Eight Pieces for Four Timpani

Eight Pieces for Four Timpani: each
Composer: Carter Elliot

The Canto and Adagio of this set of Eight Pieces for Four Timpani (One Player) were written in 1966, while the other six were composed in 1949. In those days, these six were found difficult, if not impossible to play effectively, but, as time passed interest in them and performing skills grew, so I decided to publish the set complete, as four of them had been widely circulated in manuscript, in 1966. At that time, they were revised with the help of the percussionist, Jan Williams, of the New York State University at Buffalo. In gratitude for his advice, the Canto and Adagio were composed for him and included the set. Unlike the other, each of which is a four-note piece based on different tunings of the drums, these two employ the possibilities of the pedal-tuned chromatic timpani. The six from 1949, besides being virtuoso solos for the instrumentalist, are studies in the controlled, interrelated changes of speed now called “metric modulation,” and generated ideas carried further in my First String Quartet begun at the same time and completed shortly afterwards.