Igor Stravinsky, often considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century, influencing other legendary composers such as Aaron Copeland, observed that “conducting orchestra, like politics, rarely attracts original minds.” His strong rhetoric undoubtedly conveyed the idea that conductors may be “unequipped” and ultimately unqualified to do their jobs while maintaining their position of “arbitrary authority” because they are good at “power politics ”. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In addition to the last statement, from the beginning of the document it is clear that, according to Stravinsky, politics and conduct have much in common. In the first sentence, he states that both are "more for the creation of careers and the exploitation of personalities than a profession for the application of an exact and standardized discipline", meaning that there is no certain set of rules to be respected. when he conducts music or politics, which also means that he alludes to the belief that both are informal in nature, as the lack of a defined set of rules and mannerisms constitutes informality. He goes on to say that “women in society (including critics) )” are more akin to observing aspects of the conductor other than his “musical qualities.” This could be a possible clue leading to the belief that perhaps critics and other spectators are more amused by the informality they see leading the orchestra than by the musicians themselves. To elaborate, it can also be said that Stravinsky's goal was to convey the idea that in this way the conductor distracts the audience and transforms it from a listener to a spectator. It can therefore be deduced that he is not only comparing conducting and politics, but is also juxtaposing conductors and directed musicians because he states that a conductor may be “less equipped for his job than his musicians” , which helps drive home the point that a conductor holds a less valuable position than those who actually play. He then adds that “his [the conductor's] career does not depend” on the musicians, an almost ironic statement considering that a conductor is usually held in the highest esteem when he may be an “incomplete musician”. “As the second paragraph of the document emerges, Mr. Stravinsky diagnoses the hosts with “ego disease,” declaring that it was “naturally high from the beginning,” further stating that “the disease grows like a tropical weed under the sun of pandering to the public”, which is a metaphor that symbolizes the way in which the public contributes to the growing popularity of this phenomenon; how they practically encourage the conductor "to impose a purely selfish, false and arbitrary authority" and how they seem to exaggerate the "real value" of the conductor "as opposed to the world of music". attention-seeking values, as Stravinsky recalls how “the cult of the 'great' conductor also tends to replace research with listening,” further elaborating that even “reviewers who habitually fall into the trap of describing the appearance of a director rather than the way he makes the music sound” and that “the important part of the performance becomes the gesture”. His point was that people rely too much on the way the conductor, who knows he is holding the audience's attention, gives directions as to how the piece should be interpreted, rather than each individual interpreting the piece in their own way . mind: This is just a.”