Multiple Percussion

History

Multiple percussion is a relatively new field of percussion literature. The first major work for multiple percussion solo dates back only a little over 50 years to 1956 (John Cage 27'10.554).

Throughout the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries percussion instruments were used to give dramatic and coloristic emphasis to the orchestra. As tonal harmony began to dissolve with twentieth century composers, the percussion was able to begin to be freed from the confines of a supportive role.

The first instances of multiple percussion were within chamber and orchestral works. Many composers began in the early twentieth century to compose parts in which one percussionist was asked to play many instruments that previously would have been assigned to an entire percussion section. In Igor Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat (1918) one percussionist plays drums of various sizes, tambourine, cymbal, and triangle, and in Bela Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937) the percussionist plays xylophone, snare drum, bass drum, triangles, cymbals, and tam-tam.

Major Works

John Cage 27'10.554 (1956)
Karlheinz Stockhausen Zyklus (1959)
Morton Feldman The King of Denmark (1964)
Helmut Lachenmann Interieur I (1965)
Charles Wuorinen Janissary Music (1966)