Description
In the transformation of kettledrums from military to ceremonial and parade uses, serving as a symbolic and universalist display of political power, the role played by African mediation has not been sufficiently studied. This role has been obscured by the fact that the transition of these instruments to the Western world has always been analyzed through the lens of Near Eastern mediation. The adoption of paired timpani, in particular, is often attributed to the expansion of Ottoman civilization.
In fact, the evolution of timpani in Europe diverges, at least in part, from this traditional attribution, as the dimensions and uses of the instrument transform over time—from the small kettledrums or nakers (naqqāra) first seen by the Crusaders in the Holy Land, to the double instruments mounted in Africa on the backs of camels, and later, in early modern Europe, on horseback. Moreover, although timpani entered the Germanic world through Hungarian mediation in the mid-15th century, iconographic sources from other European cultures, dating back even to the 14th century, associate them with Africa and/or Africans.
From the second half of the 15th century, in Aragonese culture, both in Spain and Naples, the equestrian use of the ancestors of our orchestral timpani was entrusted to black drummers. During the time of Charles V, these instruments underwent an organological evolution—with their shells now hemispherical and made of copper and brass—to be used in Habsburg and imperial military practices. However, in the Netherlands, which were part of the empire, they were still entrusted to black drummers during religious or celebratory processions known as Ommegangen, visually depicted by various painters, including Rembrandt. Moreover, surprisingly, in the early years of Charles V’s reign, the German artist Christoph Weiditz, traveling through Spain, documented the Andalusian use of Ghanaian double kettledrums, constructed using African techniques, materials, and shapes.
Building on parallel research on frame drums presented at another conference in Spain last year, this paper proposes to historically recognize timpani as one of the most evident contributions of Africa to European culture and music, and to explore the role of Africa in the transcultural evolution of percussion instruments in early modern Europe in light of the cultural history of the African diaspora.
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