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

The “Gipsy March” of Carl Maria Von Weber’s Preciosa (1820) includes a rhythmic
figure on a single stave played by triangle and tambourine. 21 The historian Gaveart maintains,
however, that a tabor and cymbals were to be used as well. Since it is not practical for
cymbals to play the fast, tremolo-type rhythm seen in Figure 20, it is plausible the cymbal part
was to be improvised “ad libitum.”
21 Although the word “tamburino” seen in parenthesis in the included excerpt may sometimes indicate the use of
a drum, the instrumentation list preceding the score in the edition studied is clear that the triangle and the
tambourine is intended. Use of the tambourine in this work is also confirmed in the text of several sources
examined including Percussion Instruments and Their History by James Blades (London: Faber and Faber
Limited, 1984), 291.
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