Handbook for the orchestral percussion section

  An ongoing concern to the leader of the percussion section of an orchestra is to establish the number of players needed for a particular programme, the percussion instruments required and how they can best be distributed among the available players. This Handbook presents the percussion classification of the major works for orchestra. It contains a list of over 2000 compositions (including ballets, operas, etc.) by 111 important composers from the 19th and 20th centuries:

Adams, Andriessen, Balakirev, Barber, Bartok, Beethoven, Berg, Berio, Berlioz, Bernstein, Birtwistle, Bizet, Boïto, Borodin, Boulez, Brahms, Britten, Bruch, Bruckner, Busoni, Carter, Chabrier, Chausson, Copland, Dallapiccola, Debussy, Diepenbrock, Dukas, Duruflé, Dutilleux, Dvorak, Elgar, Enesco, Escher, Falla, Fauré, Feldman, Franck, Gershwin, Ginastera, Glazunov, Glière, Glinka, Grieg, Hartmann, Henze, Hindemith, Holst, Honegger, Ibert, Ives, Janácek, Jolivet, Keuris, Kodaly, Lalo, Liadov, Ligeti, Liszt, Loevendie, Lutoslawski, Maderna, Mahler, Martin, Martinu, Mendelssohn, Messiaen, Milhaud, Mussorgsky, Nielsen, Nono, Orff, Pijper, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Puccini, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Reger, Respighi, Revueltas, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rossini, Roussel, Ruggles, Saint-Saëns, Satie, Schat, Schönberg, Schumann, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Sibelius, Smetana, Strauss, Stravinsky, Szymanowski, Takemitsu, Tchaikovsky, Tippett, Varèse, Vaughan Williams, Verdi, Vermeulen, Wagner, Walton, Weber, Webern, Weill, Zemlinsky, Zimmermann

For each work the list specifies the number of timpanists and percussionists, and the distribution of the required percussion instruments among the players. In a glossary an English translation is given of many percussion terms. This Handbook is the result of over fifteen years of research by the author. It is an invaluable asset for orchestral percussionists, librarians, producers and conductors!

 


[...] This handbook should be a "must" acquisition for percussion section  leaders, orchestra librarians and anyone who has a hand in planning or organizing orchestra programs. It also deserves a place on the bookshelves of every collegiate percussion studio.

John R. Raush, Percussive Notes, October 2004

The book (266 pages) is published by Albersen Verhuur, 
The Hague. For information and orders, please mail to: verkoop@albersen.nl, or have a look at: www.albersen.nl 


To give a little impression of the contents, the chapter concerning the compositions of Maurice Ravel is presented below. The code 1+6 means:
1 timpanist and 6 percussionists. Works with only timpani and no other percussion (like Menuet antique) are not listed. Orchestrations by Ravel are categorized under the names of the composers (Chabrier, Debussy, Mussorgsky, Schumann).

 
78. Ravel, Maurice

Alborada del gracioso - 1+6
1. Triangle, Crotale (a)
2. Tambour de basque, Xylophone
3. Castagnettes
4. Tambour militaire
5. Cymbales
6. Grosse caisse

Alcyone - 1+3
1. Cymbales
2. Grosse caisse
3. Tam-tam

Ballade de la Reine morte d'aimer (orch. Otto Ketting) - 0+1
1. Tamtam, Glockenspiel

Barque sur l'océan, Une - 1+3
1. Cymbales, Timbres, Triangle
2. Grosse caisse
3. Gong

Boléro - 1+5
1. Tambour I
2. Tambour II
3. Cymbales
4. Grosse caisse
5. Tam-tam
Note: Player 3, 4 or 5 can play Célesta.

Concerto pour la main gauche - 1+5
1. Tambour
2. Triangle
3. Bloc de bois, Tam-tam
4. Cymbales
5. Grosse caisse

Concerto pour piano et orchestre - 1+3 (1+4)
1. Caisse claire, Woodblock, Triangle
2. Frusta, Cymbale suspendue, Triangle
3. Grosse caisse, Tam-tam, Triangle
Note: Misprint in part (first entrance of triangle), check with score!

Daphnis et Chloé, ballet - 1+8
1. Jeu de timbres (à clavier), Xylophone
2. Crotales, Castagnettes, Tam-tam
3. Caisse claire, Éoliphone
4. Tambour
5. Triangle
6. Tambour de basque
7. Cymbales
8. Grosse caisse
Note: Too many mistakes in all percussion parts: omissions, wrong dynamics, etc. Check with score!

Daphnis et Chloé, suite nr. 1 - 1+7
1. Jeu de timbres, Éoliphone
2. Crotales, Tam-tam
3. Tambour
4. Triangle
5. Tambour de basque
6. Cymbales
7. Grosse caisse

Daphnis et Chloé, suite nr. 2 - 1+8
1. Jeu de timbres (à clavier)
2. Castagnettes
3. Caisse claire
4. Tambour
5. Triangle
6. Tambour de basque
7. Cymbales
8. Grosse caisse

Don Quichotte à Dulcinée - 0+1
1. Castagnettes, Vibraphone

Enfant et les sortilèges, L' - 1+5
1. Tambour, Eoliphone
2. Tam-tam, Triangle, Woodblock, Fouet, Râpe au fromage, Crotale, Flûte à coulisse, Livre de bois
3. Crécelle, Xylophone
4. Cymbales
5. Grosse caisse

Fanfare pour L'eventail de Jeanne - 0+2
1. Tambour, Timbres
2. Grosse caisse, Tam-tam

Gaspard de la Nuit (orch. Marius Constant) - 1+6
1. Xylophone, 2 Cloches tubes (a#, a#'), Crotale (f#), Castagnettes, Crécelle [15]
2. Glockenspiel, Wood-block, Cymbales-plateaux
3. Tambour, Cymbale aigue, Cymbale cloutée
4. Caisse claire, Éoliphone, Tôle
5. Tam-tam grave, Tam-tam très grave, Fouet, Géophone, Crécelle [32], Tôle [29]
6. Grosse caisse, Triangle, Cymbale grave

Heure espagnole, L' - 1+6
1. Xylophone, Triangle, Tam-tam, Crécelle
2. Cloches (a# » f#''), Castagnettes
3. Tambour de basque, Fouet, Cloche II [1]
4. Tambour, Grelots, Ressort
5. Cymbales
6. Jeu de timbres, Grosse caisse

Ma mère l'oye, suite - 1+3
1. Xylophone, Triangle
2. Jeu de timbres (à clavier), Grosse caisse
3. Cymbales, Tam-tam

Ma mère l'oye, ballet - 1+4
1. Xylophone, Triangle
2. Jeu de timbres (à clavier)
3. Cymbales, Tam-tam
4. Tambour, Grosse caisse

Mélodies hébraïques, Deux - 0+1
1. Tam-tam

Mélodies populaires grecque, Cinq - 1+4 (1+5)
1. Vibraphone, Xylophone, Jeu de timbres
2. Triangle, Tambour, Tam-tam, Grosse caisse
3. Tambour de basque
4. Cymbales
Note: Extra player for Grosse caisse is recommendable.

Myrrha - 1+1
1. Cymbales

Noël des jouets - 1+7
1. Jeu de timbres, Xylophone, Cliquet, Tam-tam
2. Tambour
3. Triangle
4. Tambour de basque
5. Castagnettes
6. Cymbales
7. Grosse caisse

Rapsodie espagnole - 1+6
1. Triangle, Xylophone
2. Tambour de basque
3. Caisse claire
4. Castagnettes, Tam-tam
5. Cymbales
6. Grosse caisse
Note: Xylophone sounds as written, in the lowest octave!

Ronsard à son âme - 0+2
1. Vibraphone
2. Tam-tam

Shéhérazade, Ouverture de Féerie - 1+5
1. Triangle
2. Tambour de basque, Gong
3. Tambour
4. Cymbales
5. Grosse caisse

Shéhérazade, trois Poèmes pour Chant et Orchestre - 1+3
1. Tambour de basque, Tambour
2. Cymbales, Jeu de timbres
3. Triangle, Grosse caisse, Tam-tam

Tzigane - 0+1
1. Cymbale, Triangle, Jeu de timbres

Vallée des Cloches, La (Miroirs V) (orch. Ernesto Halffter) - 0+2
1. Piatto
2. Tam-tam

Valse, La  - 1+6
1. Tambour
2. Triangle
3. Tambour de basque
4. Castagnettes, Crotale (c), Jeu de timbres, Tam-tam
5. Cymbales
6. Grosse caisse

Valses nobles et sentimentales - 1+6
1. Triangle
2. Tambour de basque
3. Tambour
4. Cymbales
5. Grosse caisse
6. Jeu de timbres

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Henk de Vlieger: percussionist - arranger - composer