2.5.

Natural accents in Strausss Burlesque

Allegro vivace Natural Accents
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J
p
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J
p P

note appears to be accented. The f of the second and third measures is ac-
cented due to the position of the quarter notes immediately following the
eighth note(s). To understand this effect, play this phrase on one timpano.
Timpanists need to be particularly aware of agogic accents because they
often swallow up the smaller notes that precede them. For example, in the
fourth movement of Beethovens Symphony No. 7 (see example 2.6), the
rhythmic gure of two sixteenth notes followed by the eighth note is ren-
dered less forceful because the two sixteenth notes are swallowed up by
the agogic accent. If the goal is a musical gesture consisting of notes
played at the same dynamic level, it is necessary to compensate for the
agogic accent by stressing or bringing out the smaller notes. This is accom-
plished by putting a bit more energy into them. This gure would be
played with two accents over the sixteenth notes, making sure that the four
notes are of equivalent volume. See the companion Web site for a marked
timpani part.

2.6. Accenting short notes to bring them out

? 2 > > > >

4 J J
G. P. G. P.

The choice of and use of sticks can be used to affect an agogic accent.
First, it is sometimes useful to think in terms of playing with a small-
headed, light, hard mallet in one hand and a larger-headed, heavier, soft
mallet in the other. While this method would not be appropriate to Wag-
ners Funeral Music, this passage makes the point. Playing the rst six-
teenth note with the more staccato stick and the second sixteenth with a
legato stick effectively produces the aural impression of a shorter and a
longer note. Of course, the primary disadvantage is that there will be some
difference in the tone color produced by each stick. An alternative to using
two different sticks is to play the small note staccato (just out of the play-
ing spot toward the center of the drum) and the larger note legato (in the
playing spot). Phrasing in this manner effectively accents the legato note.
Embellishment accents are simply ornaments that add stress to a
note or phrase. Ornaments underwent a signicant development in the Ba-
roque period; however, only later did they have an impact on the timpani.

Musical Interpretation and the Timpanist 43