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SPECIAL
DRUM SIZES :
A few timpani parts in the orchestral repertoire are famous among
timpanists not only because of their musical content, but also because of
the range of notes required on the timpani, in particular Stravinsky’s
‘Le Sacre du Printemps’ and
Janacek’s ‘Sinfonietta’
which ask for notes as high as b and c. A 20” timpani however -
considered to be of ‘regular’ size, that is a size easily available
from manufacturers - is capable of playing these notes. It is the
compositions which go even higher, such as Milhaud’s ‘La
Creation du Monde’ which, along with 3 regular sized timpani also
asks for notes in the treble register (d and f#), that require something
from outside the standard timpani sizes. The Concertgebouw Orchestra uses
an 18” Schnellar rotary piccolo timpano – pictured on the right - to
achieve such pitches (a rotary timpani is one where the kettle is rotated
to change the skin tension). James Blades suggests on the other hand
instruments of not more than 16” in diameter to achieve these notes[1];
often substitute instruments such as roto-toms (shell-less drums which are
capable of producing definite pitches and are also rotated to alter the
skin tension) are used to play these passages.
Schnellar
18" rotary piccolo timpani of the Concertgebouw Orchestra
Concerning
notes in the low register, that is, D and below (although most 32”
timpani are capable of this pitch), both the Wiener RSO and the Munich
Philharmonic possess a 34” Aehnelt timpano and the Concertgebouw
Orchestra a 41” drum from the Dutch maker van den Hoek. It is for
the symphonies of Mahler that these drums are most often called into use,
as well as in many contemporary compositions. When the Concertgebouw
recorded Mahler’s 7th Symphony for the London/Decca label,
this drum even received special mention in the CD liner notes.
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