I wonder why the great classical composers from history like Mozart, Beethoven, etc. didn’t make more use of drums or percussion in general?
I mean, they did write quite a lot of bombastic pieces and did all they could to make the parts that needed it to hit hard. So why did’nt they use more than one or two bangs on a kettle drum, giving the one who played them the most boring job in the orchestra?
Also I know that a drum-kit is a rather modern invention, but couldn’t they have used different guys playing different kinds of percussion?
Also maybe I’m completely mistaken and this turns out to be a list of classical music with some blasting in it..
Edit: I’m sencerely apologising to every classical percussionist, reading the answers I clearly underestimated your role
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Not really the answer, but one problem with percussion is that it’s overwhelming. If you have percussion prominently, everything else takes the back seat. There’s very little subtlety to a drum pattern. The high-class music of 18th century Europe would have offended the refined sensibilities of its audience if it employed drums. The occasional exception of the timpani was for really exciting moments, in part because timpani are pitched and were a royal pain to tune back then, so you could really only use them when you were in the right key. Brass was similar, actually. Brass was bright and overpowering and could only play some of the notes before valves were invented, so you don’t hear much brass back then either.
As percussion use grew in classical music in the 19th century, its use was generally kept fairly minimal so that it wouldn’t get in the way of the “real” music. But by then people were getting used to the sound, and also classical music was no longer a purely high-class pursuit with the rise of the middle class, so percussion came to be fairly standard in orchestras. With the 20th century, percussion has been used as an equal partner in the ensemble to the winds, brass, and strings. Percussion effects are no longer tacky or exceptional, and with our ability to make better instruments, they’re more playable too. Tuning timpani is no longer a royal pain, for example, so you can use timpani all over.
What you still don’t really see in classical music is drum sets. They do get used occasionally, but not generally. Why? Genre. You don’t want your classical music to sound like pop music, right? Because of all that precedent, classical listeners don’t want the drums mucking up their genre. So, if you want, put a drum set in your orchestral piece, but don’t be surprised if it’s only considered “pops”!
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