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

Since the initial entry of Turkish percussion into the orchestra, composers have
consistently used cymbals to implement color, create climactic impact, and to achieve exotic
effects. There was little consideration for playing technique in the late eighteenth-century
orchestra, as the incorporation of cymbals in compositions was overwhelmingly defined by
the basic striking of one plate against the other with an oblique movement. It is surmised that
the player would hold each cymbal in the air to allow the sound to ring freely, and then damp
them against his chest to cease their sound. With the Romantic era, however, the interest of
composers in a wider range of cymbal sounds and effects emerged. As composers began to
experiment with the use of cymbals, they were eventually pardoned from their previous
pairing with the bass drum. The result was an expanded palette of sound capabilities and
playing techniques for the cymbal including the suspended cymbal roll. By holding or
“suspending” one of the two cymbals that were previously struck together, the player could
strike the sides of the cymbal plate repeatedly with the mallets to create a sound whose
duration and volume was easier to control. This performance technique is best known today
as a two-stick roll. Whereas crashing to accent strong beats had defined the cymbal’s use in
early orchestral works as influenced by the Turkish music, rolling allowed the tone from a
single cymbal to be maintained, increased, or decreased as desired by the composer. The
suspended cymbal’s sound was gradually damped or instantaneously choked by the fingers or
hands. Harder mallets produced a brighter tone and a more distinct sound with each stroke of
the mallet upon the plate; softer mallets yielded less sound upon each stroke of the beater,
blending into a sustained tone produced by the vibrating of the cymbal. According to James
Blades in Percussion Instruments and Their History, Berlioz is believed to be the first
composer to clearly indicate that a single cymbal be struck with drumsticks. Blades believes
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