This is the second etude from Alex Orfaly's "Studies in Copper," a book of 15 orchestral etudes for solo timpani. A tutorial & demonstration follows the performance of the etude.

Inspiration for this etude comes from a very important rhythm (dotted eighth, sixteenth, eighth) found in Beethoven's Symphony No. 7. This rhythm is also found in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (but in 3/4) and Tchikovsky's Symphony No. 4 (but rhythmically inverted). Ensembles often struggle with this rhythm. Instead of sounding triplet-based, it often sounds like a duple rhythm. It is often the job of the timpanist to be a "rhythmic cop" and to ensure this rhythm is interpreted correctly.

Performed by Alex Orfaly
Copyright © 2008 C. Alan Publications (www.c-alanpublications.com)
Item #15020

Instrumentation: 4 Timpani