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Showing results for tags 'crescendo'.
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Just polling the room... How dictatorial do you get with your markings? If you get too fussy and mark every possible tiny crescendo and accent, you run the risk of someone taking you absolutely literally and working so hard to recreate what you have indicated in the score that all the joy is sucked out of the performance. Or worse, an irritated conductor berating their group for enjoying themselves, and being moved to deviate from the markings. On the other hand, if you are too minimal in your directions, there is the inevitable raised hand at the back of the room every thirty seconds during rehearsal from the local ensemble pedant, wanting the conductor to specify all the details you have left out. (The answer to all such questions being, of course, just watch the conductor, but that doesn't stop people from asking the questions.) So out of curiosity, what do you do to try to find a balance? I generally mark the first few hairpins to remind musicians to work for a nice line, and then only mark major crescendos and diminuendos. I mark major dynamic shifts that are important for technical reasons. For example, if the sopranos need to be singing forte to help them soar up to a climactic high note, then everyone else needs to be singing loudly enough to support them, so I'll mark it. But small variations in tempo or dynamics, I tend to just leave to the discretion of the conductor and performers. Thoughts?
