beethoven 5 Advanced: starting Beethoven 5!
42.	Dvořák	Symphony No.9, 1st movement
		Basic: decisions about subdividing Advanced: wide variety of dynamic and articulation
43.	Strauss II	The Blue Danube
		Basic: conducting Viennese waltzes Advanced: unwritten traditions
44.	Verdi	Overture from La Forza del Destino (abridged quartet version)Basic: transitions Advanced: characterising such dramatic music that is constantly changing character
45.	Brahms	Symphony No.1, 4th movement (ensemble version)Basic: transitions Advanced: tempo decisions; rubato
45b.	Brahms	Symphony No.1, 4th movement (quartet & piano version)
46.	Brahms	Symphony No.3, 1st movement (ensemble version)
		Basic: controlling music in big beats which has a lot of inner rhythm Advanced: conducting the line that helps the music the most
46b.	Brahms	Symphony No.3, 1st movement (quartet & piano version)
47.	Verdi	Overture from La Forza del Destino (complete ensemble version)
48.	ConductIT	L’histoire du Brahms
		Basic: complex meters where the ‘groove’ doesn’t match the patterns Advanced: characterising complex music
49.	Brahms	Symphony No.1, 1st movement
		Basic: keeping a sense of line when there are many beats Advanced: who to conduct; tempo decisions and their effect

Workbook Scores

Below is a list of links to all the scores excerpts used in the ConductIT workbook collection: