From word to gesture: conveying the semantic nuances of a literary work in conducting

Noting the complexity and multifaceted nature of conducting art, the author emphasizes the need for a deep understanding of the historical and theoretical context of musical performance for the successful training of the conductor’s professional activity, setting the goal of mastering by students the methods of transferring the semantic nuances of the literary text in the conductor’s gesture and offer a step-by-step technology of effective work with the text in the preparation of choral performance by the conductor. In order to realize the set goal, we used methods of teaching conducting, comparative analysis of approaches to teaching conducting of vocal-choral music and interpretation of literary text in conducting gesture, which is a complex and insufficiently studied problem. The step-by-step technology of solving the creative problem of interpreting the semantic content of the text of a vocal-choral work in the conductor’s gesture is demonstrated in the mastering by foreign students of conducting choral works by Russian authors, which determines the novelty of the study. The results of the study demonstrate the necessity of special training for working with literary text in vocal-choral music, which expands the existing ideas about the methodology of teaching conducting. They can be used to develop new methodological recommendations for training conductors, with an emphasis on working with the literary text and conveying its semantic nuances through gesture.