THE ORIGINS OF RUDIMENTAL DRUMMING IN FRANCE

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the formation and evolution of the French school of rudimental drumming within the context of the development of military music from the late fifteenth to the mid-eighteenth century. The purpose of the article is to trace the historical origins of French drumming practice, to identify the mechanisms of standardization of the drum repertoire, and to outline the role of military ordinances and theoretical sources in the formation of a rudimental system. The research methodology is based primarily on a source-oriented approach, involving the analysis of key primary sources from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, including Orchésographie by Thoinot Arbeau (1589), Harmonie Universelle by Marin Mersenne (1636), the collection of François-André Danican Philidor (1705), as well as the manuals by Joseph-Henri de Bombelles (1754) and Antoine Caro (1756). The historical method is applied to the study of the chronology and periodization of the development of rudimental drumming in France. The comparative method is used to identify common and distinctive features of the analyzed events, phenomena, and artifacts. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive interpretation of the French rudimental tradition as the result of an interaction between military practice, dance culture, and theoretical reflection. The French school of rudimental drumming is considered not merely as a collection of individual signals and marches, but as a coherent system of rhythmic formulas and rudiments within which a shared rhythmic lexicon of European military music crystallized. The conclusions demonstrate that the process of unification of drum signals in the French army, particularly during the reign of Louis XIV, was a decisive factor in the transition from local functional rhythms to a standardized rudimental system. It is shown that many rudiments documented in French sources of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have been preserved in contemporary international practice. Prospects for further research are associated with a more in-depth analysis of the transformation of French rudiments in other national schools and their influence on modern percussion pedagogy and performance practice.