The Composer-Conductor Figure between the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Roberto Illiano (ed) Pages: xxx + 534 p.Illustrations:25 b/w, 13 tables b/w., 1 musical example. Language(s):French. Publication Year:2026. ISBN: 978-2-503-62467-9. Brepols. Hardback - Summary Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many great musicians served as both composers and conductors, often conducting their own works or those of other composers. In the nineteenth century, it was common for a talented musician to be a skilled performer (often a pianist or violinist), composer and conductor. Notable figures such as Liszt, Wagner, Mahler and Strauss conducted their own works to promote them and ensure their artistic integrity. Conducting was seen as a natural extension of musical creation rather than a separate career. However, the role of the conductor-composer changed significantly between these two centuries, reflecting the increasing complexity of music, the expansion of the orchestra, and above all, the emergence of conducting as a highly specialised and autonomous profession. Furthermore, while composer-conductors often took great interpretative liberties in the nineteenth century, an ideal of fidelity to the score slowly developed in the twentieth century. This was partly because twentieth-century scores required a much higher level of rhythmic precision and clarity of execution, favouring the development of rigorous conducting techniques. In this volume, twenty-four authors dedicate their chapters to the most important composer-conductors of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, addressing them from various perspectives, including gesture, orchestral repertoire, reception, legacy, reputation, press criticism and their role in promoting new music. TABLE OF CONTENTS Roberto Illiano, Preface Massimiliano Locanto, The Composer on the Podium: A Dual or a Multifaceted Figure? Early Nineteenth-Century Composer-Conductors Samuel T. Nemeth Berlioz Conducting Berlioz’s Orchestra: Composer Stewardship, Sonic Control, and the ‘Monster Concerts’ Siegwart Reichwald Building Community: Felix Mendelssohn, the Rise of the Modern Orchestra, and the Expanding Role of the Conductor Jacques Dupuis Robert Schumann’s Blithe Conducting? Self-Determination, Nationalism and Musical Work Mid-Nineteenth-Century Perspectives Donna M. Di Grazia Franz Liszt as Conductor, as Interpreter: Perspectives on Sources and Scholarship José Ignacio Suárez García Wagner Conducts in Paris: A Reinterpretation of the Concerts at the Théâtre-Italien (1860) Jacquelyn Sholes Brahms as a Conductor: Fraternalism, Antiquarianism, and Other Points of Intersection with Brahms the Composer Michael Stegemann «An iron will, an invincible arm»: Camille Saint-Saëns as Conductor Fin-de-siècle Composer-Conductors James L. Zychowicz Mahler at the Podium: The Composer-Conductor Reinvented for a New Century Faith Thompson Gabriel Pierné at the Concerts Colonne and Beyond Vadym Rakochi Seeing the Invisible: Strauss the Composer – Strauss the Conductor Vera Val’kova Sergey Rachmaninoff the Conductor: The Paradoxes of an Artistic Career Twentieth-Century Composer-Conductors Alison Sanders McFarland Racing through London and Mars: Holst the Pedagogue and Conductor Renata Suchowiejko A Life in Music through Turbulent Times: The Conducting Career of Grzegorz Fitelberg (1879-1953) Mila De Santis Alfredo Casella: Conductor between Two Worlds Barbara L. Kelly Performing Internationalism: Eugene Goossens’s Advocacy for New Music Carol A. Hess «I Started Late; It’s a Passion Now»: Aaron Copland’s Conducting Career Kevin Salfen Lessons from the Podium: Britten’s Conducting Education Paul R. Laird Composing vs Conducting: Leonard Bernstein’s Lifelong Struggle Levon Hakobian Gunther Schuller, a «Compleat» Musician Chloë Rouge Presences and Absences. Pierre Boulez’s Schedules: Towards an Analysis of Pluri-Activity Abstracts and Biographies Index of Names.…