Thunderclap and whirlwind

The writer Urs Widmer from Basel once wrote a brief parable about the tragedy of missed opportunities, all couched in his unique blend of irony and melancholy. He entitled it *Timpanist!* “You don’t have to play much, but it’s only in the opera that you have a quiet time because no one except those in the cheap seats can see into the orchestra pit and check out your comings and goings. They suspect that you’re sitting backstage, having a drink with the man on fire duty. But you’ve got all the operas by Wagner and Humperdinck in your head, and you’re always at your instrument ten seconds before you have to hit it. Once, a guest conductor wanted to give you a cue with an intimate glance. When he saw your empty chair, he fainted, fell onto your timpani, and in fact got your entry just right. You stood helplessly next to the timpani and next to Furtwängler, and the orchestra got through the rest of the final act of its own accord – in other words, a young cellist jumped onto the podium and conducted like a god. You lay awake in bed all that night and wondered: “Why didn’t I jump in? Man, you’ll never get another chance like it. And nor did you”.

In a symphony concert – unlike in the opera – the timpanist usually has to remain seated on stage throughout. So Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer, who will be conducting the Swiss Orchestra in this family concert, probably won’t run any risk of finding an empty timpani chair and faint from fright. That’s just as well, because we need Lena-Lisa on the conducting podium and the percussionists at their drums (even though this can prevent them from having a great conducting career). And it’s the percussionists who are centre-stage in the concert “Thunderclap and whirlwind”. The Uri Percussion Ensemble was founded by Christoph Gautschi in 2002 with active and former percussion students of the Uri Music School, and they here present their diverse range of instruments. One thing is clear, though: this isn’t just about banging on and making noise, for we will also hear tender melodies, powerful sounds, soft rhythms and have lots of fun. Listeners young and old are invited to get to know the orchestra from the percussion side of things – to marvel, to empathise and also to join in, just a little. What will happen, exactly? We can’t tell you yet – just this much: there’ll be thunderclaps and whirlwinds, and it definitely won’t be boring!