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

the opposite head with a switch most often made of twigs, called a ruthe. Downward stems
denoted the notes played by the beater; notes played by the switch were shown with upward
stems. The ruthe often played on the unaccented beats that fell between strikes of the wooden
beater on strong beats. This method of playing remains essential in modern-day attempts to
recreate authentically accurate performances of many late eighteenth-century and early
nineteenth-century orchestral works.
5. The designation of bass drum in late eighteenth-century and early nineteenth-
century orchestral scores sometimes implied the simultaneous playing of other percussion
instruments, particularly the cymbals. Remembering that it was the homogeneous group of
Turkish percussion instruments as performed by the military bands that originally fascinated
Western composers, some researchers maintain that is was standard practice for the cymbals
to accompany the bass drum unless either the bass drum or cymbals was scored to play alone.
In smaller cities where there was not always enough capable percussionists, it was sometimes
necessary for the bass drum and cymbals to be performed by one player through the mounting
of one cymbal to the top of the bass drum’s shell. The player would strike the held cymbal
against the mounted cymbal simultaneous to the playing of the bass drum. Such performance
practices have complicated modern day efforts to authentically perform the music of
composers including Rossini.
6. Orchestral composers such as Haydn and Mozart were among the first to
incorporate Turkish percussion instruments, using them as a homogeneous group. Beethoven
began incorporating percussion in his compositions as a valued textural component. Berlioz
went further by writing parts for percussion and timpani integral to the harmonic and textural
structure of his works.
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