ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS FOR TIMPANI The newest addition to our highly regarded series of excerpts
Selected and Annotated by Randy Max
Timpani, with audio CD recording of the Excerpts
Theodore Presser Company
414-41194 • $39.95
Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani contains authentic parts for 57 of the most-requested audition excerpts for timpani. The enclosed 78-track audio CD includes these excerpts played by major orchestras, plus 21 play-along practice tracks. This unequalled collection is enriched by comments and performance suggestions by Randy Max, timpanist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, who also offers detailed tuning plans, advice for practicing timpani and ear training, and historical information. The latest addition to the hit Orchestral Excerpts series, this unique book with audio provides indispensable audition preparation material for timpanists of all levels, from student to professional.
Editions
Tempo Lists
The Audio CD
Tuning Plans
Commentaries
Errata Listings
and Biographies and Historical Information
Decide for yourself whether Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is the best timpani excerpts book ever.
Check out the following excerpts, then see what timpanists have been saying about this important new resource and browse the extensive list of contents!
Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is a spectacular book! Wonderfully annotated and researched with many helpful suggestions both musical and technical. It should be in every timpanist’s library. I think it may become a classic!
Stanley Leonard,
Principal Timpani
Pittsburgh Symphony (retired)
Your book is simply outstanding! Congratulations on what is by far the best orchestral timpani book ever written. The work and research you have put into it is clearly monumental. It has everything one could ask for and more. I find the practice tracks simply an amazing idea, and to have indicated the various tempos of recordings of each excerpt is something out of the ordinary. Also great are the explanations of how to go about playing the excerpts, and the historical content which is very unique for an excerpt book. I have already recommended this book many times and will keep on doing so.
Andrei Malashenko,
Principal Timpani
Montreal Symphony
Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is a must for the student, teacher, and professional. It contains a complete inventory of excerpts and is a tremendous help with preparing for auditions. For many of the excerpts there are several options for executing the passage, allowing the player to choose what will be the most effective method under various conditions. I have also found this book very helpful for any professional to re-evaluate and solidify what can become stagnant under years of performances. Congratulations, Randy!
Rick Holmes,
Principal Timpani
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Thank you, Randy, for creating THE timpani excerpt book for which we’ve all been waiting.
Gordon Gottlieb,
NY studios, regular guest-NY Philharmonic
Faculty, The Juilliard School
Lifetime member-Impèrio Serrano Escola de Samba, Rio de Janeiro
This is the best timpani repertoire book in the past 20 years by a mile!! I’m so glad you used the real (authentic) parts and made really great comments on everything; and the CD is the icing on the cake!
Tom Freer,
Assistant Principal Timpani/Section Percussion
The Cleveland Orchestra
Randy Max has provided timpanists with the most comprehensive orchestral excerpt book in print. Invaluable are the technical insights, historical performance practice, and an audio CD of orchestral performances plus practice tracks. This book goes far beyond the written part to focus on details that will enlighten and enhance the performance. Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani belongs in every timpanist’s library.
James Campbell,
Director of Percussion Studies
University of Kentucky
Your book is very interesting for everyone, even for older timpanists who already have orchestral playing experience. It is especially interesting, though, for younger players who do not yet have very much experience and are still taking auditions. I think that this book gives many answers and ideas about how to handle difficult bars of pieces. The CD helps very much, too, to be able to listen to how the excerpts should sound. I want to recommend this book to every timpanist, both students and professionals.
Lassi Erkkilä,
Principal Timpani
Finnish Radio Symphony
I’ve had a good look and listen to your book and CD and think this is a wonderful addition to the training of prospective timpanists. It’s a new approach, indicating stickings and tuning plans of respected colleagues, giving students a feeling for the range of possibilities for their own musical development and style.
David Punto,
Professor and Chair of the Timpani and Percussion Department
Univerität der Künste Berlin
For anyone interested in learning the repertoire – be it a young student, a seasoned graduate preparing for an audition or a grizzled professional looking for new inspiration, this book suddenly seems indispensible. It is certainly the most thorough book geared toward actually playing the music I’ve come across: very specific, practical, and yes, fun to work from. Take a deep breath and enjoy!
Erik Charlston,
Co-Chair, Percussion Department, Manhattan School of Music
Randy Max's Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is now at the top of the list of Must Have books for the serious timpani student. It is simply unsurpassed in it's comprehensiveness, detail and clarity. Bravo Randy!
Jim Atwood,
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Cloyd Duff Timpani Masterclasses
For some people auditions can be more mental than physical. Your book really helps overcome some of those anxiety problems and will help to bring about confidence in the player’s performance. Congratulations on a job well done.
Gerald Carlyss
Philadelphia Orchestra and Indiana University (retired)
Randy Max’s Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani examines the repertoire from every angle. This mass of information is delivered clearly and concisely, in an advisory rather than dictatorial manner. Furthermore, the introduction contains many invaluable ideas on practising excerpts, audition preparation, and ear training. An essential resource for any student or professional.
Matt Perry
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal College of Music
Trinity College of Music
I have heard the statement “too much knowledge is dangerous”; however when it comes to preparing for an audition, the more knowledge you have the more prepared you are. Randy Max has written a book that gives you not only the music but information about the variations of tempi one can expect for the excerpt, historical facts about the music, BIOs of the composers and suggestions for practicing, tuning and sticking for both American and German style timpani playing. All this and a CD that accompanies the book so the excerpts can be heard and practiced. Orchestral Excerpts for Timpani is a “must have” book for the serious timpanist preparing for an audition. The 57 compositions represent the most requested audition excerpts and are done in a well organized, informative and easy to read manner. Highly recommended.
John H. Beck,
Professor Emeritus of Percussion,
Eastman School of Music
Nothing is more significant in taking an audition than knowledge of the repertory and experience performing with an orchestra. In this remarkable book, Randy Max has chosen specific and pertinent works that appear at auditions. To my knowledge, nothing in the literature for timpani has so richly created the vicarious experience of performing with an orchestra.
Even more remarkable is the wealth of information concerning the pieces: technical considerations, variations in historical interpretations (tempi, etc.), and so many gems of wisdom pertaining to the practical as well as sophisticated aspects of performance. On top of all that, he includes orchestral recordings to play along with!
One may say it is necessary to follow the conductor. There is always an intrinsic necessity to listen to the orchestra reacting to the conductor’s beat, to the intricacies of fitting in with rhythmic details, to dynamics and overall volume, and to the shaping of phrases. At the risk of being redundant, listening to the orchestra cannot be overemphasized.
What happens if the conductor makes a mistake or gets lost? What if the conductor’s beat becomes vague or unclear? The timpanist is thrown into a very responsible position! The power of the timpani is equal to any entire section of the orchestra and therefore has the ability to draw the orchestra together. There were a few instances in my own experience where such mishaps have taken place. Of course, the reverse of this is a mistake by the timpanist – but let’s not talk about that! For all these reasons, I seriously recommend thoroughly studying every entire piece with both score and recording.
I am quite privileged to write this preface for Randy’s book because it is a historical document, a compendium of vital information, and an essential tool in preparation for a life as a professional timpanist.
William Kraft
Santa Barbara, California; January 2010
Composer-in-Residence, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1981-85)
Timpanist, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1962-81)
Randy Max covers all of these excerpts —
SAMUEL BARBER
PAUL HINDEMITH
Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance
[28] - [32]
Symphonic Metamorphosis on
Themes by Carl Maria von Weber
Mvt. 2, 5 after [S] to [T]
Mvt. 2, 5 after [V] to 8 after [W]
Randy Max joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic as principal timpanist in 1988, where he performed the European premiere of the Timpani Concerto No. 1 by William Kraft. He has also performed extensively as timpanist with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, with whom he has appeared as soloist and toured North and South America, Europe and Russia.
Randy earned his undergraduate degree at the St. Louis Conservatory, where he studied with Rick Holmes and John Kasica. He received his Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Roland Kohloff, Buster Bailey, and Walter Rosenberger, and attended master classes with Saul Goodman. Upon graduation he was appointed timpanist and percussionist of the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra by former Radio City timpanist and personnel manager Robert Swan. In New York, Randy was also timpanist and percussionist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, with whom he played on many recordings including John Adams’ Nixon in China.
He spent two summers as timpanist with the National Repertory Orchestra and attended Tanglewood as a timpani/percussion fellow. Randy has given master classes in the United States and Europe, and co-presented the Roland Kohloff Memorial Master Class at PASIC 2006. He has performed with many ensembles including the Flemish Radio Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Virtuosi (New York), Royal Flemish Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, and has performed as soloist with the Amsterdam Percussion Group.
Randy is the founder of MAXmallets (www.maxmallets.com) and since 2007 has served as Visiting Professor of Timpani at Trinity College of Music in London.
ABOUT RANDY MAX