(Fr. fouet, claquette: Ger. Holzklapper, Peitsche; It. frusta).
A percussion effect imitating the sound of a whip crack; it is a concussion idiophone, or Clappers. The whip consists of two pieces of wood about 10 cm wide and 45 cm in length, hinged at one end and provided with straps or handles; the player slaps the two surfaces together. A variant known as a slapstick incorporates a spring and requires only one hand to operate. The effect of several whip cracks in rapid succession is created by a ‘double whip’: two whips mounted side by side on a board, one operated by each hand.
The sound of a whip has been connected with musical activity for many centuries. An Assyrian bas-relief from Nimrud shows a dancer carrying a whip in his right hand which he appears to be using as a timekeeper. A similar custom exists to this day in eastern Europe.
Composers to make use of the whip effect include Adolphe Adam (Le postillon de Lonjumeau, 1836), Mahler (e.g. Seventh Symphony, 1904–5), Ravel (to open his Piano Concerto in G, 1929–31) and Britten (The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, 1946; Noye’s Fludde, 1957, in which the whip is used in Mrs Noah’s admonition of Mr Noah; and The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966), in which a multiple whip of four different sounds/pitches is required).
JAMES BLADES/JAMES HOLLAND