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

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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. 46
situations in the life of a young musician. 4 In the last movement entitled “Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath,” the bass drum was to be played erect like a military drum with sponge- headed beaters. Authentic textual notes by Berlioz accompanying the score studied reveal his intent for two players to simultaneously play on the same head of the drum to create a much lower tone than was available from the lowest range of the timpani. Though the two sets of timpani were muffled with a cloth on each drum, Berlioz preferred that sponge-headed sticks be used in place of a cloth on the bass drum. Once updated into its nineteenth-century model, sustaining the bass drum’s sound beyond the length of a single note became a practical method of playing the instrument that composers, including Berlioz, added to their arsenal. The tremolo, or roll, was produced like a roll on the timpani, with single beats alternated from hand to hand. In Figure 22, the bass drum and timpani help to create a somber, sometimes frightful mood, as the young musician envisions ghosts and monsters at his funeral. In the Grande Messe des Morts (1837), Berlioz writes for the bass drum, without cymbals, played with drumsticks that alternate on each side of the drum's heads (see Figure 23). Berlioz indicates in the first page of the score that the bass drum is to sound a B flat pitch as noted by the key signature seen on the stave where the part is written. Also known as his Requiem, this gigantic work includes one hundred and forty players, four brass choirs, four tam-tams, ten pairs of cymbals, a tuned tenor drum, bass drum, and sixteen kettledrums. 5 Berlioz experimented with a variety of bass drum beaters, giving constant instructions in his scores for the use of soft, hard, or sponge-headed sticks for timpani, cymbals, and the bass drum. He routinely provided his own beaters for the players to use. 4 Hector Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14. (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1971), 23-25. 5 Donald J. Grout, A History of Western Music, 4th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1988), 676. 47
Page 1 and 2:
THE ROLE OF TURKISH PERCUSSION IN T
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .
Page 5 and 6: LIST OF FIGURES 1. Turkish bass dru
Page 7 and 8: ABSTRACT The fascination of eightee
Page 9 and 10: CHAPTER 1 DESCRIPTION AND INTRODUCT
Page 11 and 12: not addressed in the monograph beca
Page 13 and 14: Before the influence of Turkish ins
Page 15 and 16: The trend to incorporate percussion
Page 17 and 18: Figure 1. Turkish bass drum. Reprin
Page 19 and 20: that was often doubled on the trian
Page 21 and 22: the Turkish word for “cymbalsmith
Page 23 and 24: opinion will be further discussed i
Page 25 and 26: Figure 5. Triangle similar to one u
Page 27 and 28: and as seen in Figure 6. The novel,
Page 29 and 30: Figure 7. The tambourine. Reprinted
Page 31 and 32: to the pianoforte as an optional at
Page 33 and 34: Figure 8. La Scala seating arrangem
Page 35 and 36: Early works that precede the use of
Page 37 and 38: Gluck’s use of cymbals for specia
Page 39 and 40: “stick and switch” passages of
Page 41 and 42: Figure 14. “Military” Symphony
Page 43 and 44: Figure 16. Die Ruinen von Athens by
Page 45 and 46: Figure 17. Symphony No. 9 (movement
Page 47 and 48: As seen in Figure 18 from Rossini
Page 49 and 50: the beater and the ruthe as the tim
Page 51 and 52: Figure 20. Overture to Preciosa by
Page 53: Figure 21. Modern orchestral bass d
Page 57 and 58: Figure 23. Grande Messe des Morts b
Page 59 and 60: Figure 24. L’Apprenti-Sorcier by
Page 61 and 62: Figure 26. Le sacre du printemps by
Page 63 and 64: it was through the abundant and inn
Page 65 and 66: color of his composition. He calls
Page 67 and 68: Smaller triangles were used to achi
Page 69 and 70: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in his Capr
Page 71 and 72: Figure 33. Symphony No. 4 (movement
Page 73 and 74: Figure 34. Scheherazade by Rimsky-K
Page 75 and 76: The Turkish crescent is only briefl
Page 77 and 78: the opposite head with a switch mos
Page 79 and 80: 2. With rare exception, percussioni
Page 81 and 82: Rossini, Gioacchino. Il barbiere di
Page 83 and 84: Duckles, Vincent H., and Michael A.
Page 85 and 86: Corkhill, David. “The Unique Func
Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING OF M
Page 89 and 90: 1911 Stravinsky Petrouchka xylo., b
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