lar composers style helps timpanists determine (1) the attitude they will

bring to the part, (2) what sticks to use, and (3) how much liberty they can
use in tonally and dynamically shaping their parts, for example. Brahmss
symphonic works are often thick, dark scores that require heavy, dark
sticksthe so-called Brahmss sticks. Brahmss writing is often darkly pas-
sionate, which suggests timpanists should shape the dynamics, articula-
tion, and color of their parts often. The ebbing and owing of passion in
his symphonies offer opportunities for the timpanist to shape the intensity
and dynamics of each phrase. Sibeliuss compositions often express deep,
titanic, natural forces from the natural world and the human psyche. His
timpani parts are typically very nuanced: he expects timpanists to effec-
tively and tonally shade their parts and to successfully employ crescendos
and decrescendos to highlight the subterranean forces at work in his com-
positions.
The psychological backdrop of a composer may be helpful in inter-
preting a piece. One of the most profound, and well-written, psychological
proles of a composer is J. W. N. Sullivans Beethoven: His Spiritual Devel-
opment. Sullivan chronicles the impact of Beethovens early life experi-
ences and his growing deafness on Beethovens Weltanschauung. Sullivan
demonstrates how the themes of fate, suffering, and heroism culminate a
long process in which Beethoven fatefully accepted his suffering and hero-
ically transcended his fate (Sullivan 1960, chaps. 2, 3, and 4). Knowing
about Beethovens struggle with deafness helps the timpanist interpret
many of Beethovens works. Beethovens Egmont Overture opens with a
foreboding theme: one that foreshadows the fateful turn of events that, in
Wolfgang Goethes Egmont, will lead the heroic Count Egmont to his
death. Yet the nal strains of Beethovens overture are lled with the nobil-
ity of the hero who, despite his earthly fate, has secured an eternal place
in the hearts of all liberty-loving people. Knowing this, the timpanist can
interpret each discrete part of the overture. In sum, the psychological back-
ground may be helpful in interpreting a piece of music
Most music is composed with a purpose. Having an understanding of
the composers compositional purpose is helpful in interpreting the piece,
and subsequently, the timpani part. The intention may be programmatic
as in Bedrich Smetanas The Moldau, it may explore a dimension of the
human experience as in Brahmss Tragic Overture, or it may musically state
and develop a theme as in Brahmss Variations on a Theme of Haydn. Lets
return to Beethoven again to illustrate how the composers purpose can
help the performer understand the music and authoritatively play the part.
In the Coriolanus Overture, Beethoven reects on the life of the Roman
general, Coriolanus, and on the twin themes of tragedy and heroism. Wil-
liam Shakespeares Coriolanus put in bold relief Coriolanuss tragic, yet
heroic life. From his rise to power as a great and admired general, through
examples of the hubris that doomed his political career, and to his fateful
death, Shakespeare chronicles the life of Coriolanus. Beethoven develops
a musical picture of the universal properties of human tragedy and hero-
ism woven into Coriolanuss life. The overtures two principal themes

Musical Interpretation and the Timpanist 37