conducting

In music, the direction of a performance by visual gestures. Groups of more than about six performers have nearly always needed someone to ensure ensemble and consistency of interpretation, and there is iconographic evidence of conductors in Egypt and Sumeria from the third millennium BC, just as there is for medieval chant choirs. With the rise of written polyphony, however, ensembles tended to be small and musical direction normally lay in the hands of a leading performer – in the baroque era often controlling the ensemble from an organ, harpsichord, or (particularly in classical music) from the violin. Conducting with a baton as an independent activity arose mainly in the 19th century, particularly with Gasparo Spontini, Ludwig Spohr, and Felix Mendelssohn; and the earliest professional career conductor seems to have been Otto Nicolai (1810–1849). Until the 20th century the most important conductors were usually primarily composers.