"Keeping the Beat: Custom-Made Conducting Batons"
A good conductor can lead an orchestra with almost anything — even a chopstick. Why, then, in this age of cheap manufacturing, are handmade, customized batons still in demand?
Like many people, I imagined that conducting batons—when I thought about them at all—had been around forever. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven… all must have raised those delicate wands into the air, paused briefly, then ignited their orchestras with a flick of their wrists. Right?
Wrong. Bach likely conducted with his hands, or, like Beethoven, waved a rolled-up piece of sheet music. The first conductor to use anything like a modern baton may have been Jean Baptiste Lully, a 17th-century French Baroque composer. Lully signaled his orchestra’s beat with a long wooden staff, which he thumped on the floor for emphasis. On one occasion he missed the floor, and accidentally stabbed his foot; he died of gangrene several months later.
The conducting baton as we know it today—a delicate white spindle, counterbalanced with a handle of cork or wood—originated in the mid-1960s, an inspiration of Minnesota conductor Charles Olson. “At the time,” states the Custom Batons website, “conductors everywhere were accustomed to using any old stick as a baton.”
Conducting itself dates back to at least 2700 B.C. Ancient Sumerian artworks show rows of singers flanked by “time beaters” who may have clapped to keep the chorus synchronized. It was not until the early 19th century that orchestras and their scores became complicated enough to require a standing leader, herding the many instrumentalists into a cohesive whole.
Today, the international music community requires thousands of batons every year. They’re sold to high schools, universities, symphonies, bandleaders, and music directors from Alaska to Zanzibar.
For the complete story, see “Keeping the Beat: Custom-made Conducting Batons,” written by Jeff Greenwald.
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Interestingly enough, a good conductor doesn't need a baton to direct the orchestra. All they need is a pair of hands, One to keep the tempo and one to indicate how loud or soft to play.
Interesting article, thank you!