Tavolette

[kempedkemp]

Carlo, please comment on the "Tavolette" that Danny mentioned in the post about his "La Befana" rendition. He has peaked my curiosity.

[dbjorck]

Hi!

I did already ask Carlo about this privately while I was orchestrating it. Not even he with hist vast music knowledge (and Italian of course) knew!

From the position in the score, below the metal chromatic percussion (campanella and xylophone), I'm guessing it's some wooden chromatic percussion. And through the whole piece it is using the same two notes, and always alternating. Therefore I'm guessing it's one of those wooden pipes, where the holes at either end are different sizes, so when you tap on the ends you get two different notes.

Brgds

Danny

[Carlo]

Hi!

I confirm what Danny said.

Indeed, the name "tavolette" sounds misleading to me, as far as you would expect a sort of couple of small flat pieces of wood to be smashed one against the other to produce a sound.

This is indeed the case for the instrument that in Italian is said "frusta" (i.e. whip), which mimics the crack of a whip and whose greatest moment of glory, in terms of use in an orchestra, is surely the beginning of Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major: it opens the concerto at the very first bar!

But the "frusta" has no pitch, of course, and therefore has nothing to do with Respighi's "tavolette", which do have a pitch.
Hence I suppose that Danny's hypothesis can be a right track to solve this little mistery.

Best regards,