(b. 1936)
Born in New York in 1936, Carl Davis studied composition with Paul Nordoff and Hugo Kauder and subsequently with Per Nørgaard in Copenhagen. His early work in the USA provided valuable conducting experience with organisations such as New York City Opera and the Robert Shaw Chorale. In 1959 the revue Diversions won an off-Broadway Emmy and subsequently travelled to the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. As a direct result of its success there, Davis was commissioned by Ned Sherrin to write music for That Was The Week That Was. Since then he has been enormously successful in the world of theatre, composing scores for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre and working closely with artists of the calibre of Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Joan Littlewood, Jonathan Miller and Billy Connolly.
Carl Davis Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Ben Hur (Silent Film)
Timpani + 4 percussion
Xylophone, glockenspiel, bell plate, orchestral bass drum, 2 x tam tams, 2 x suspended cymbals, clash cymbals, tenor drum, 2 octaves crotales, gong, bell tree, camel bells, sizzle cymbal, mark tree, triangle, pin chimes, cabassa, whip, wood block, ratchet, guiro, tom tom, tambourine, sistrum, Chinese cymbal, udu drum, sleigh bells, snare drum, finger cymbals, tubular bells, thunder sheet
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Easy Street (Silent Film)
No Timpani + 1 percussion
Triangle, tambourine, clash cymbals, sizzle cymbal, suspended cymbal, tam tam, snare drum, tenor drum, orchestral bass drum, wood block, kit bass drum, temple bell
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Mysterious Lady
Timpani + 3 percussion + celeste
2 x suspended cymbals, snare drum, orchestral bass drum, orchestral bass drum with clash cymbals attached, tambourine, triangle, tam tam, tubular bells, glockenspiel, clash cymbals, vibraphone, tenor drum, xylophone, 2 x tom toms, sleighbells, 2 x military drums, ruthe, celeste
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Napoleon
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, 2 x suspended cymbals, orchestral bass drum with clash cymbals attached, tam tam, high gong, field drum, snare drum, triangle, anvil effect, tambourine, 2 x wood blocks, whip, tubular bells, castanets, 2 octaves crotales, tenor drum
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Phantom of the Opera
Timpani + 3 percussion
3 snare drums, orchestral bass drum with cymbals attached, tam tam, triangle, clash cymbals, 3 suspended cymbals, sizzle cymbal, 2 x Burmese gongs high & low, tambourine, rainstick, anvil, 2 x tom toms, small wood block, ratchet, ruthe, maracas, vibraphone, xylophone, pedal glockenspiel, serrated rod or chain to scrape tam tam, plastic soap dish to scrape tam tam, bass bow
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Safety Last
Timpani + 2 percussion + celeste
Vibraphone, tubular bells, xylophone, glockenspiel, mark tree, bell tree, triangle, 2 x temple bells, wood block, sizzle cymbal, suspended cymbal, orchestral bass drum, tam tam, maracas, guiro, swanee whistle, ratchet, clash cymbals, vibraslap, whip, flexatone, drum kit, celeste
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The Adventurer (Silent Film)
No Timpani + 2 percussion
Tubular bells, snare drum, 2 x orchestral bass drums, suspended cymbal, sizzle cymbal, clash cymbals, drum kit, tam tam, tom tom, triangle, woodblock, mark tree, ratchet, swanee whistle, champagne popper
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The Eagle (Silent Film)
Timpani + 2 percussion
Orchestral bass drum, 2 x snare drum, clash cymbals, 2 x suspended cymbals, Chinese cymbal, 2 x tam tams, tambourine, triangle, whip, 2 x wood blocks, xylophone, glockenspiel, crotales, tubular bells, 3 x bell plates
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The General (Silent Film)
Timpani + 3 percussion
Snare drum, triangle, orchestral bass drum, tam tam, 2 x clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, field drum, high gong, tom tom, xylophone, tambourine, ruthe, glockenspiel, sizzle cymbal, coin, tenor drum, wood block, vibraphone, whip
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
Timpani + 4 percussion
1) 4 gongs, tubular bells, marimba, claves, police whistle, 3 tom toms, 2) vibraphone, xylophone, suspended cymbal, tam tam, 3) orchestral bass drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, ruthe, glockenspiel, triangle
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The Thief of Baghdad
Timpani
Int'l 32/39/26/23 Prem 32/30/28/25
5 percussion
Finger cymbals, tambourine, 2 x glockenspiels, triangle, clash cymbals, snare drum, darabouka, orchestral bass drum, xylophone, tenor drum, suspended cymbal, sleighbells, 2 x tam tams, maracas, mark tree, whip, bell tree, camel bells, marimba, vibraslap, sizzle cymbal, guiro, castanets
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