(DAT) Timpani Part Editing - Part 2 - Part Revision Techniques - Page 4 - Editing Method

By now we have focused on the repertoire that benefits from editing.

Example One - Editing Method - complete opera

Long before a series of performances of Verdi's La Forza del Destino  I know that I should try and get a hold of a score prior to the first rehearsals, and that I will have at least an afternoon's work going through every note in the entire work. I have not played this opera before, so I don't already have an edited part ready to use. Conversely, if just the overture is scheduled I would play it as written at a rehearsal first, then let my ears decide if editing is necessary. In the case of this work, although I usually edit Verdi and this piece is sometimes altered, I prefer to play the ink.

The first reading of any work that may require editing should give a great deal of information. I routinely mark "suspect" notes with a ? mark, then check the score at the break or as soon as possible. For major works I will look through the entire score ahead of time:

(1) for possible changes,
(2) to check my part for errors,
(3) and to learn more about the work as a whole.

Study of the score and part with recordings always helps prior to rehearsal, even if the part is accurate such study is a good source of information about cues, and the better one knows a work the more rewarding the performances will become.

Some sources for borrowing scores:

(1) from the IMSLP (Internet Music Score Library Project),
(2) from your orchestra librarian,
(3) from local university libraries,
(4) conductors (assistants too) involved with the particular performance,
(5) interlibrary loan (with enough lead time).

I have a large personal collection of scores, more than many conductors. But that is not required to do a thorough job of revision...

I had originally planned to use discuss four major works, one of which was the Mendelssohn example you see below. Given the amount of time it has taken me to get this project completed, I have decided to examine the Verdi  Requiem in some detail instead, as it is a classic example of a work that benefits from editing, and is in fact edited in every performance I have ever heard. Still, this Mendelssohn example below is a good one so I have left it here...

Example Two - Editing Method - modulation
Mendelssohn 4: movement 4, bar 52 (one before A, second beat)

This is a classic example of a modulation that timpani restricted to two pitches cannot follow. The first beat is an e minor chord, the timpani has e. But the second beat is a B Major chord and the timpani has A, the seventh of the chord. No other instrument in the orchestra has an A except the timpani. At this point the music has settled into B Major and if the timpani plays the ink the harmony will be blurred, clouding the texture.

The first step, once the score is available, is to determine why the passage in question disturbed the ear. Here are the questions that should be answered, in order of importance:

1. What is the bass line?
2. What is the harmony?
3. What does the low brass play?
4. What do the trumpets play?
5. What do the horns play?
6. Who is in the same octave?

Answering these questions for this example:

1. What is the bass line? - B
2. What is the harmony? - B Major
3. What does the low brass play? - none present - only trumpets and horns in this work
4. What do the trumpets play? - F# (both)
5. What do the horns play? - B & F#
6. Who is in the same octave? - cellos

Once these questions are answered then the practicalities of a change need to be considered. The reason the A bothers the ear is because the music stays in B Major for a significant period of time afterwards. And since there's plenty of time to change back later on there is no practical reason NOT to make a change here. In Mendelssohn's time there would have been, with the predominance of hand-tuned drums and calf heads in the orchestras of the time.

Even with the best of intentions there will be circumstances were one is "forced" to play dissonant notes on timpani, perhaps because practicalities do not allow a change, or because the conductor insists, or you haven't had the opportunity to consult the score. A simple solution is to drop your dynamic level; the more dissonant you are, the more you drop down. Also you can play off your normal playing spot, either closer to the center or closer to the edge, both will "cloud" the pitch content of your sound - each method in a slightly different way.