conductor, n.Definitions

The Conductor is the musician most likely to get struck by lightning.

A Conductor is a man who would rather face the music than his audience.

Conductor is a man who has the distinct advantage of not being able to see the audience.

The Conductor is one who must give unmistakable and suggestive signals to the orchestra, not choreography to the audience.

A Conductor's whole duty is comprised in his ability to indicate the right tempo.

The Conductor is, when good, like good chauffeur; concentration, an incessant control of attention, and presence of mind; the conductor only has to add a little sense of music.

The Conductor is one for whom the chief requirement is that he be humble before the composer; that he never interpose himself between the music and the audience; that all his efforts, however strenuous or glamorous, be made in the service of the composer's meaning.

The Conductor's principal task is not to put himself in evidence but to disappear behind his functions as much as possible. We are pilots, not servants.