Forte, piano, crescendo, diminuendo: Gestures of intensity in orchestra and choir conduction

Starting from the hypothesis that the signals used in conducting are systematic and shared, so as to make up a lexicon, this work finds out and analyses 23 gesture types, and 11 values in their parameters, that within the body signals of choir and orchestra conductors convey intensity indications: piano, forte, crescendo, diminuendo. The gestures selected from a corpus of concerts and rehearsals are analysed through an annotation scheme that describes the body signals soliciting dynamic action, their precise meanings, and the semiotic devices used; for example, enlarging arms progressively, by representing something growing in width, evokes a crescendo: an iconic resemblance with transposition across modalities, where amplitude is transposed from the visual to the auditory domain.