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The art of conducting goes back centuries. It is hard to place an exact date and assign a specific person the honor of being the first conductor. However, an Italian-born, French-educated Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) is generally designated as being the first important conductor in the history of music. He was director of music for Louis the Fourteenth of France. Lully taught his men a uniform manner of bowing, developed orchestral discipline, and achieved a rhythmic precision unknown till then. He became a model for all conductors of Europe to follow. German composer Christopher Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) is seen as being the first great modern conductor. Johann Frederick Reichardt (1752-1814), German composer and conductor was believed to be the first to eliminate the keyboard and conduct standing up. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) often referred to as the first real conductor, fostered precision and exact realization of the composers score. Franz Liszt (1811-1886), initiated interpretation by facial expressions and gestures. Finally Richard Wagner in 1869, wrote On Conducting, which was the first book devoted exclusively to the interpretive aspect of the art of conducting. .
A conductor is an individual who guides a unique aggregation of instrumentalist. Requirements of a successful conductor are; enormous authority, mastery of conducting mechanics, extensive knowledge, uncanny powers of communication, and a profound perception of music's inner meaning. A conductor is one who has the ability to communicate his ideas about a composition through his instrument, which is the orchestra. A conductor can do as he pleases as long as he justifies his actions. Also, the conductor illustrates a technical bond between himself and the orchestra. Furthermore, the conductor is the most visible individual associated with the orchestra making his actions visible to all.