MPR’s Dan Olson takes a look at the timpani, sometimes called the kettle drum, as it takes the spotlight at The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Earl Yowell, the chamber orchestra's principal timpanist, plays the seldom performed Johann Carl Fischer’s Timpani Concerto.
Percussionists enjoyed special status as court musicians in the old days, and Yowell says their status is rising again among new music composers.
Segment includes music clips.