document_title: Uncle Ben

question_text: who killed uncle ben in the amazing spider man

text: Uncle Ben

text: Publication history[edit]

text: Uncle Ben first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) and was killed in the very same issue. Although his history as a supporting character was very brief, Uncle Ben is an overshadowing figure in Spider-Man's life, often appearing in flashbacks.

text: Notability of death[edit]

text: The murder of Uncle Ben is notable as one of the few comic book deaths, that has never been reversed in terms of official continuity. He was a member of the "Big Three", referring also to Jason Todd (an associate of Batman) and Bucky (an associate of Captain America) whose notable deaths, along with Ben's, gave rise to the phrase: "No one in comics stays dead except for Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben". Later, the revivals of both Bucky and Jason in 2005 led to the amendment, "No one in comics stays dead except Uncle Ben". The violent killing of Uncle Ben, done by a common street criminal, also shares multiple similarities to the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, the parents of Batman, which sometimes is included in the saying.[1]

text: There have been examples of Uncle Ben remaining alive in alternative timelines, including stories featured in Marvel's What If (one of which he forces Peter to unmask in front of J. Jonah Jameson), and a storyline of the 1994 Spider-Man animated series featured a universe where Uncle Ben had never died, and Peter Parker became a successful industrialist, having never really bothered to use his powers responsibly as everything always seemed to work out for him. This fact is used to defeat the rampaging Spider-Carnage by exposing him to the one person he will trust and listen to: the Uncle Ben of that reality.[volume & issue needed]

text: A story-line in the official series Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man seemingly suggested that Ben may be alive. This Ben, however, was actually from a parallel universe where Aunt May died in a random accident, leaving him to raise Peter. This alternate Ben came to the planet Earth of regular Marvel comics (the 616 reality) as part of an evil plan devised by the Hobgoblin of 2211 to defeat the Spider-Men of different eras.[volume & issue needed]

text: During the Clone Conspiracy storyline, when Peter's clone Ben Reilly who named himself after Uncle Ben and Aunt May, taking Ben's first name and May's last to differentiate himself from Peter used the Jackal's technology to revive various old enemies and allies of Peter Parker, he offered to bring Uncle Ben back to life while trying to win Peter to his point of view,[2] but although tempted at the offer, Peter concluded that the reason Ben had not brought 'their' uncle back on his own was that he knew that Uncle Ben would disapprove of his "nephew's actions", as Ben's plan would see everyone on Earth granted immortality while dependent on him to supply the medication needed to stabilize their cloned bodies.[3]

text: Fictional character biography[edit]

text: Ben Parker was born in Brooklyn, New York. He trained to be a military police officer,[4] and also spent time as a singer in a band. He had known his future wife, May Reilly since their high school days, but she in turn was naively interested in a boy who was involved in criminal activities. When he came to her one night and proposed to her on the spot, Ben was there to expose him as a murderer, and to comfort the heart-broken May when the boy was arrested. Their relationship evolved into love, and they enjoyed a happily married life. When Ben's younger brother Richard Parker and his wife Mary were killed in a plane crash, Ben and May took in their orphaned son Peter and raised him as their own.[5]

text: Ben was very protective of Peter, going as far as fighting some of the bullies that tormented young Parker. Peter became friends with Charlie Weiderman in high school, a teen even more unpopular than he was. However, Charlie often provoked the trouble with the other teens. One day, he was chased to the Parker home by a group of bullies led by Rich and Ben intervened. Ben told them that if they wanted Charlie, they would have to go through him. Rich tried to, but was surprised by Ben's army training. As soon as the bullies were gone, he told the boy that he was not welcome at the house or with Peter because of his provoking the bullies and not being able to tell the truth.[6]

text: In high school, a radioactive spider bite gave Peter superhuman powers. Creating the costumed identity of Spider-Man for himself, Peter sought first to exploit his newfound powers as a masked wrestler and then as a television star. Coming from a television appearance, Spider-Man saw a burglar[7] being chased by a security guard. The guard called for Spider-Man to stop the thief, but the nascent Spidey refused on the grounds that catching criminals was not his job. The robber got away.[8]

text: When Peter later returned home, he was informed by a police officer that his beloved Uncle Ben had been killed by a burglar. Outraged, he donned his Spider-Man costume and captured the man only to realize to his horror that it was the same burglar whom he could have effortlessly captured earlier at the studio. As a result, Peter considered himself morally responsible for Ben's death and resolved to fight crime as a superhero — realizing that with great power comes great responsibility — and vowing never to let another innocent person come to harm if he could help it.[8]

text: Ben Parker's death was truly avenged when the burglar returned for the money once more, threatening Aunt May. The burglar died from a heart attack upon beholding his old nemesis Spider-Man once again and learning that Spider-Man and Peter Parker were one and the same person.[9]

text: In Amazing Spider-Man Family #7, May relates to Peter her account of meeting Ben for the first time.

text: Ben briefly appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #500; after Spider-Man played a vital role in preventing the resurrection of Dormammu, an unidentified higher power provided Doctor Strange with a small box that he felt he had to give to Spider-Man as a reward for his role in events. When Peter opened the box on the roof of his apartment building, it contained a note saying "You have five minutes. Spend them as you will", followed by Ben appearing on the roof. It was revealed that this Ben - whether a ghost or Ben having been temporally relocated from the moment before his death - remembered being out for the walk that resulted in him getting shot but nothing afterwards, although he concluded that the events leading to him being on that roof were not important. In their talk Ben said that the only thing that would disappoint him about Peter is if Peter ever settled for less because he was afraid of reaching for more. This helps Peter to see that he had a good life for all its hardships, recognizing that he has always used what he has, and Ben assures Peter that he is proud of him before he vanishes.[10]

text: During the 2008–2009 "Dark Reign" storyline, Uncle Ben makes an appearance in the Underworld when Hercules attends the trial of Zeus, directing Amadeus Cho as he attempted to find his parents in the afterlife.[11] In the "Amazing Grace" storyline, Ben appears as an apparition to Spider-Man while battling a horde of demons and gargoyles, telling him that his death is not Peter's or anyone's fault. However, one enemy notices him and attacked only to disappear. This left Spider-Man puzzled if he was imagining Ben or he was really talking to his ghost.[12]

text: When Ben Reilly adopted the identity of the Jackal and set up an elaborate plan to use Warren's new cloning process to make the world immortal, he attempted to win Peter's allegiance by showing him Ben's coffin and offering to bring Ben back to life.[2] However, although tempted by the idea, Peter realized that Ben never intended to bring 'their' uncle back to life because he would have done it already, coldly informing his clone that Uncle Ben would tell him that he was wrong.[3] At the conclusion of the crisis, Peter takes a moment beside the coffin containing Ben's corpse, acknowledging that Reilly's actions were wrong but wishing that he was there regardless.[13]

text: Other versions[edit]

text: Trouble[edit]

text: A version of Ben appeared in the Mark Millar, Terry Dodson 2003 limited series, "Trouble", with his brother Richie, who were involved with teenagers, May and Mary.[volume & issue needed]

text: None of the characters' last names were revealed. The story did not become canon because of its negative reception.[volume & issue needed]

text: Bullet Points[edit]

text: In this alternate reality, a young Ben Parker is working as a military policeman. He is assigned to security for Doctor Erskine, a scientist for the Captain America program. An assassination attempt on Erskine succeeds, killing Ben in the process. Later on, May still attempts to raise Peter on her own, but without the influence of Ben, Peter grows up to be angry, cynical and mean-spirited, going on to become the Hulk of this reality when he sneaks onto the test site that Rick Jones sneaked onto in the original version of events.[14]

text: House of M[edit]

text: In the House of M reality, Ben Parker is alive and, like the rest of the world, is aware that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. After recovering Peter's journal, with entries detailing that the world is not how it should be, Ben discovers that he is killed shortly after Peter gains his powers. He later helps Peter fake his death, photographing Spider-Man apparently hanging himself.[15]

text: Marvel Noir[edit]

text: In the Marvel Noir reality, Ben Parker is a social activist who was murdered by Norman Osborne's enforcers. He had previously been a decorated pilot and veteran of World War I, but he did not take pride in his service, believing that no just cause was fought for. His nephew Peter dons his old aviator uniform and wields his service revolver during his activities as Spider-Man.[16]

text: Spider-Verse[edit]

text:
A version of Peter Parker named Patton Parnell lives with his abusive Uncle Ted on an unknown Earth. After the bite of an irradiated spider mutates him into an arachnid monstrosity, Patton infects his Uncle Ted with his offspring while declaring he taught him that "With great power comes a great appetite".[17]
An alternate Uncle Ben from an unknown reality appears in a flashback along with the version's Aunt May. In this reality they are portrayed as scientists. They informed Peni Parker that she was the only person able to carry on the project (after her father, the original SP//dr, died in battle), and accepted the responsibly, allowing the radioactive spider that formed the other half of SP//dr's CPU to bite her.[18]
In an unknown reality, Uncle Ben and Aunt May are with their nephew Peter at the hospital after he suffers an allergic reaction to the radioactive spider bite, leaving him in a coma. Because of this, they are out of their house when is burgled by the thief that killed Ben in the main universe. Peter transforms into Man-Spider and attacks Uncle Ben and Aunt May, but is thwarted by Spider-Man Noir. Six-Armed Spider-Man creates a cure for Peter, allowing him to live a normal life with Ben and May.[19]
The Earth-3145 version of Ben Parker was isolated in Ezekiel's bunker after Earth is decimated by nuclear fallout. Ben is later found by Silk, Spider-Man and the other Spider-Men when arrive while fleeing from the Inheritors.[20] Ben received his powers when he accompanied Peter to the science demonstration and was bitten by the spider instead of his nephew. Ben retired out of grief after his foe the Emerald Elf discovered his identity and killed his May and Peter. After entering Ezekiel's bunker upon being told about the Inheritors, his Earth was decimated when a nuclear blackmail plot by Otto Octavius went wrong. Although he initially declines to join the other Spiders in their final attack on the Inheritors, Spider-Man and Superior Spider-Man convince him to do so by arguing that he has only failed if he gives up, Peter in particular affirming that the advice of his own Uncle Ben has saved his world and made a difference every day.[21] He subsequently works with Spider-Ham to rescue Benjy Parker - the baby brother of Spider-Girl - and take him to another dimension for safety.[22] When the crisis is concluded, Ben accompanies Spider-Girl back to her home dimension, and decides to remain so that he can be the great-uncle that no other Ben Parker has had the chance to become.[23]

text: Ultimate Marvel[edit]

text: Ben Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man differs slightly from the original Ben Parker. In the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, Ben Parker is younger than his original counterpart. He is also a former hippie who wears his hair in a ponytail and teaches Peter to be nonviolent. Ben also reminisces about the period he lived on a commune. After Peter Parker went out for a walk, he came home and learned from a police officer that Uncle Ben was murdered.[24] Uncle Ben is seen one last time meeting Peter in the afterlife after his death.

text: What If?[edit]

text: Uncle Ben was featured in various issues of What If.

text:
In one reality where May was killed by the burglar instead of Ben, Peter immediately went after the burglar, but accidentally pushed him out of the window of a warehouse during the fight, resulting in Ben taking the blame for the crime to save his nephew. Lacking the moral influence of Ben or the need to stay secret for his aunt, Peter broke out of the orphanage he was sent to and began to defeat criminals for the reward money, matters coming to a head when he nearly killed the Green Goblin in a fight. Attempting to break Ben out of prison, Ben nevertheless convinced him that he had to accept responsibility for his actions, prompting Peter to return to school and form a relationship with Mary Jane after Anna Watson took him in, culminating in Ben helping Peter in his crime-fighting activities after he was released from prison.[volume & issue needed]
In the first "What If" story regarding Spider-Man (named "classic"), it was Aunt May who went downstairs after hearing a noise, not wanting to wake up Ben. The same storyline plays out, with the burglar shooting May and Spider-Man apprehending him in the warehouse. In this story, Ben finds out about Peter's activities as Spider-Man relatively soon, and talks to him about it. Peter explains to him when he donned the costume and why, even telling him about letting the would-be murderer go that very same night he robbed the wrestling register. Peter breaks down, saying how everything was his fault. Ben responds with anger at himself, being weak in not being able to protect "his May". After Peter tells him he did not know and could not have possibly done anything, Ben instantly calms down and tells Peter to follow his own advice. He further inspires Peter to keep being Spider-Man, not because of regret or penance, but to protect and help all those who are weak and in need of help. Ben and Peter form an even closer relationship with Ben offering his support in many of Spider-Man's future battles. Eventually Ben becomes outraged at Jameson's constant smearing of Spider-Man's name, considering it an insult to May's memory. He eventually lets Jameson in on Spider-Man's identity, forcing Jameson in a position he is uncomfortable in as a journalist. He cannot expose Spider-Man without endangering Ben Parker, yet he also does not wish to support vigilantism. Eventually, he finds a middle road and unofficially employs Spider-Man so he can gain inside scoops on crimes being solved in the city. The story eventually ends with Spider-Man saving Bennett Brant and Betty Brant from Doctor Octopus, as well as fighting a Green Goblin who kidnapped Jameson to find out Spider-Man's real identity (having correctly surmised there was a reason Jameson had those inside scoops). At the end of it all, Peter and Ben shake hands with Ben saying they will face all dangers and the future together.[25]

text: Derailed Alt-Ben Parker[edit]

text: In an alternate reality shown in Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, an alternate reality was witnessed where May died in a random accident, prompting Peter to go into show business with Ben as his agent to make money. Peter's focus on his career prompts him to eventually leave home, simply paying Ben a percentage out of respect for their old relationship rather than any actual concern. This Ben was eventually 'derailed' into the 616 reality by the Hobgoblin of 2211 as part of her plan against the Spider-Men of various eras, leaving him shocked when he witnessed his destroyed house and the still-living May Parker. Confronting her, he ended up in a fight with Jarvis, with whom she at the time has a relationship with, but wandered away in confusion. Lacking direction, Ben wandered into an alleyway where he encountered a shadowy figure who offered him a gun, telling Ben that any action he takes would simply create another universe where he took the opposite action, so he might as well do what felt good. After this Hobgoblin was erased from history by a Retcon Bomb of her own invention, the Spider-Man of 2211 met with what he presumed to be the same Ben Parker to take him back to his own timeline. In a surprise twist, deciding he rather wanted to "stick around for a while", this Ben Parker shoots this future Spider-Man. At the same time, another Ben Parker was shown dead in the alley, meaning one Ben Parker had killed the other and taken his place.[26]

text: It was revealed that the Ben Parker who had died in the alleyway was the Uncle Ben of the alternate reality, while the Ben Parker who killed Spider-Man 2211 was, in fact, the Chameleon of 2211; the Chameleon had attempted to convince Ben to resort to murder, but Spider-Man correctly guessed that there were no circumstances under which Ben would do such a thing.[volume & issue needed]

text: "With great power comes great responsibility"[edit]

text: The thematic and often-quoted (including by the Supreme Court of the United States[27]) Spider-Man phrase with great power comes great responsibility is widely attributed to Uncle Ben. However, in Amazing Fantasy #15, where it first appears, it is not spoken by any character. In fact, Ben has only two lines in the entire comic. The original version of the phrase appears in a narrative caption of the comic's last panel, rather than as spoken dialogue. It reads, "...with great power there must also come -- great responsibility!".[28]

text: However, later stories and flashbacks that took place when Ben was still alive retroactively made the phrase one of Ben's many homilies he would lecture Peter with. Latter-day reinterpretations of Spider-Man, such as the Spider-Man film and the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, depict Ben as saying this phrase to Peter while he is still alive, in their last conversation. Both the aforementioned adaptations also had Peter lash out at Ben just after he says it, and both also mention his father.

text: The origins of the phrase pre-date its use in Spider-Man. In 1817, member of British parliament William Lamb is recorded saying, "the possession of great power necessarily implies great responsibility."[29] In 1906, Under-Secretary of the Colonial Office Winston Churchill said, "Where there is great power there is great responsibility",[30] even indicating that it was already a cultural maxim invoked toward government at the time. The sentiment is also attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required."[Luke 12:48]

text: Outside of Spider-Man, Logan Paul used the phrase in an apology on his Twitter account after he uploaded a controversial video in Japan's Suicide Forest.[31] The phrase was also used in a transformation story on DeviantArt where a young boy named Dan turns into Palutena from the Kid Icarus video game series.[32]

text: In other media[edit]

text: Television[edit]

text:
Uncle Ben appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man television series. He appeared in the episode "The Origin of Spider-Man".
Uncle Ben is mentioned in the 1980s Spider-Man television series. In the episode "Arsenic and Aunt May", the Chameleon (after meeting the relative of the Burglar) escapes from prison and poses as a medium while using technology to make Aunt May seemingly see Ben's ghost.
Uncle Ben appeared in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Frank Welker. He appeared in the episode "Along Came Spidey".
Uncle Ben appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Brian Keith (in "The Menace of Mysterio", "The Mutant Agenda" and the "Spider Wars" series finale). He appeared in the series as a spirit or seen in flashbacks talking to Peter Parker whenever his nephew gets frustrated the tough choices as Spider-Man. In the series finale when Spider-Man had to stop Spider-Carnage from destroying all reality, Spider-Man managed to make contact with an alternate reality of his uncle in a world where Peter Parker was a successful industrialist; realizing that Peter's counterpart in this reality had never failed or had any difficulties in life due to his casual attitude towards the crisis as opposed to Spider-Man or the other counterparts, Peter realized that Ben was almost certainly still alive in this reality if he was alive in any alternate timeline. Thanks to Ben's influence, Spider-Carnage was convinced to stop trying to destroy reality. After Spider-Carnage instead used the reality bomb to create a portal and subsequently committed suicide by entering the portal to end the threat once and for all, Spider-Man and Ben hugged; although they lived in different realities, Ben was proud of his different reality nephew while Spider-Man assured Ben that he will always have him in his own heart.
In Spider-Man Unlimited, Uncle Ben is briefly mentioned in the pilot episode "Worlds Apart" [Part One]. He is also seen in the theme song which Uncle Ben was killed.
Uncle Ben appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Edward Asner. His character remains faithful to the comics. He is featured in Spider-Man's flashback in the episode "Intervention" revealed that Ben was killed while defending May Parker during a break-in at their house by a burglar that Peter Parker selfishly let go earlier that day. After Peter discovered that Ben was murdered by a burglar who broke into the Parker house and stole Ben's car, Peter furiously sought revenge, donning the Spider-Man costume and confronting the burglar in an old warehouse. Spider-Man unmasked his uncle's killer, realizing that it was the same burglar from earlier. After knocking the criminal out and lowered to policeman via web line, Peter vowed to use these spider powers for good and to never put himself before anyone else and to never to let another innocent person come to harm if anything could help it, and remembering his uncle's words: 'With great power there must also come great responsibility'.
Uncle Ben is featured in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series, voiced by Greg Grunberg.[33] His character is loosely based on his Ultimate Counterpart as opposed to his previous versions. In the pilot episodes "Great Power" and "Great Responsibility", Peter Parker recalled that fateful night of his uncle's murder and Nick Fury uses Ben's memory to have Spider-Man join S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of being solo. A picture of Ben is also seen having fun with May Parker and their young nephew. Ben is personally featured in the episode "Strange Days". Nightmare tries to use Spider-Man's failure being unable to save his uncle's life, however, this does not work; Ben actually motivates Peter to defeat Nightmare (something neither Iron Fist nor Doctor Strange was able to do). In the episode "Ultimate Deadpool", Spider-Man remembers his uncle's memory when thinking about Deadpool's own demons. The character is occasionally referenced in Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six primarily as May's source of Ben Reilly's name. The episode "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 2 features a Wild West reality version of Uncle Ben (voiced by Clancy Brown[34]) who is depicted as the "Phantom Rider" and Webslinger the Spider Cowboy's uncle. As Doc Ock Holliday's brainwashed Deputy, the Phantom Rider helped repelled Wolf Spider and later fought both Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid. Although unaffected by Kid Arachnid's venom blasts, Spider-Man and Webslinger eventually were able to defeat Doc Ock Holliday. Upon Doc Holliday's defeat, Ben was freed from the brainwashing and remanded Doc Ock Holliday to the hoosegow while reclaiming his Sheriff title. As Sheriff Ben and Webslinger are reunited, Spider-Man gets a final look at Sheriff Ben before departing to the next reality, quietly hopeful that one reality has Ben still alive.
Uncle Ben appears in Spider-Man, voiced by Patton Oswalt.[35]

text: Film[edit]

text:
In the Spider-Man film series, Ben Parker is portrayed by Cliff Robertson and his character remains relatively faithful to the comics, including his being shot by a criminal Peter failed to stop (although in the comics he was shot trying to defend May during a break in at their house and in the film he was shot during a carjacking).

He appeared in the first film as a father figure for Peter. The amiable Ben is laid off from his job as a chief electrician after 35 years and worries about his nephew's strange behavior. His words of wisdom ('With great power comes great responsibility') eventually inspire Peter to become Spider-Man. Losing his temper during this speech, Peter tells him to stop acting like his father, hurting his feelings badly. Later that night, Ben is apparently shot dead by a thief, Dennis Carradine, whom Peter refused to stop when he was cheated out of his money. Peter and his aunt greatly mourn his death, particularly Peter, who is haunted by the fact that he could have stopped Carradine and saved his uncle. By the end of the film, Peter has accepted Ben as the father figure of his childhood.
The second film features a sequence where Peter contemplates giving up his Spider-Man identity to Ben who, in the flashback, is a physical representation of the entity and ideology of Spider-Man, encouraging Peter to continue on as a superhero. Also, Peter admits the truth surrounding Uncle Ben's death to Aunt May. She is shocked and upset at first, but later commends Peter for telling her the truth.
Robertson reprises his role in a flashback scene (as well as a dream sequence) in the third film. In the film, Captain George Stacy tells Peter and Aunt May of new evidence that suggests Carradine was only an accomplice of Flint Marko, who was Uncle Ben's real killer; Peter then imagines Marko throwing Ben out of the car and gunning him down in cold blood while Carradine desperately tries to stop Marko before driving off. Robertson appears again at the end of the film during a more accurate flashback, as Marko explains to Peter that he only wanted Ben's car, since Marko needed to steal money to help his critically ill daughter Penny. However, Carradine startled Marko and caused him to accidentally pull the trigger when Ben was trying to reason with him. This somewhat shocked Marko, as he feels extremely remorseful for killing Ben. Realizing how desperate Marko is to help his own daughter and understanding the importance of forgiveness over revenge, Spider-Man forgives Marko and allows him to go free.

Martin Sheen portrays Uncle Ben in the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man. Though his character still remains faithful to the comics, the manner of his murder is drastically different. Following an argument with Peter which results in Peter storming out, Ben leaves to find his nephew and encounters a thief who has just raided a grocery store where Peter was shopping but who Peter refused to stop when he did not provide enough money to pay for a drink. The thief trips over and drops his gun. Ben tries to get the gun first, but a struggle ensues and Ben is killed. Unlike the comics, Ben's killer remains at large.
The screenwriter for Spider-Man: Homecoming, John Francis Daley, confirms that Uncle Ben exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe despite never being referenced directly in the film (though Peter does mention that Aunt May's been through a lot lately which was an intentional nod to the character). In an earlier draft of the film, May mentions that Peter's wardrobe for homecoming was Ben's clothing, but it was cut out because the screenwriters didn't want his death to be a throwaway line.[36]

text: Video games[edit]

text:
Uncle Ben is mentioned in the first 3 missions, "Search for Justice," "Warehouse Hunt," and "Birth of a Hero" in the 2002 Spider-Man video game, as Peter Parker attempts to track down Ben's killer.
Uncle Ben is briefly mentioned at the end of Spider-Man 3.
Uncle Ben's Noir version is mentioned by Spider-Man Noir in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions when going after the Vulture (that universe's killer of Uncle Ben).
Uncle Ben makes an appearance in the prologue of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, voiced by Mark Bramhall. The tutorial starts off showing the event that lead to his death. After that, he is referenced throughout the game by Peter Parker, Aunt May, and Stan. Around the end of the game, Stan tells Peter that Ben would've wanted him to grow up to be the man that he wanted Peter to be.

text: Franklin Richards' Uncle Ben[edit]

text: Franklin Richards of the Fantastic Four often refers to Benjamin Grimm, the Thing, as "Uncle Ben" (Grimm is the best friend of Franklin's father Reed Richards). Franklin Richards and Peter Parker also have the same middle name, Benjamin, as the Thing and Ben Parker are their namesakes. Spider-Man is aware of this, and told Franklin, "Uncle Bens are always right."[37]

text: Son of Spider-Man[edit]

text: In The Amazing Spider-Man #498-500, Spider-Man falls through time, encountering all of his enemies from the past, and sees himself in the future. The future Peter Parker tells him that he should tell Mary Jane Watson and their son that he loves them every day. "Our son is called Ben", he says, "but it would pretty much have to be, wouldn't it?" However, because of the way time-travel in the Marvel universe works, it should be noted that this is only a potential future, not necessarily a definite one (This future being even more unlikely after the events of One More Day).

text: The Other Uncle Ben[edit]

text: Like her father, Spider-Girl also has an Uncle Ben. However, unlike her dad, May never knew her uncle: Ben Reilly, Spider-Man's clone. If Spider-Girl has any children in the future, they too would have an Uncle Ben - May's baby brother. Ironically in the aftermath of Spider-Verse, the Earth-3145's Ben Parker himself would stay on her world, and has a chance to be his grandfather, something that the other Ben Parkers were unable to achieve on account of their deaths.


document_title: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

question_text: who put peter rabbit's father in a pie

question_tokens: who put peter rabbit 's father in a pie

root

text: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

text: Plot[edit]

text: The story focuses on a family of anthropomorphic rabbits. The widowed mother rabbit cautions her young against entering the vegetable garden of a man named Mr. McGregor, telling them: "your Father had an accident there; he was put in a pie by Mrs. McGregor". Her three daughters obediently refrain from entering the garden, going down the lane to pick blackberries, but her rebellious son Peter enters the garden to snack on some vegetables. Peter ends up eating more than is good for him and goes looking for parsley to cure his stomach ache. Peter is spotted by Mr. McGregor and loses his jacket and shoes while trying to escape. He hides in a watering can in a shed, but then has to run away again when Mr. McGregor finds him, and ends up completely lost. After sneaking past a cat, Peter sees the gate where he entered the garden from a distance and heads for it, despite being spotted and chased by Mr. McGregor again. With difficulty he wriggles under the gate, and escapes from the garden, but he spots his abandoned clothing being used to dress Mr. McGregor's scarecrow. After returning home, a sick Peter is sent to bed by his mother, while his well-behaved sisters receive a sumptuous dinner of milk and berries as opposed to Peter's supper of chamomile tea.

tag: p

text: Composition[edit]

text: The story was inspired by a pet rabbit Potter had as a child, which she named Peter Piper.[3] Through the 1890s, Potter sent illustrated story letters to the children of her former governess, Annie Moore. In 1900, Moore, realizing the commercial potential of Potter's stories, suggested they be made into books. Potter embraced the suggestion, and, borrowing her complete correspondence (which had been carefully preserved by the Moore children), selected a letter written on 4 September 1893 to five-year-old Noel that featured a tale about a rabbit named Peter. Potter biographer Linda Lear explains: "The original letter was too short to make a proper book so [Potter] added some text and made new black-and-white illustrations...and made it more suspenseful. These changes slowed the narrative down, added intrigue, and gave a greater sense of the passage of time. Then she copied it out into a stiff-covered exercise book, and painted a coloured frontispiece showing Mrs Rabbit dosing Peter with camomile tea".[4]

text: Publication history[edit]

text: Private publication[edit]

text: As Lear explains, Potter titled The Tale of Peter Rabbit and Mr. McGregor's Garden and sent it to publishers, but "her manuscript was returned ... including Frederick Warne & Co. ... who nearly a decade earlier had shown some interest in her artwork. Some publishers wanted a shorter book, others a longer one. But most wanted coloured illustrations which by 1900 were both popular and affordable".[5] The several rejections were frustrating to Potter, who knew exactly how her book should look (she had adopted the format and style of Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo) "and how much it should cost".[6] She decided to publish the book herself, and on 16 December 1901 the first 250 copies of her privately printed The Tale of Peter Rabbit were "ready for distribution to family and friends".[7]

text: First commercial edition[edit]

text: In 1901, as Lear explains, a Potter family friend and sometime poet, Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, set Potter's tale into "rather dreadful didactic verse and submitted it, along with Potter's illustrations and half her revised manuscript, to Frederick Warne & Co.," who had been among the original rejecters.[8] Warne editors declined Rawnsley's version "but asked to see the complete Potter manuscript" – their interest stimulated by the opportunity The Tale of Peter Rabbit offered the publisher to compete with the success of Helen Bannerman's wildly popular Little Black Sambo and other small-format children's books then on the market. When Warne inquired about the lack of colour illustrations in the book, Potter replied that rabbit-brown and green were not good subjects for colouration. Warne declined the book but left open the possibility of future publication.[9]

text: Warne wanted colour illustrations throughout the "bunny book" (as the firm referred to the tale) and suggested cutting the illustrations "from forty-two to thirty-two ... and marked which ones might best be eliminated".[9] Potter initially resisted the idea of colour illustrations, but then realized her stubborn stance was a mistake. She sent Warne "several colour illustrations, along with a copy of her privately printed edition" which Warne then handed to their eminent children's book illustrator L. Leslie Brooke for his professional opinion. Brooke was impressed with Potter's work. Fortuitously, his recommendation coincided with a sudden surge in the small picture-book market.[10]

text: Meanwhile, Potter continued to distribute her privately printed edition to family and friends, with the celebrated creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, acquiring a copy for his children. When the first private printing of 250 copies was sold out, another 200 were prepared.[11] She noted in an inscription in one copy that her beloved pet rabbit Peter had died.[12]

text: Potter arrived at an agreement with Warne for an initial commercial publication of 5,000 copies.[13] Negotiations dragged on into the following year, but a contract was finally signed in June 1902.[12] Potter was closely involved in the publication of the commercial edition – redrawing where necessary, making minor adjustments to the prose and correcting punctuation. The blocks for the illustrations and text were sent to printer Edmund Evans for engraving, and she made adjustments to the proofs when she received them. Lear writes that "Even before the publication of the tale in early October 1902, the first 8,000 copies were sold out. By the year's end there were 28,000 copies of The Tale of Peter Rabbit in print. By the middle of 1903 there was a fifth edition sporting coloured endpapers ... a sixth printing was produced within the month"; and a year after the first commercial publication there were 56,470 copies in print.[14]

text: American copyright[edit]

text: Warne's New York office "failed to register the copyright for The Tale of Peter Rabbit in the United States", and unlicensed copies of the book "(from which Potter would receive no royalties) began to appear in the spring of 1903. There was nothing anyone could do to stop them".

text: The enormous financial loss "... [to Potter] only became evident over time", but the necessity of protecting her intellectual property hit home after the successful 1903 publication of The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin when her father returned from Burlington Arcade in Mayfair at Christmas 1903 with a toy squirrel labelled "Nutkin".[15]

text: Merchandising[edit]

text: Potter asserted that her tales would one day be nursery classics, and part of the "longevity of her books comes from strategy", writes Potter biographer Ruth MacDonald.[16] She was the first to exploit the commercial possibilities of her characters and tales; between 1903 and 1905 these included a Peter Rabbit stuffed toy, an unpublished board game, and nursery wallpaper.[17]

text: Considerable variations to the original format and version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, as well as spin-off merchandise, have been made available over the decades. Variant versions include "pop-ups, toy theatres, and lift-the-flap books". By 1998, modern technology had made available "videos, audio cassette, a CD-ROMs, a computer program, and Internet sites", as described by Margaret Mackey writing in The case of Peter Rabbit: changing conditions of literature for children. She continues: "Warne and their collaborators and competitors have produced a large collection of activity books and a monthly educational magazine". A plethora of other Peter Rabbit related merchandise exists, and "toy shops in the United States and Britain have whole sections of [the] store specially signposted and earmarked exclusively for Potter-related toys and merchandise".[18]

text: Unauthorized copying of The Tale of Peter Rabbit has flourished over the decades, including products only loosely associated with the original. In 1916, American Louise A. Field cashed in on the popularity by writing books such as Peter Rabbit Goes to School and Peter Rabbit and His Ma, the illustrations of which showed him in his distinctive blue jacket.[19] In an animated movie by Golden Films, The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit, "Peter is given buck teeth, an American accent and a fourth sister Hopsy." Another video "retelling of the tale casts Peter as a Christian preacher singing songs about God and Jesus."[18]

text: Literary praise[edit]

text: Writing in Storyteller: The Classic that Heralded America's Storytelling Revival, in discussing the difference between stories that lend themselves well to telling and stories that lend themselves well to reading, Ramon Ross explains Peter Rabbit is a story created for reading. He believes Potter created a good mix of suspense and tension, intermixed with lulls in the action. He goes on to write that the writing style—"the economy of words, the crisp writing"—lends itself well to a young audience.[20]

text: Lear writes that Potter "had in fact created a new form of animal fable in: one in which anthropomorphic animals behave as real animals with true animal instincts", and a form of fable with anatomically correct illustrations drawn by a scientifically minded artist. She further states Peter Rabbit's nature is familiar to rabbit enthusiasts "and endorsed by those who are not ... because her portrayal speaks to some universal understanding of rabbity behaviour."[21] She describes the tale as a "perfect marriage of word and image" and "a triumph of fantasy and fact".[22]

text: According to Stuart Jeffries, "...psychoanalytic critiques of her work have multiplied since her death in 1943."[23] Carole Scott writes in Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit that the reader cannot help but identify with rebellious little Peter and his plight as all the illustrations are presented from his low-to-the-ground view, most feature Peter in close-up and within touching distance, and Mr. McGregor is distanced from the reader by always being depicted on the far side of Peter. Scott explains: "This identification dramatically instills fear and tension in the reader, and interacts with the frequently distanced voice of the verbal narrative", sometimes with contradictory effects.[24] In the verbal narrative and the illustration for the moment when Mr. McGregor attempts to trap Peter under a garden sieve, for example, the verbal narrative presents the murderous intent of Mr. McGregor as a matter-of-fact, everyday occurrence while the illustration presents the desperate moment from the terrified view of a small animal in fear of his life – a view that is reinforced by the birds that take flight to the left and the right.[25]

text: In the illustration of Peter standing by the locked door, the verbal narrative describes the scene without the flippancy evident in the moment of the sieve. The inability to overcome obstacles is presented in the verbal narrative with objective matter-of-factness and the statement, "Peter began to cry" is offered without irony or attitude, thus drawing the reader closer to Peter’s emotions and plight. The illustration depicts an unclothed Peter standing upright against the door, one foot upon the other with a tear running from his eye. Without his clothes, Peter is only a small, wild animal but his tears, his emotions, and his human posture intensifies the reader’s identification with him. Here, verbal narrative and illustration work in harmony rather than in disharmony.[26] Scott suggests Potter’s tale has encouraged many generations of children to "self-indulgence, disobedience, transgression of social boundaries and ethics, and assertion of their wild, unpredictable nature against the constrictions of civilized living."[27]

text: Frank Delaney notes "a self-containment" in Potter's writing reflective of an uninterested mother and a lonely childhood spent in the company of pets.[28] John Bidwell, curator at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, observed "...the sardonic humor that makes Beatrix Potter so much fun for kids and grown-ups.”[29]

text: Adaptations[edit]

text: In 1938, shortly after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney became interested in making an animated film based on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. However, in a letter to a friend, Potter wrote that she refused Walt Disney's "scheme to film Peter Rabbit", saying, "I am not very hopeful about the result. They propose to use cartoons; it seems that a succession of figures can be joggled together to give an impression of motion. I don't think the pictures would be satisfactory... I am not troubling myself about it!"[30]

text: In 1935, the story was loosely adapted in the Merrie Melodies short film, Country Boy. It shows some modifications in relation to Beatrix Potter's original story, most notably the Rabbit family surname is changed to "Cottontail" and Peter having two brothers and a sister rather than 3 sisters. In 1971, Peter Rabbit appeared as a character in the ballet film The Tales of Beatrix Potter. In late 1991, HBO aired an animated musical adaptation of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, narrated by Carol Burnett,[31] as part of the network's Storybook Musicals series, which was later released to VHS by Family Home Entertainment under HBO license.[32] In 1992, the tale was adapted to animation again for the BBC anthology series, The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, which has since been released on VHS and DVD. In 2006, Peter Rabbit was heavily referenced in a biopic about Beatrix Potter entitled Miss Potter. In December 2012, a new CGI-animated children's TV series titled Peter Rabbit premiered on Nickelodeon, with a full series run beginning in February 2013.[33][34] Peter was voiced by Colin DePaula throughout Season 1 and recanted by L. Parker Lucas for Season 2 in the US version. In the U.K. version he is voiced by Connor Fitzgerald.

text: More recently, John Patrick is adapting a number of Beatrix Potter's tales into an upcoming live-action/animated musical feature film for his brand-new film studio, called Storybook Studio. The film will be titled Beatrix Potter's The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Friends and will be released on July 28th, 2018. One of the stories adapted for the film is The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Peter will be voiced by child actress Sienna Adams. John Patrick has released a preview clip of the film to YouTube. [35]

text: In February 2018, a 3D live-action/CGI animated feature film titled Peter Rabbit, directed by Will Gluck, was released. Voice roles were played by James Corden, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, and Elizabeth Debicki, and live action roles played by Domhnall Gleeson, Rose Byrne, and Sam Neill.[36]


document_title: Conducting

question_text: the motion given by early conductors to guide an instrumental ensemble was called

text: Conducting

text: Nomenclature[edit]

text: The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is sometimes referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as choral director, chorus master, or choirmaster, particularly for choirs associated with an orchestra. Conductors of concert bands, military bands, marching bands and other bands may hold the title of band director, bandmaster, or drum major. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, maestro ("master" as in "one who has mastered the art").

text: History[edit]

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tag: table

text: Middle Ages to 18th century[edit]

text: An early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages. In the Christian church, the person giving these symbols held a staff to signify his role, and it seems that as music became rhythmically more complex, the staff was moved up and down to indicate the beat, acting as an early form of baton.

text: In the 17th century, other devices to indicate the passing of time came into use. Rolled up sheets of paper, smaller sticks and unadorned hands are all shown in pictures from this period. The large staff was responsible for the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who injured his foot with one while conducting a Te Deum for the King's recovery from illness. The wound became gangrenous and Lully refused amputation, whereupon the gangrene spread to his leg and he died two months later.[5]

text: In instrumental music throughout the 18th century, a member of the ensemble usually acted as the conductor. This was sometimes the concertmaster, who could use his bow as a baton, or a lutenist who would move the neck of his instrument in time with the beat. It was common to conduct from the harpsichord in pieces that had a basso continuo part. In opera performances, there were sometimes two conductors – the keyboard player was in charge of the singers, and the principal violinist or leader was in charge of the orchestra.

text: 19th century[edit]

text: By the early 19th century (ca. 1820), it became the norm to have a dedicated conductor, who did not also play an instrument during the performance. While some orchestras protested the introduction of the conductor, since they were used to having a concertmaster or keyboard player act as leader, eventually the role of a conductor was established. The size of the usual orchestra expanded during this period, and the use of a baton became more common, as it was easier to see than bare hands or rolled-up paper. Among the earliest notable conductors were Louis Spohr, Carl Maria von Weber, Louis-Antoine Jullien and Felix Mendelssohn, all of whom were also composers. Mendelssohn is claimed to have been the first conductor to utilize a wooden baton to keep time, a practice still generally in use in the 2010s. Prominent conductors who did not or do not use a baton include Pierre Boulez, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Yuri Temirkanov,[6] Leopold Stokowski, Vasily Safonov, Eugene Ormandy (for a period), and Dimitri Mitropoulos.[7]

text: The composers Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner attained greatness as conductors, and they wrote two of the earliest essays dedicated to the subject. Berlioz is considered the first virtuoso conductor. Wagner was largely responsible for shaping the conductor's role as one who imposes his own view of a piece onto the performance rather than one who is just responsible for ensuring entries are made at the right time and that there is a unified beat. Predecessors who focused on conducting include François Habeneck, who founded the Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire in 1828, though Berlioz was later to be alarmed at Habeneck's loose standards of rehearsal. Pianist and composer Franz Liszt was also a conductor.

text: Wagner's one-time champion Hans von Bülow (1830–1894) was particularly celebrated as a conductor, although he also maintained his initial career as a pianist, an instrument on which he was regarded as among the greatest performers (he was a prized piano student of Franz Liszt, whose daughter Cosima he married – although she was to abandon him for Wagner. Liszt was a major figure in the history of conducting, who attained remarkable performances).

text: Bülow raised the technical standards of conducting to an unprecedented level through such innovations as separate, detailed rehearsals of different sections of the orchestra ("sectional rehearsal"). In his posts as head of (sequentially) the Bavarian State Opera, Meiningen Court Orchestra, and Berlin Philharmonic he brought a level of nuance and subtlety to orchestral performance previously heard only in solo instrumental playing, and in doing so made a profound impression on young artists like Richard Strauss, who at the age of 20 served as his assistant, and Felix Weingartner, who came to disapprove of his interpretations but was deeply impressed by his orchestral standards. Composer Gustav Mahler was also a noted conductor.

text: 20th century[edit]

text: The next generation of conductors brought technical standards to new levels; perhaps most notable was the Hungarian-born Arthur Nikisch (1855–1922), who succeeded Bülow as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1895. He had previously served as head of the Leipzig Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and was to serve as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra. Nikisch premiered important works by Anton Bruckner and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who greatly admired his work; Johannes Brahms, after hearing him conduct his Fourth Symphony, said it was "quite exemplary, it's impossible to hear it any better."

text: Nikisch took the London Symphony Orchestra on tour through the United States in April 1912, the first American tour by a European orchestra. He also made one of the earliest recordings of a complete symphony: the Beethoven Fifth with the Berlin Philharmonic in November 1913. Nikisch was also the first conductor to have his art captured on film – alas, silently. The film confirms reports that he made particularly mesmerizing use of eye contact and expression to communicate with an orchestra; such later conductors as Fritz Reiner stated that this aspect of his technique had a strong influence on their own.

text: Conductors of the generations after Nikisch often left extensive recorded evidence of their arts. Two particularly influential and widely recorded figures are often treated, somewhat inaccurately, as interpretive antipodes. They were the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867–1957) and the German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886–1954). Toscanini played in orchestras under Giuseppe Verdi and made his debut conducting Aida in 1886, filling in at the last minute for an indisposed conductor. He is to this day regarded by such authorities as James Levine as the greatest of all Verdi conductors. But Toscanini's repertory was wide, and it was in his interpretations of the German symphonists Beethoven and Brahms that he was particularly renowned and influential, favoring stricter and faster tempi than a conductor like Bülow or, before him, Wagner. Still, his style shows more inflection than his reputation may suggest, and he was particularly gifted at revealing detail and getting orchestras to play in a singing manner.

text: Furtwängler, whom many regard as the greatest interpreter of Wagner (although Toscanini was also admired in this composer) and Bruckner, conducted Beethoven and Brahms with a good deal of inflection of tempo – but generally in a manner that revealed the structure and direction of the music particularly clearly. He was an accomplished composer as well as performer, and a disciple of the theorist Heinrich Schenker, who emphasized concern for underlying long-range harmonic tensions and resolutions in a piece, a strength of Furtwängler's conducting. Along with his interest in the large-scale, Furtwängler also shaped the details of the piece in a particularly compelling and expressive manner.

text: The two men had very different techniques: Toscanini's was Italianate, with a long, large baton and clear beats (often not using his left hand); Furtwängler beat time with less apparent precision, because he wanted a more rounded sound (although it is a myth that his technique was vague; many musicians have attested that he was easy to follow in his own way). In any event, their examples illustrate a larger point about conducting technique in the first half of the 20th century: it was not standardized. Great and influential conductors of the middle 20th century like Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977), Otto Klemperer (1885–1973), Herbert von Karajan (1908–1989) and Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) – incidentally, the first American conductor to attain greatness and international fame – had widely varied techniques.

text: Karajan and Bernstein formed another apparent antipode in the 1960s–80s, Karajan as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic (1955–89) and Bernstein as, for part of that period, music director of the New York Philharmonic (1957–69), and later frequent guest conductor in Europe. Karajan's technique was highly controlled, and eventually he conducted with his eyes often closed; Bernstein's technique was demonstrative, with highly expressive facial gestures and hand and body movements. Karajan could conduct for hours without moving his feet, while Bernstein was known at times to leap into the air at a great climax. As the music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan cultivated warm, blended beauty of tone, which has sometimes been criticized as too uniformly applied; by contrast, in Bernstein's only appearance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1979 – performing Mahler's Symphony No. 9 – he tried to get the orchestra to produce an "ugly" tone in a certain passage in which he believed it suited the expressive meaning of the music (the first horn player refused, and finally agreed to let an understudy play instead of himself).

text: Both Karajan and Bernstein made extensive use of advances in media to convey their art, but in tellingly different ways. Bernstein hosted major prime-time national television series to educate and reach out to children and the public at large about classical music; Karajan made a series of films late in his life, but in them, he did not talk. Both made numerous recordings, but their attitudes toward recording differed: Karajan frequently made new studio recordings to take advantage of advances in recording technique, which fascinated him – he played a role in setting the specifications of the compact disc – but Bernstein, in his post-New York days, came to insist on (for the most part) live concert recordings, believing that music-making did not come to life in a studio without an audience.

text: In the last third of the 20th century, conducting technique – particularly with the right hand and the baton – became increasingly standardized. Conductors like Willem Mengelberg in Amsterdam until the end of World War II had had extensive rehearsal time to mold orchestras very precisely, and thus could have idiosyncratic techniques; modern conductors, who spend less time with any given orchestra, must get results with much less rehearsal time. A more standardized technique allows communication to be much more rapid. Nonetheless, conductors' techniques still show a great deal of variety, particularly with the use of the left hand, facial and eye expression, and body language.

text: 21st century[edit]

text: Women conductors were almost unheard of in the ranks of leading orchestral conductors through most of the 19th and 20th centuries, but today, artists like Hortense von Gelmini (de),[8] Marin Alsop and Simone Young have broken the gender barrier. Alsop was appointed music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2007 – the first woman ever appointed to head a major US orchestra – and also of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo in 2012, and Alsop was the first woman to conduct on the last night of The Proms. Young scored similar firsts when she became head of the Hamburg State Opera and Philharmoniker Hamburg in 2005; she is also the first woman conductor to record the Ring Cycle of Richard Wagner. The Guardian called conducting "one of the last glass ceilings in the music industry".[9] A 2013 article stated that in France, out of 574 concerts only 17 were conducted by women and no women conducted at the National Opéra in Paris.[10] "Bachtrack reported that, in a list of the world's 150 top conductors that year, only five were women."[11]

text: While Mexico has produced several major international conductors, Alondra de la Parra has become the first Mexican-born woman to attain distinction in the profession. Similarly, Asian origin has become unremarkable, because of the international successes of conductors from the Far East such as Seiji Ozawa, who was the Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director from 1973 until 2002 after holding similar posts in San Francisco and Toronto, and Myung-Whun Chung, who has held major posts in Germany and France and now is bringing the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to international attention. There is still under-representation of artists of black origin in the conducting profession, but there have been notable exceptions, such as Henry Lewis, Dean Dixon, James DePreist, Paul Freeman, and Michael Morgan. For more information on black conductors, see Black conductors. According to a 2004 article in The Guardian, "black conductors are rare in the classical music world and even in symphony orchestras it is unusual to see more than one or two black musicians."[12]

text: Technique[edit]

text: Conducting is a means of communicating artistic directions to performers during a performance. Although there are many formal rules on how to conduct correctly, others are subjective, and a wide variety of different conducting styles exist depending upon the training and sophistication of the conductor. The primary responsibilities of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble, and to control the interpretation and pacing of the music. Communication is non-verbal during a performance, however in rehearsal frequent interruptions allow directions as to how the music should be played. During rehearsals, the conductor may stop the playing of a piece to request changes in the phrasing or request a change in the timbre of a certain section. In amateur orchestras, the rehearsals are often stopped to draw the musicians' attentions to performance errors or transposition mistakes.

text: Conducting requires an understanding of the elements of musical expression (tempo, dynamics, articulation) and the ability to communicate them effectively to an ensemble. The ability to communicate nuances of phrasing and expression through gestures is also beneficial. Conducting gestures are preferably prepared beforehand by the conductor while studying the score, but may sometimes be spontaneous.

text: A distinction is sometimes made between orchestral conducting and choral conducting. Typically, orchestral conductors use a baton more often than choral conductors. The grip of the baton varies from conductor to conductor.

text: Beat and tempo[edit]

text: At the beginning of a piece of music, the conductor raises his hands (or hand if he only uses a single hand) to indicate that the piece is about to begin. This is a signal for the orchestra members to ready their instruments to be played or for the choristers to be ready and watching. The conductor then looks at the different sections of the orchestra (winds, strings, etc.) or choir to ensure that all the orchestra members are ready to play and choir members are ready. In some choral works, the conductor may signal to a pianist or organist to play a note or chord so that the choir members can determine their starting notes. Then the conductor gives one or more preparatory beats to commence the music. The preparatory beat before the orchestra or choir begins is the upbeat. The beat of the music is typically indicated with the conductor's right hand, with or without a baton. The hand traces a shape in the air in every bar (measure) depending on the time signature, indicating each beat with a change from downward to upward motion.[13] The images show the most common beat patterns, as seen from the conductor's point of view.[citation needed]

text: The downbeat indicates the first beat of the bar, and the upbeat indicates the beat before the first note of the piece and the last beat of the bar. The instant at which the beat occurs is called the ictus (plural: ictūs or ictuses), and is usually indicated by a sudden (though not necessarily large) click of the wrist or change in baton direction. In some instances, "ictus" is also used to refer to a horizontal plane in which all the ictuses are physically located, such as the top of a music stand where a baton is tapped at each ictus. The gesture leading up to the ictus is called the "preparation", and the continuous flow of steady beats is called the "takt" (the German word for bar, measure and beat).

text: If the tempo is slow or slowing, or if the time signature is compound, a conductor will sometimes indicate "subdivisions" of the beats. The conductor can do this by adding a smaller movement in the same direction as the movement for the beat that it belongs to.

text: Changes to the tempo are indicated by changing the speed of the beat. To carry out and to control a rallentando (slowing down the pace of the music), a conductor may introduce beat subdivisions.

text: While some conductors use both hands to indicate the beat, with the left hand mirroring the right, formal education discourages such an approach. The second hand can be used for cueing the entrances of individual players or sections, and to aid indications of dynamics, phrasing, expression, and other elements.

text: During an instrumental solo section (or, in an opera orchestra during a vocalist's unaccompanied solo), some conductors stop counting out all the subdivisions and simply tap the baton down once per bar, to aid performers who are counting bars of rests.

text: There is a difference between the "textbook" definition of where the ictus of a downbeat occurs and the actual performance practice in professional orchestras. With an abrupt, loud sforzando chord, a professional orchestra will often play slightly after the striking of the ictus point of the baton stroke.

text: Dynamics[edit]

text: Dynamics are indicated in various ways. The dynamic may be communicated by the size of the conducting movements, larger shapes representing louder sounds. Changes in dynamic may be signalled with the hand that is not being used to indicate the beat: an upward motion (usually palm-up) indicates a crescendo; a downward motion (usually palm-down) indicates a diminuendo. Changing the size of conducting movements frequently results in changes in the character of the music depending upon the circumstances.

text: Dynamics can be fine-tuned using various gestures: showing one's palm to the performers or leaning away from them may demonstrate a decrease in volume. To adjust the overall balance of the various instruments or voices, these signals can be combined or directed toward a particular section or performer.

text: Cueing[edit]

text: The indication of entries, when a performer or section should begin playing (perhaps after a long period of rests), is called "cueing". A cue must forecast with certainty the exact moment of the coming ictus, so that all the players or singers affected by the cue can begin playing simultaneously. Cueing is most important for cases where a performer or section has not been playing for a lengthy time. Cueing is also helpful in the case of a pedal point with string players, when a section has been playing the pedal point for a lengthy period; a cue is important to indicate when they should change to a new note. Cueing is achieved by "engaging" the players before their entry (by looking at them) and executing a clear preparation gesture, often directed toward the specific players. An inhalation, which may or may not be a semi-audible "sniff" from the conductor, is a common element in the cueing technique of some conductors. Mere eye contact or a look in the general direction of the players may be sufficient in many instances, as when more than one section of the ensemble enters at the same time. Larger musical events may warrant the use of a larger or more emphatic cue designed to encourage emotion and energy.

text: Other musical elements[edit]

text: Articulation may be indicated by the character of the ictus, ranging from short and sharp for staccato, to long and fluid for legato. Many conductors change the tension of the hands: strained muscles and rigid movements may correspond to marcato, while relaxed hands and soft movements may correspond to legato or espressivo. Phrasing may be indicated by wide overhead arcs or by a smooth hand motion either forwards or side-to-side. A held note is often indicated by a hand held flat with palm up. The end of a note, called a "cutoff" or "release", may be indicated by a circular motion, the closing of the palm, or the pinching of finger and thumb. A release is usually preceded by a preparation and concluded with a complete stillness.

text: Conductors aim to maintain eye contact with the ensemble as much as possible, encouraging eye contact in return and increasing the dialogue between players/singers and conductor. Facial expressions may also be important to demonstrate the character of the music or to encourage the players.

text:
In some cases, such as where there has been little rehearsal time to prepare a piece, a conductor may discreetly indicate how the bars of music will be beat immediately before the start of the movement by holding up their fingers in front of their chest (so only the performers can see). For example, in a 4
4 piece that the conductor will beat "in two" (two ictus points or beats per bar, as if it were 2
2), the conductor would hold up two fingers in front of his chest.

text: In most cases, there is a short pause between movements of a symphony, concerto or dance suite. This brief pause gives orchestra or choir members time to turn the pages of their part and ready themselves for the start of the next movement. String players may apply rosin or wipe sweat off their hands with a handkerchief. Reed players may take this time to change to a new reed. In some cases, woodwind or brass players will use the pause to switch to a different instrument (e.g., from trumpet to cornet or from clarinet to E♭ clarinet). If the conductor wishes to immediately begin one movement after another for musical reasons, this is called attacca. The conductor will instruct the orchestra members and choristers to write the term in their parts, so that they will be ready to go immediately to the next movement.

text: Roles[edit]

text: The roles of a conductor vary a great deal between different conducting positions and different ensembles. In some cases, a conductor will also be the musical director of the symphony, choosing the program for the entire season, including concerts by guest conductors, concerto soloists, pop concerts, and so on. A senior conductor may attend some or all of the auditions for new members of the orchestra, to ensure that the candidates have the playing style and tone that the conductor prefers and that candidates meet the highest performance standards. Some choral conductors are hired to prepare a choir for several weeks which will subsequently be directed by another conductor. The choral conductor is usually acknowledged for their preparatory work in the concert program.

text: Some conductors may have a significant public relations role, giving interviews to the local news channel and appearing on television talk shows to promote the upcoming season or particular concerts. On the other hand, a conductor hired to guest conduct a single concert may only have the responsibility of rehearsing the orchestra for several pieces and conducting one or two concerts. While a handful of conductors have become well-known celebrities, such as Leonard Bernstein, most are only known within the classical music scene.

text: Training and education[edit]

text: Classical choral and instrumental conducting have established comprehensive systems of instruction and training. Aspiring conductors can study at colleges, conservatories, and universities. Conservatories, which are the standard musical training system in France and in Quebec (Canada) provide lessons and amateur conducting experience. Universities offer a range of conducting programs, including courses in conducting as part of bachelor's degrees, a small number of Master of Music degrees in conducting, and an even smaller number of Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in conducting.

text: As well, there are a variety of other training programs such as classical summer camps and training festivals, which give students the opportunity to conduct a wide range of music. Aspiring conductors need to obtain a broad education about the history of music, including the major periods of classical music and regarding music theory. Many conductors learn to play a keyboard instrument such as the piano or the pipe organ, a skill that helps them to be able to analyze symphonies and try out their interpretations before they have access to an orchestra to conduct. Many conductors get experience playing in an orchestra or singing in a choir, an experience which gives them good insights into how orchestras and choirs are conducted and rehearsed.

text: In 2014, orchestra conductors typically hold a master's degree in music and choir conductors in the US typically hold a bachelor's degree in music.[14] Bachelor's degrees (referred to as B.Mus. or B.M) are four-year programs that include conducting lessons, amateur orchestra experience, and a sequence of courses in music history, music theory, and liberal arts courses (e.g., English literature), which give the student a more well-rounded education. Students do not usually specialize in conducting at the B.Mus. stage; instead, they usually develop general music skills such as singing, playing an orchestral instrument, performing in a choir, playing in orchestra, and playing a keyboard instrument such as the piano or the organ.

text: Another topic that conducting students study is the languages used in Classical music opera. Orchestral conductors are expected to be able to rehearse and lead choirs in works for orchestra and choir. As such, orchestral conductors need to know the major languages used in choral writing (including French, Italian and Latin, among others) and they must understand the correct diction of these languages in a choral singing context. The opposite is also true: a choral conductor will be expected to rehearse and lead a string orchestra or full orchestra when performing works for choir and orchestra. As such, a choral conductor needs to know how to rehearse and lead instrument sections.

text: Master of music degrees (M.mus.) in conducting consist of private conducting lessons, ensemble experience, coaching, and graduate courses in music history and music theory, along with one or two conducted concerts. A Master's degree in music (referred to as an M.Mus. or M.M.) is often the required minimum credential for people who wish to become a professor of conducting.

text: Doctor of Musical Arts (referred to as D.M.A., DMA, D.Mus.A. or A.Mus.D) degrees in conducting provide an opportunity for advanced study at the highest artistic and pedagogical level, requiring usually an additional 54+ credit hours beyond a master's degree (which is about 30+ credits beyond a bachelor's degree). For this reason, admission is highly selective. Examinations in music history, music theory, ear training/dictation, and an entrance examination and conducting audition are required. Students perform a number of conducted concerts, including a combination lecture-conducted concert with an accompanying doctoral dissertation, advanced coursework. Students must typically maintain a minimum B average. A DMA in conducting is a terminal degree, and as such, it qualifies the holder to teach in colleges, universities and conservatories. In addition to academic study, another part of the training pathway for many conductors is conducting amateur orchestras, such as youth orchestras, school orchestras and community orchestras.

text: A small number of conductors become professionals without formal training in conducting. These individuals often have achieved renown as instrumental or vocal performers, and they have often undertaken a great deal of training in their area of expertise (instrumental performance or singing). Another way that a small number of conductors become professionals without formal training in conducting is by learning on the job by conducting amateur orchestras, school orchestras, and community orchestras (or the equivalent choral ensembles).

text: The average salary of conductors in the US in 2014 was $48,180. A 3% growth rate is forecast for conducting jobs from 2014 to 2024, a slower than average growth rate.[14]