Free lessonLesson 1 of 14ConductingIntermediate

Bernard Haitnik introduction

Bernard Haitink opens his masterclass on Brahms's Third Symphony - a work he calls problematic but wonderful - with six conductors set to take the podium.

Part of the courseBrahms - Symphony No 314 lessons (3h 22m)

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14 lessons (3h 22m) · 1 free
    • 01. Bernard Haitnik introduction

      You are here

      1:28

    • 02. Allegro Con Brio - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Thomas Blunt

      5:54

    • 03. Allegro Con Brio - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Leo McFall

      9:35

    • 04. Allegro Con Brio - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Timothy Henty

      19:49

    • 05. Allegro Con Brio - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Karim Said

      10:54

    • 06. Allegro Con Brio - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Michael Young

      15:03

    • 07. Andante - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Timothy Henty

      18:49

    • 08. Andante - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Michael Young

      20:20

    • 09. Poco Allegretto - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Anne-Marie Granau

      21:37

    • 10. Poco Allegretto - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Leo McFall

      7:02

    • 11. Allegro - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Leo McFall

      10:10

    • 12. Allegro - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Karim Said

      7:52

    • 13. Allegro - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Thomas Blunt

      24:02

    • 14. Allegro - Bernard Haitnik gives his anaklysis and feedback to Anne-Marie hGranau

      29:48

Lesson transcript

Understanding Conducting Through the Third Symphony

Hello. Nice to see you.

One Symphony, Six Conductors

As a matter of fact, seven. But I will not conduct. We come together here to try out several aspects of conducting with six conductors.

The Challenge of Conducting

The fun of conducting is that, once you are in an orchestra, and I was myself in an orchestra, one thinks it is easy. The moment you are standing there, it is really difficult. So keep that in mind.

A Problematic Work for Conductors

The Third Symphony is for us all, and I mean us conductors, and maybe not only first conductors, a very problematic work.

A Wonderful Piece to Start With

It's a wonderful piece to begin with. It has this very interesting division:

  • Purely Symphonic: This means huge orchestral outbursts.
  • Intimate Chamber Music: Then all of a sudden, it falls back into the most intimate chamber music.

This makes it difficult to perform. Because as a conductor, as a musician, as a performer, you have to understand both aspects.

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Meet your guru

Bernard Haitink

Bernard Haitink

With an international conducting career that has spanned more than five decades, Amsterdam-born Bernard Haitink is one of today's most celebrated conductors.

Appointed Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the beginning of the 2006-7 season, he has led many of the world's major orchestras, including more than 25 years at the helm of the Royal Concertgebouw as its music director. In addition, Mr Haitink has previously held posts as music director of the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and the London Philharmonic. He is Conductor Laureate of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Conductor Emeritus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and an honorary member of the Berlin Philharmonic. He has made frequent guest appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio, London Symphony and other leading orchestras.

Mr Haitink has recorded widely for the Phillips, Decca and EMI labels, including complete cycles of Mahler, Bruckner, and Schumann symphonies with the Concertgebouw and extensive repertoire with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His most recent recordings are the complete Brahms and Beethoven symphonies with the London Symphony Orchestra on the LSO Live label. His discography also includes many opera recordings with the Royal Opera and Glyndebourne, as well as with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and Dresden Staatskapelle. Mr Haitink's recording of Janacek's Jenufa with the orchestra, soloists, and chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden received a Grammy Award for best opera recording in 2004.

Mr Haitink has received many international awards in recognition of his services to music, including both an honorary Knighthood and the Companion of Honour in the United Kingdom, and the House Order of Orange-Nassau in the Netherlands. He was named Musical America's "Musician of the Year" for 2007.

In his MusicGurus course on Brahms' Symphony No. 3, Haitink draws on that lifetime at the podium to take you deep inside the score - how he shapes its phrasing, balance, tempo and structure - offering rare insight into how one of the great conductors reads and brings a Brahms symphony to life, whether you are a conductor, an orchestral player or a passionate listener.

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