(1905 - 1951)
Constant Lambert was born in London in 1905. The son of a Russian and Australian, he led a dynamic, if brief, life. His musical talents showed early, winning him a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1922 where he studied with Vaughan Williams and R O Morris. In 1928 he became the first English composer to write a piece for the Ballet Russes, Romeo and Juliet, and this along with other early works, such as the Eight Poems of Li-Po, established him as one of the leading younger English composers. Much of his work was increasingly influenced by jazz, especially the music of Duke Ellington and two London revues, Dovers Street to Dixie and Blackbirds. When Florence Mills, the star of these two shows, died, Lambert wrote his tribute Elegiac Blues (1927), the first of his pieces to really be written in the jazz idiom. The Rio Grande followed in 1928, and was received with rapturous reviews, winning success for Lambert which firmly established him as one of the greats.
Constant Lambert Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Horoscope - Ballet
Timpani + 3 percussion
1) xylophone, glockenspiel, castanets, tam tam, 2 clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drum, temple blocks, tam tam, sleigh bells, maracas, 3) orchestral bass drum, tambourine
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Les Patineurs
Timpani + 2 percussion
Clash cymbals, sleigh bells, triangle, orchestral bass drum
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Les Patineurs Suite
Timpani + 1 percussion
Clash cymbals, sleigh bells, triangle, orchestral bass drum
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Les Rendezvous
Timpani + 1 percussion
Triangle, orchestral bass drum with cymbals attached, snare drum
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Mr Bear Squash You All Flat
No Timpani + 2 percussion
Castanets, clash cymbals, snare drum, glockenspiel, gong, rattle, tambourine, triangle, xylophone
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Rio Grande
Timpani + 4 percussion
Wood block, tam tam, tom tom, xylophone, 2 triangles, snare drum, clash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tambourine, castanets, tenor drum, tubular bells
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Salome Suite
No Timpani + 1 percussion
Suspended cymbal, hi-hat (sock cym), high & low tom toms (small), high & low steel pans, tambourine, ratchet on stand, police whistle
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The Merchant Seamen
Timpani + 3 percussion
Gong, xylophone, clash cymbals, sleigh bells, triangle, whip, orchestral bass drum, snare drum
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