In my continuing efforts to widen my perspective I decided to answer a question that has nagged me for as long as I can remember.
What exactly is that thing the conductor is waving when I attend the symphony and whats the point?
From Wikipedia the baton is used “exaggerate and enhance manual and bodily movements. They are generally made of a light wood, fiberglass or carbon fiber which is tapered to a grip shaped like a pear, drop, cylinder etc, usually of cork or wood”- fair enough.
The grip can be customized and they are pretty cheap.
Online you can pick one up for like $2.00. but of course they range to the hundreds.
Cases cost more, suppose its baton envy status stuff.
But why the show? Why is the conductor up there flapping around like a lunatic pointing and waiving and yet the musicians never really seem to look at him.
Is it all just for show?
Leonard Bernstein said ‘if one [the conductor] uses a baton, the baton itself must be a living thing, charged with a kind of electricity, which makes it an instrument of meaning in its tiniest movement. If the conductor does not use a baton, his hands must do the job with equal clarity. But baton or no baton, his gestures must be first and always meaningful in terms of the music’.
From what I can gather the conductor pretty much is the Plan B.
Keeping tempo, sending cues and flapping about.
Using his baton the conductor commands respect.
The wand is the focal point of the orchestra and audience relationship.
It merges the two, sometimes flamboyantly other times more discreetly. Consistent and constant consideration to rhythm is its primary function.
After all, most standing Ovations occur when the baton is laid to rest.
So there you have it.
Is it mandatory?
No not at all, some smaller groups use only a hand to conduct, but a great thing to have and a powerful thing at that.