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

In his Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (1886), Johannes Brahms used the triangle
both rhythmically and sonorously (Figure 33). In the third movement marked “Allegro
giocoso,” the triangle rolls in unison with the high-voiced sections of the orchestra that are
answered in alternate measures by lower-voiced instruments. The half-note rhythm scored for
tutti orchestra then divides into quarter notes which are played by the woodwinds, brass, and
lower strings, fueled by a driving sequence of eighth and sixteenth notes shared by the upper
strings, timpani, and triangle. This passage could be played while suspending the instrument
in the player’s hand, although mounting the triangle and striking it with two matching beaters
may also assist in the execution of this excerpt.
Much like its initial use in Turkish music, the tambourine has remained an effective
occasional member of the orchestral percussion section. It has been used by nineteenth-
century and twentieth-century composers including Wagner (Das Liebesverbot 1834), Berlioz
(Roman Carnival 1844), Bizet (Carmen 1875), Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (Capriccio italien
1880, and Nutcracker Ballet 1892), Rimsky-Korsakov (Scheherazade 1888), and Stravinsky
(The Firebird 1910, and Petrouchka 1911). Numerous methods of playing the tambourine
allow composers a wide range of possible uses beyond its Turkish role of supplying color. 15
15 Blades, Percussion Instruments and Their History, 385-86; Gangware, The History and Use of Percussion
Instruments in Orchestration, 212-14; Peinkofer and Tannigel, Handbook of Percussion Instruments, 100-01.
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