Cultural Catalysts for Change
Music historians and musicologists attribute the Age of Enlightenment and Reason, and the European Industrial Age (which was fundamentally a Cultural Revolution) as being strong catalysts for major changes in the world of music; specifically the instruments and the “new” music of the symphony orchestra. One could also argue that the integration of deductive and inductive reasoning into the Scientific Method of the 18th Century played a role as well. Since timpani were becoming an integral part of the symphony orchestra, they were along for the ride and ripe for innovation.
So how, why and when did the transition to the beating spot on timpani as we know it today happen? And who affected the change? The addition of the Schalltrichter may have helped to some extent to improve the sound, but striking “outdoor” drums closer to the edge (as is now the norm) did not produce a palatable sound, nor did striking softly near the center. The Schalltrichter certainly didn’t solve the problem. One must consider that timpanists, composers and ensemble directors must have contemplated at some point on how to improve the sound and asked: Should these “outdoor” drums with half-tanned heads even be used for “indoor” music?
A New “Sound” Concept
The how and why can be attributed to the “new” music of the symphony orchestra, which resulted in changes in the approach to the head itself. This is in turn affected changes to the instrument, as well as the approach of the player, which spawned the advent of the orchestral timpanist:
1) Request for more “musical sensitivity” from the timpani as a result of the “new” music of the symphony orchestra.
2) Since the excessive volume of outdoor playing was not needed, the player was less concerned with breaking heads.
3) The conscious decision to experiment with, and use thinner vellum heads (not half-tanned) for “indoor” or concerted playing to help meet the new demands placed on the timpanist.
4) Closer attention to the details of tucking (lapping) the vellum.
5 Better mechanical means of tensioning the head.
6) Varied striking implements.
Thinner vellum/parchment, which could be used for heads had always been an option, the player just had to make the conscious choice to use them. It is well documented that vellum had been used for other drum heads for centuries. This new approach to the head allowed the loud percussive attack generally associated with “outdoor” timpani sound to gradually evolve into a sound that was much more pitch and sustained oriented. Some of this was by necessity because of the demands of the “new” music of that time that required the timpanist to exercise more dynamic control (not excessively loud) as well as contribute more of a “pitched” sound to the indoor ensemble. Inevitably, many innovations in the size and mechanical design of timpani, improvements and a conscious awareness of head preparation/production, variations in stick design, and a change in the striking method as well as playing spot gradually began to improve not only the sound, but also the legitimacy of the instrument. In essence, this was the advent of the orchestral timpanist, and they become the who in the evolutionary equation.
The when is still somewhat nebulous because of the stealth, secrecy, and strength of the early European Trumpet and Timpani Guild systems, which did not share knowledge or information about their art. In fact, a civilian musician owning or even caught playing a kettledrum at the height of the Guilds’ power in German speaking regions of Europe was forbidden. Doing so would result in a fine, or even bodily harm. Titcomb The power of the Guilds was less strong in other parts of Europe, but still secretive. Whether or not the Guild timpanists in any part of Europe experimented with thinner vellum heads for “indoor” or concerted playing during the height of the Baroque is not know at this time and is open to speculation.
However, we do know that the reign, power, and secrecy of the Trumpet and Timpani Guilds had subsided by the end of the Baroque-Rococo era (c. 1770) due to demographic and social changes brought on by the afore mentioned cultural revolutions. This was evidenced by Johann Ernst Altenburg’s 1770 manuscript for his treatise Trumpeters’ and Kettledrummers’ Art, which was eventually published in 1795. Altenburg’s treatise was more of a nostalgic nod to a bygone era rather than a book of any contemporary pedagogical value since the guild system was in demise and its secrets could be divulged. The decline of the guild systems was also evidenced as early as the second quarter of the 18th century when timpani were being listed on the payroll of many of the newly created orchestras, and not listed an additional instrument borrowed from the Guilds associated with Courts. Oxford Companion to the Orchestra
It is also well documented that by the mid-18th century, changes in the orchestra’s make-up and its music placed even greater demands on the timpanist; specifically more musical sensitivity (pitch and dynamics). By the end of the 18th century timpanists were regularly employing sticks covered in chamois and flannel (woolen cloth) as well as the more common wood mallet. No doubt that the timpanists of that time (just as we do today) wanted to keep up with the increasingly varied demands of the music and of the Maestro’s requests in order to keep their jobs. Necessity was the mother of invention then just as it is now.
We know that some of these “sound” innovations were championed by the composer Franz Joseph Haydn, a timpanist himself. During a rehearsal for his London Symphonies at Hanover Square Rooms in 1794, famed conductor (then an 18 year old musician) Sir George Smart relates the infamous Haydn “drumming” incident.
“At a rehearsal for one of these concerts the kettle drummer was not in attendance. Haydn asked, “Can no one in the orchestra play the drum I replied immediately, “I can.” “Do so,” said he. I, foolishly, thought it was only necessary to beat in strict time, and that I could do so. Haydn came to me at the top of the orchestra, praised my beating in time observed upon my bringing the drumstick straight down, instead of giving an oblique stroke, and keeping it too long upon the drum, consequently stopping its vibration. “The drummers in Germany,” he said, “have a way of using the drumsticks so as not to stop the vibration”-at the time showing me how this was done. “Oh, very well,” I replied, “we do so in England, if you prefer it.” It was Haydn, therefore, who first taught me to play the drums, a thing I had never attempted before that day, and have not done often since.” 31.5
Also,
G. Gordon Cleather “Music in Rhythm As Exemplified by the Timpani” (1908) relates another “timpani lesson” involving Smart and Haydn during the famed “drumming” incident.
“The early practice was to hit the drum near the center of the skin. This sufficed for the era of open-air music when percussive effects were more important than tuning. Haydn demonstrated the proper method of hitting the skin closer to the rim to George Smart during a concert Haydn conducted at Hanover Square in 1794.” 31.55