THE ROLE OF TURKISH PERCUSSION IN THE HISTORY AND ...

Rossini’s intended use of percussion in his opera orchestras remains a particular point
of controversy. He composed some thirty-six operas in just nineteen years before retiring at
age thirty-seven. The speed with which he produced his scores often resulted in his use of
spartitini, a type of compositional appendix where the remainder of parts beyond what would
fit on the staves of a page was gathered in a “mini score” at the end of a work. Though
Rossini did not include percussion in all his compositions, parts for those works involving
Turkish percussion were most often relegated to spartitini. 16 Two particularly troublesome
works are his comic operas, L’ Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers, 1813), and Il
Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, 1816).
Figure 18. Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri by Rossini. Reprinted from score, (Pesaro:
Fondazione Rossini, 1989)
16 Nicholas Ormrod, “Authentic Performance Practice in Rossini Opera,” Percussive Notes (February 1996): 48.
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