Name: Mahler & Eight Timpani
Start: 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2025-03-22T00:00:00.000Z
Location: DeVos Performance Hall

Admin

Grand Rapids Symphony

Conductor

Marcelo Lehninger

Orchestra

Instrumentalist

Daniel Karas

Timpani

Soprano

Addy Sterrett

Voice

Mahler & Eight Timpani

Grand Rapids

United States

DeVos Performance Hall

Public

Concert

Bachianas brasileiras

Symphony with 8 obligato Timpani

Symphony 4

Saurav Kumar

Approved

Symphony with 8 Obligato Timpani
Johann Carl Christian Fischer (1752-1807)
Arranged for Piano and Timpani by Gerhard Weitzel
I. Moderato 0:00
II. Poco Adagio 9:12
III. Allegretto 10:33

Performed by Manuel López Tovar
Piano accompaniment: Brigitte Poulin
Master of Music in Performance: Percussion
Pollack Hall, May 27th
Schulich School of Music
McGill University

When thinking about timpani repertoire during the Classical Period, it is common for pieces to require up to 3 drums. Their function inside the orchestra was relegated to an accompaniment role, and in very few situations, small and simple solos. However, Johann Christian Fischer, a German composer mostly recognised as one of the best oboe soloists in Europe, composed around the 1780s the first known concerto for timpani. Not for two, but eight timpani and orchestra, something completely unexpected even for today’s music standards. Requiring a virtuosic approach due to the size and number of drums, the concert includes florid soloistic passages, accompaniment sections and melodic playing often doubled by the orchestra. 
The first movement, Moderato, is constructed in the classical concerto form. The orchestra introduces the melody while the soloist accompanies it. This accompaniment line progresses in complexity leading into the melody. The music then develops until the cadenza, where the performer displays the true virtuosity of playing 8 timpani. The second movement, Poco Adagio, serves as a bridge to the third movement, Allegretto. Written in rondo form, the entire movement contrasts both military and gypsy styles in a conversation between the soloist and the orchestra.


Program Notes by Manuel López Tovar

Symphony with 8 Obligato Timpani - Johann Carl Christian Fischer | Manuel López Tovar

Soprano Addy Sterrett is the most recent winner of our Bach Festival Keller Award.
The concert opens with a piece that features only the cello section.
Drummers and percussionists will love to see this concerto featuring 8 timpani all played by Dan Karas, our principal player!

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