Without A Conductor Poem by gershon hepner

Without conductors' help we need to feel
the beat unaided, not depending on a baton.
Our music in that way becomes more real
and natural, as if it's silk not satin,
produced by worms that live inside our brains,
producing notes that we all have to weave
ourselves with all our friends, producing chains
that we know how to tie, like Adam, Eve
within the Garden. They had no conductor,
although, when told about their grave mistake,
they had to start again with an Instructor.
We will not need one if we stay awake,
while making sure our conduct is not merely
personal. It has to sense the beat
of others while in unison, sincerely
as animals all do when they're in heat.

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim writes about the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in the WSJ,3/22/12 ('A Personal Code of Conduct') :

Q: What is the difference between a symphony orchestra and a freight train?
A: The freight train needs a conductor.
It's an old joke and mild compared to other conductor jokes that make the rounds of professional orchestras: most, like lawyer jokes, imagine a violent end for their subject. But if the joke has lost its subversive bite, it is thanks in part to an ensemble that,40 years ago, took the inherent question and turned it around to ask how a conductorless orchestra could work—and sound….
Mr. [Gabriel] Kahane [composer-in-residence], a composer with one foot in the world of pop music, says he was struck by the orchestra's exceptional sense of rhythm. 'There is occasional laziness in American orchestral playing, because people are just waiting for the downbeat, ' he says. 'With the Orpheus the rhythmic values are really profound, because they take responsibility for the moment-to-moment music-making.'…
For the orchestra's members, Mr. [Ronnie] Bauch [violinist] says, playing without a conductor 'was never a gimmick. It was always about making the best possible music.' He remembers the first time the orchestra performed the Eroica Symphony, with a pared-down ensemble similar in size to the one Beethoven used. 'It was eye-opening, ' he says. 'Without that giant carpet of strings in front, the wind writing, which was so revelatory, came to the fore.' Ms. Meell says she experienced a similar sense of revelation in a performance of Mahler's Fourth. Played like chamber music by an ensemble of equals, she says, even the great warhorses of the Romantic repertoire take on a new character: 'It becomes personal.'