The nineteenth century witnessed the birth of the public figure of the orchestral conductor. Like composers and performers, orchestral conductors registered the transformed concept of the musical work. Whilst the Industrial Revolution generated new types of profession, the orchestral conductor's career emerged, as an outcome of the greater consideration that was devoted to the act of performance. In the present volume nineteen scholars explore historical and sociological phenomena connected to the nineteenth-century system of performance and musical production in which the orchestral conductor worked. A number of chapters investigate the musical performances of famous orchestral conductors; conducting by renowned composers (including Berlioz, Bottesini, Charpentier, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Paganini and Rolla) and orchestral treatises for military bands.