In the process of discovering this echo, they would
have noticed the differing tonal characteristics of drumhead (Eisel 1738, 68; Speer 1974, 220). Since timpanists played on different parts of the head, they would have understood that different playing spots produced different tones. While the playing spot was important, so was the kind of stroke that vibrated the head. Bowles’s book demonstrates that the timpanist’s grip and style of playing changed by the high Baroque. First, the only grip used throughout the Baroque and Classical periods was the German or palms down grip. Unending images detail timpanists holding the sticks in what appears to be a near death-grip on the sticks. However, there is evidence that the grip changed in high Baroque or early classical period. A1770 drawing shows a German timpanist holding his left stick with this thumb and forefinger, the remaining fingers having no contact with the stick at all. This appears to be the case with the right hand too (Bowles 2002, 252). In three years (1730, 1757, and 1773), angel sculptures positioned on organ cases are holding their sticks in a similar manner. Therefore, by the Classical period, timpanists were exploring different ways of holding the stick to play more tonally, more softly or loudly, or more or less articulately. Second, the play- ing style of timpanist evolves in the Baroque. In the Baroque and Classical periods, there are six images of timpanists playing in orchestral settings. Prior to 1740, four drawings picture timpanists flinging their sticks high above their head and landing, however delicately or indelicately, on the timpani head (Bowles 2002, 121, 152, 171, 177). In two orchestral draw- ings after 1740, the timpanists are depicted playing in a more reserved fashion and closer to the drum. This development suggests that timpanists became increasingly concerned with stick control, the reserved execution of their parts, and timpani tone. By the Classical period, continental timpanists were experimenting with different tone producing playing styles. Evidence of this can be found in Sir George Smart’s writings. In 1794, the Haydn-Salomon orchestra was rehearsing for a concert. Smart, not a timpanist by training, played the drums that day. Smart reports that Haydn, a one-time timpanist, ap- proached him about his playing style. Haydn pointed out that Smart was bringing the drumstick straight down. Instead, Haydn recommended a glancing stroke because German timpanists discovered that a vertical stroke stopped the vibration of the head. The oblique stroke allowed the head to vibrate, giving a superior tone (Smart 1907, 3). In sum, there is little question that timpani tone production became important to musicians during the High Baroque and Classical periods. Larger drums, more tonal bowls, better heads, cartwheel mallets, covered mallet heads, alternative grips, reserved playing styles, new strokes, and expanding knowledge of how to produce different tones gave timpanists a larger color pallet from which they could draw in painting their parts. Sev- enteenth- and eighteenth-century writers discussed above provide evi- dence that timpanists were aware of timpani tone and knew how to shape the tone to achieve certain effects and execute specific passages. Because
68 Timpani Tone and the Interpretation of Baroque and Classical Music
? & ## ## ## ## ## C C C C C Œœœ Œ Ó Œœœ Œ Ó Œ Œ Ó Œœœœœœ Ó .Œ Œ .Œœ .Œœ .Œœ Œœœœ Ó Œœœœ Ó Œ Œ Ó Œœœ Œœœ Ó Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œœœ Œ Ó Œœœ Œ Ó Œ Œ Ó Œœœœœœ Ó Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ Œ