(Fr. instruments à percussion; Ger. Perkussion, Schlagzeug; It. percussione).
A term used to describe instruments, in particular Western orchestral and band instruments, that are played by shaking, or by striking either a membrane (e.g. drums, tambourines; see Membranophone) or a plate or bar of wood, metal or other hard material (e.g. cymbals, triangles, xylophone; see Idiophone). They can also be divided into instruments that produce a sound of definite pitch (e.g. kettledrums, celesta) and those that do not (e.g. snare drum, gong). The term is also used to designate the section of the Western orchestra containing these instruments (Fr. batterie; Ger. Schlagzeug; It. batteria); the percussionist may also be called upon to produce a variety of sound effects.
The rise of percussion within the orchestra is primarily a development of the 20th century (but see also Janissary music). An interest in orchestral colour and texture led composers such as Debussy (La mer, 1903–5) and Richard Strauss (Don Quixote, 1896–7 and Eine Alpensinfonie, 1911–15) to expand the percussion section; Satie in Parade (1913) made use of a variety of sound effects, including sirens, starting pistols, bouteillophone and typewriter. Such composers as Stravinsky, Bartók and Varèse gave the element of rhythm, and percussion instruments, a new importance within the orchestra and chamber ensemble. The rise of Latin American dance bands in the 1930s brought with it a new group of percussion instruments, of Afro-Cuban origin; these instruments and others of non-European cultures, such as the Asian and other non-Western instruments studied and used by Henry Cowell, made their way into the orchestra. Composers who have used percussion with special originality and effectiveness include Messiaen, Britten and Stockhausen. In jazz, dance bands, rock and pop music the percussion is most commonly handled by a single player using a Drum kit.
The development of music in the 20th century has brought about a situation where any strange sound or sound effect not produced by conventional orchestral instruments ends up in the percussion section. The single percussionist in Ligeti's Aventures (1962) and Nouvelle aventures (1962–5) requires the following:
a rack with carpet and carpet beater; an open wooden box with four rubber bands (the box to act as a resonating chamber when the rubber bands are plucked); sandpaper taped to the floor (to be scraped by the player's feet); paper bags (to pop); newspaper, brown grease-proof paper and tissue paper (to tear); toy frog (to squeak); balloons (to squeak); cloth (to tear); book (to flick pages); tin foil (to rustle); empty suitcase (to hit); metal dustbin and tray of crockery (crockery to be thrown into dustbin); tin can and hammer; sandpaper blocks; bass drum, snare drum, xylophone, glockenspiel, suspended cymbal and güiro.
Many other late 20th-century works have unusual requirements, some calling for instruments invented by the composer. In Richard Rodney Bennett's Waltz from Murder on the Orient Express (film score, 1973) a steam effect is created with a cylinder of carbon dioxide. Birtwistle's The Mask of Orpheus (1973–84) calls for a ‘Noh Harp’, the effect being achieved by suspending five metal bars over a timpani, the player striking the bars and moving the timpani pedal to create an eerie sound. Henze's Voices (1973) requires three thunder sheets, a starting pistol, wine glasses, a jew's harp, three penny whistles and a referee's whistle. In George Benjamin's At First Light (1982) a ping pong ball is dropped into a glass (a suitable glass should maximize the number of times the ball bounces); the player also tears newspaper. Benedict Mason's ! (1992) calls for a waterphone (invented by Dick Waters; water is activated in a special vessel by striking or bowing rods welded to the rim), a binzasara (a Japanese rattle consisting of wooden slabs strung together), a gourd in water, a rainmaker (rain machine), an udu pot (an Igbo instrument, a vessel played by striking one of the openings with the hand, a beater or against the body), theatre lighting, a cuckoo (whistle), hosepipe whistles, devil chaser (bamboo stick), trihorn (three-bulb car horn), Schwirrbogen (a bow mounted on a stick with elastic stretched across the bow, which emits a whining sound when whirled around the player's head) and patum pipes (a length of plastic tubing containing beads). Unusual instruments and sound effects have appeared in all types of music, and virtually anything may be expected of the percussionist in the late 20th century.
The Javanese gamelan may have provided a model for the Western percussion ensemble, a group of performers playing a wide variety of percussion and sound-effects instruments. One of the earliest public performances by such an ensemble took place in 1933; the work was Varèse's Ionisation (1931), for 13 performers playing 39 instruments, including some borrowed from Latin American music and jazz. Other early works for percussion ensemble included Cowell's Ostinato pianissimo (1934), which uses Latin American instruments, Western percussion and Asian instruments such as gongs and Indian ‘rice bowls’ (jalatarang), and John Cage's First Construction in Metal (1939), which calls for five differently pitched thunder sheets, four brake drums, four gongs resting on pads and a water gong. Lou Harrison and Carlos Chávez also made significant contributions to the medium. In such works, which employ many instruments apart from those developed within the concepts of Western harmony and melody, the elements of colour, texture and rhythm are developed to a high degree of complexity. Since the 1950s many composers have written for the percussion ensemble, which by the end of the century had become a part of many university music programmes. The ensembles Nexus, Les Percussions de Strasbourg and Ensemble Bash have commissioned many new works. Solo percussionists have included Evelyn Glennie, James Wood and Keiko Abe; all have also composed for the medium. Wood's Stoichiea (1988) calls for more that 600 instruments, played by 16 percussionists. The percussionist and scholar James Blades has, through his writings, helped to define a history and scholarship for percussion instruments. See Instruments, classification of; see also entries on individual instruments.
BeckEP
BladesPI
The Percussionist (1963–4) [from 1980–81 as Percusssive Notes: Research Edition; from 1985–6 with Percussive Notes]
D. Bajzek: Percussion: an Annotated Bibliography with Special Emphasis on Contemporary Notation and Performance (Metuchen, NJ, 1988)
T. Siwe: Percussion Ensemble and Solo Literature (Champaign, IL, 1993)
T. Siwe: Percussion Solo Literature (Champaign, IL, 1995)
JAMES HOLLAND, JANET K. PAGE