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

changed from its origin playing position upon its entry into the orchestra with the introduction
of the cradle, a circular metal axis connected to the outer shell of the drum by tensioned ropes.
The cradle was mounted on a secure, stationary base that allowed the rotation of the bass
drum to any angle desired by the player. Unlike the beater and ruthe that played on separate
heads, both beaters could play on the same head to produce one distinct tone. The drum was
struck in the center for a succession of short notes to minimize its natural reverberation; the
bass drum was struck several inches from the center of the head for general playing. These
refinements to the bass drum’s shape, size, stature, and sound distinguished it from its initial
use in the eighteenth-century orchestra as influenced by the military bands.
In his Treatise Upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration (1858), Berlioz was
openly critical, if not hostile, to what he considered an abusive use of the bass drum by many
composers prior to the mid-nineteenth century:
But to write it as it has been written for fifteen years past, in all full pieces, in
all finales, in the slightest chorus, in dance-tunes, even in cavatinas, is the
height of folly; and (to call things by their right names) of brute stupidity: and
the rather, because composers, in general, have not even the excuse of an
original rhythm, which they might be supposed to have wished to display and
render predominant over the accessory rhythm; nothing of the kind; they strike
senselessly the accented parts of each bar, they overwhelm the orchestra, they
overpower the voices; there is no longer either melody, harmony, design, or
expression; hardly does the prevailing key remain distinguishable! And then
they innocently think they have produced an energetic instrumentation, and
have written something very fine! 3
Some years before writing this Berlioz included a noteworthy part for bass drum in his
Symphonie Fantastique (1830). According to the program notes often distributed to the
audience when this symphony was performed, Berlioz sought to musically portray various
3 Berlioz, Treatise Upon Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration, 226.
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