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Percussion Instrumentation Guide for Symphony Orchestras

COMMENTS & DESCRIPTION

"At long last an extremely valuable reference book that will be of great use by percussionists, orchestra librarians, schools and universities, conductors and free-lance contractors to help in deciding the number of percussionists and instruments needed for various orchestral works. In this fast paced world of music this book will be a must for anyone who wants to save time and money in putting together a percussion section and the required instruments needed for the orchestra repertoire."
-- Gerald Carlyss, Principal Timpanist - Philadelphia Orchestra (1967-88), Faculty - Curtis Institute (1967-88), Professor, Percussion Department - Indiana University.

"This book is a must get for any orchestral percussionist. The book does exactly what it says it will do, namely clearly indicate the necessary percussion instruments needed for most pieces in the symphonic repertoire. The pieces are clearly laid out on the page, the timing of the work, the number of percussionists needed to play the piece and of course, the list of instruments necessary to play the piece. This book is a real find and well worth the investment. I recommend it highly!"
-- Frank Epstein, Percussionist Peter Andrew Lurie chair, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Chairman of Brass and Percussion Department, New England Conservatory, director of the New England Conservatory Percussion Ensem ble, founder Collage New Music Ensemble, Boston, MA.

"This book will save conductors, personal managers and orchestra librarians countless hours of research. We have been waiting for such a book for years."
-- Clinton F. Nieweg, Principal Librarian, The Philadelphia Orchestra (ret.).

Ever wondered what that annoying "perc" really means?

Here comes the solution for all those who are annoyed and frustrated with the unclear and inaccurate percussion information given in the publishers' catalogues. Ever wondered what the "perc" really means? – This book lists almost 1,500 works from the symphonic core repertoire with the correct percussion requirements and instruments. Holmstrand has compiled the catalogue during his 30 years of service as principal percussionist at the Gothenburg Symphony. He has played practically every work in this book.

The catalog breaks down the works by percussion player(s). It lists WHAT instruments are used at WHICH point of the work. It also gives options for performing work with less players. No other book available gives you this much detailed information.

The Holmstrand book is a valuable source of information for orchestras, musicians, music schools and any organization involved in performing orchestral music. It is especially valuable to percussion section leaders and orchestra personnel managers. See the attached sample pages and it will be immediately clear how indispensable this book will be.Books will be available in the spring of 2004. Order your copy/copies now.

List price is $50 + shipping and handling. First print run is almost sold out! Order yours today!

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BO HOLMSTRAND,
the author of the Percussion Instrumentation Catalog

Bo Holmstrand was born in Härnösand, Sweden in 1935. While in elementary school, he started playing the violin and later the trumpet. During the 1950s and 60s Holmstrand was a military musician and studied and played the French horn, trumpet, violin and percussion. As a part of his training, he studied at the Gothenburg (Göteborg) Orchestra School, Gothenburg Conservatory and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Holmstrand worked as a military musician for seventeen years, 1952-53 in Sollefteå and 1954-69 in Gothenburg. In 1969 he became a percussionist for the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and was appointed principal percussionist in 1976.

In addition to playing “serious” music, Holmstrand has also played in big bands and theater orchestras during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. During his professional career he taught music at the Swedish Armed Forces Cadet Music School in Gothenburg. He also taught at municipal music schools, elementary and high schools. From 1974 until 2002 he was a faculty member of the School of Music at the Gothenburg University. His percussion method book “Slag i slag” (Beat on Beat) was published in 1985 by the Svensk Skolmusik AB. Many of his former students hold positions as leading percussionists and/or educators.

Holmstrand founded the Gothia Ensemble in 1982 with his GSO colleagues and students. The Gothia Ensemble is a percussion ensemble that performs serious percussion music for young people. The group regularly appears in the concert series of the Gothenburg Concert Hall.

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ORDERING INFORMATION

List price is $50 + shipping and handling.

First print run is almost sold out! Pre-order yours today!

Exclusive distributor for the U.S.A., Canada, Japan and Australia:

Educational Music Service
33 Elkay Drive
Chester, NY 10918

Phone 845-469-5790
Fax 845-469-5817
sales@emsmusic.com

Exclusive disributor for Europe:

EMS Music - Europe & America
Judengasse 16/B
D-74599 WALLHAUSEN

Phone ++49-(0)7955-38 91 92
Fax ++49-(0)7955-38 91 93
emsmusic@bellsouth.net

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COMPARISON OF FOUR AVAILABLE INSTRUMENTATION BOOKS

This table shows actual information from four different instrumentation books.
The Holmstrand and the DeVlieger books are percussion instrumentation books,
Daniels and Orchestral Music in Print are general instrumentation catalogs.

HOLMSTRAND	DEVLIEGER *	DANIELS **	ORCHESTRAL MUSIC IN PRINT ***
RAVEL:	MA MERE L'OYE SUITE
Four different solutions: Timpani + 4 or 3 or 2: 1. Xylophone, triangle 2. Cymbals a 2, susp. cymb. 3. Bass drum, tam-tam (4. Keyb. glsp [or orch bells] (movements III+IV) [+ Celesta by celesta player] ----------------------------------- 1. Xylophone, triangle (mvt. IV + V), susp. cymb. (IV) 2. susp. cymbal (III + V), cymbals a2 (III + IV), bass drum (IV), tam-tam (III) (3. keyb. glsp. (III + V)  [or orch. bells] possibly by an additional percussionist [celesta by celesta player]	Timpani + 3:   1. Xylophone, Triangle 2. Jeu de timbres (a clavier), Grosse caisse 3. Cymbales, Tam-tam	Timpani + 3	Timpani + 3perc
RAVEL:	LA VALSE
Timpani + 5 1. Snare drum (tambour) 2. Cortales a2 (c2), orchestra bells (Rehearsal #50-53; two mallits in  one hand, tambourine in the other), tambourine, castagnets, susp. symbal (#98-100) 3. Triangle, tam-tam 4. Cymbals a2, susp. cymbal 5. Bass drum	Timpani + 6 1. Tambour 2. Triangle 3. Tambour de basque 4. Castagnettes, Crotale ( c), Jeu de timbres, Tam-tam 5. Cymbales 6. Grosse caisse	timp + 6	timp + 5
MESSIAEN:	TURANGALILA
No timpani +10 perc Perc. A: 1. Bass drum 2. Snare drum, tenor drum Perc. B: 3. 3 temple blocks, maracas 4. Triangle, tambourine, maracas Perc. C: 5. Woodblock, tambourine 6. Cymbals a2, 1 susp.cymbal Perc. D: 7. 1 susp.cymbal, 1 small Turkish cymbal, 1 Chinese cymbal 8. 1 Chinese cymbal, 1 small Turkish cymbal, tam-tam 9. Chimes 10. Vibraphone** [Celesta & Keyboard glockenspiel by keyboardists] ** Vibraphone near celesta & keyboard glockenspiel	Information not available (the book brochure available at the time of making this comparison only listed Ravel works as examples.)	7 perc	5perc, vibra, bells

* Information taken from the Hank deVlieger website for "The Handbook for the Orchestral Percussion Section Book", publ. Albersen, avail. tba.
** David Daniels: Orchestral Music - A Handbook, Third Edition. Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1996.
*** Orchestra Music in Print, ed. M. K. Farish. Musicdata, Inc., 1979.