Virtuoso timpani playing
is not something that one immediately
associates with late 18th
century Vienna, but on 29 April 1798
Georg Roth gave a concert at the Kärtnertor
Theater at which he performed on sixteen
timpani with three sticks in each hand.
Another timpanist played on ten timpani
and juggled his sticks as he ran from
drum to drum.
This disc from timpanist
Alexander Peter and the Dresden Philharmonic
Chamber Orchestra explores this repertoire,
presenting concertante works for timpani
and orchestra from the late 18th
century. This is a potentially fascinating
area; one of those rare corners of the
repertoire which has the potential to
be illuminated by a well placed new
disc. None of the composers on this
disc is well known, but that does not
necessarily need to be a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, these concertos fail
to live up to the image of Georg Roth
juggling his sticks; they remain musically
rather thin and sorely tested by the
limitations of the timpani as solo instruments.
Georg Druschetzky,
a virtuoso timpanist as well as a composer,
solves the problems of solo timpani
by constantly doubling the timpani with
other instruments. His concerto for
six timpani is charming, but at 15 minutes
it rather over-stays its welcome. His
Partita in C, again uses six diatonically
tuned instruments, and enlivens the
faster movements with some arpeggiated
passages.
But the use of a set
of diatonically tuned timpani means
that the timpanist has only limited
scope for modulation. Johan Carl Christian
Fischer’s Symphony with eight obbligato
timpani, uses timpani tuned to G,A,B,c,d,e,f
and g. Fischer’s solo timpani part makes
good use of the rhythmic potential of
the drums and the soloist often acts
independently of the orchestra, but
he is inevitably left behind during
the more chromatic passages and in interesting
modulations.
Johann Melchior Molter’s
Sinfonia No. 99 in F major is more of
a suite, harking back to baroque practice.
Many of the movements are enlivened
by an attractive trumpet part; the timpani
act more of a concertante part rather
than a full solo and as such contribute
attractively to the whole. Johann Christoph
Graupner’s Sinfonia is similar, in that
it is written for string, flutes, oboe,
trumpets and continuo. Graupner often
treats the timpani melodically, but
I could have wished that Alexander Peter
played with more of a sense of bravura.
Musically, the items
on the disc remind me of early Mozart
or J.C Bach. The compositions are not
necessarily strong and do rather require
more help than they receive here. The
performances are accurate and rather
careful; I missed a sense of virtuoso
display and a feeling that the soloist
could dominate the orchestra occasionally.
It might be that the smaller timpani
used in the 18th century
accompanied by modern instruments is
not an ideal mix, but also there might
be an issue with Alexander Peter doubling
as soloist and conductor.
There is one slight
curiosity about the production of the
disc; the editor of the music not only
gets a credit in the booklet, he gets
his picture, a short biography and a
full listing of the editions used. It
makes one wonder who originated the
disc.
This is a slightly
disappointing glimpse into what has
the potential to be a fascinating corner
of the repertoire. It remains to be
seen whether any other timpanists take
up the challenge.
Robert Hugill
see also review by
Paul Shoemaker
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Orchestra/Alexander
Peter, solo timpanist and conductor.
