Author: Richard Hochrainer

Title: Etudes for Timpani Vol. 2

Publisher: Ludwig Doblinger (Bernhard Herzmansky); K.G. Wein, Munich; 1967

Length:40 pages

Content: 56 short etudes for timpani solo continuing Hochrainer’s Viennese Percussion Method books.  The books works progressively picking up where Vol. 1 left off with 2 drum etudes in the front and more difficult 4 drum etudes in the back introducing quick tuning changes as well as difficult rhythmic passages.  Great for intermediate-advanced level study. Originally written for the “German” approach of placing the lowest timpani to the right of the performer and the highest to the left, the etudes can offer tricky passages for American players, who usually play “French” style, placing the drums from lowest to highest left to right. Hochrainer’s timpani methods are huge in the European percussion community and are considered standard literature.

Bio: Richard Hochrainer is most famous for his positions as timpanist with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Orchestras, as well as Professor of Percussion at the Vienna Academy of Music.

Annotated by James Charrette