The Conductor

The person in charge of leading an orchestra is called a conductor. Their task is to lead their orchestra by visual means, i.e., hand and body gestures, as well as facial expressions. The conductor conveys to the musicians the tempo and the volume of any part of a composition. The conductor has at their disposal a score, a special sheet music of the piece in question which contains the parts of all the various instruments involved, while the individual musicians’ sheets only contain their own parts. With the full orchestra score the conductor is able to interpret the composer’s expectations and, in a way, ‘play’ their own immense, polyphonic instrument, as it were – the orchestra. Before a public concert, the conductor trains their orchestra and goes over any matters regarding the interpretation of the piece.