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
In: 4587
I think it was a matter of timing? And perhaps philosophy? If by classical, you mean European, then it’s not hard to trace classical music roots to folks like Plato, who espoused the notion that the percussive beat of music was primal and perhaps tribal. Unleashing the passions of man was not recommended.
I’m also pretty sure that by the time of the composers you mentioned, percussion instruments were being used all over the Turkish/Ottoman world, and those instruments soon found their way into classical compositions.
As for the use of drums, evidence of their use has been discovered going back many thousands of years.
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