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

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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 54
it was through the abundant and innovative scoring by Berlioz and Richard Wagner that cymbals achieved their position of importance in the nineteenth-century orchestra. The effect created by rubbing the plates together with a rapid rotary movement is known today as a two-plate roll. This roll, supposedly employed by Wagner, was uneven in its sound as compared to the controlled tone achievable with the two-stick roll. It was also possible to produce a hissing effect by the quick swishing of one plate across the other, known as strisciato. 10 An effect seldom demanded, the strisciato is scored by Leoncavallo in I Pagliacci, and by Dallapiccola in The Prisoner. In Romeo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet, 1839), Berlioz introduced the gentle tinkle of smaller pitched plates he called antique cymbals into the orchestra. Seen in Figure 27, these cymbals were played in pairs by striking their edges together, Berlioz included two separate pairs tuned a fifth apart to echo the melody scored for woodwinds, as seen in Figure 28. Figure 27. Antique cymbals. Reprinted from Joseph Adato and George Judy, The Percussionist’s Dictionary: Translations, Descriptions and Photographs of Percussion Instruments from Around the World, (Melville: Belwin Mills Publishing Corp., 1984), 44 10 Brindle, Contemporary Percussion, 80-81; Peinkofer, Handbook of Percussion Instruments, 121. 55
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 and 54: Figure 21. Modern orchestral bass d
Page 55 and 56: situations in the life of a young m
Page 57 and 58: Figure 23. Grande Messe des Morts b
Page 59 and 60: Figure 24. L’Apprenti-Sorcier by
Page 61: Figure 26. Le sacre du printemps by
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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