One of the most critical tasks of a musical leader is to convey to musicians and audiences the significance or importance of a work or program selected for performance. Why does any given work warrant a place on a concert? What does the work mean to us, and what might it have meant to the composer? How does the meaning we “draw out” of music impact its interpretation and reception?

These questions are key for all conductors, but they are especially pertinent for conductors of wind bands/ensembles, who work within a highly fluid (and developing) canon of established works. Starting with some of the concepts and principles of musical hermeneutics – especially the three “hermeneutic windows” posited by musicologist Lawrence Kramer – we will examine this powerful interpretational toolset and then apply it to several case study scores to see what insights it yields. We will then consider some of the practical ways in which a hermeneutical approach informs gesture, rehearsal approach, programming, and framing for the audience.