“As a chief needs men, so men need a chief”

Abstract

Since the eighteenth century, the role of the orchestra conductor has continuously evolved in step with changes in the social world. But the authority figure the conductor has represented since the historic greats remains deeply engraved in our collective imagination, at the risk of ordaining the conductor an ideal type figure—or sole figure of musical authority—and eclipsing the complexity and diversity of forms of power that exist in music groups today. Here, we will attempt to counter this tendency by examining the matter of musical direction from a psychosocial perspective, that of the “small groups” that all musical ensembles constitute by definition—dynamic entities whose fate cannot be reduced to the sum of its members’ individualities. We will set forth the results of an interview-based study of musicians, mostly “serious amateurs” or “semi-professionals”, which brings to light the variety of strategies and rationales used to ensure both musical cohesion within musical ensembles, and the handling of other tasks associated with the musical activity. Of these various rationales, that based on the musical text itself is particularly powerful: when the musical text attributes musical roles that are to some degree predefined, practicing music as a group involves adhering to a psychosocial structure that is independent of the individualities present, but not deterministic. Thus, the musical text can be viewed as a non-neutral mediator inherent to socio-musical interactions.