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There’s not a whole lot of crossover between the worlds of sports and classical music. Concert pianists generally don’t play the piano with one hand while dribbling a basketball with the other, and I can’t recall the last time I saw a proper squad of cheerleaders accompanying an orchestra.

Likewise, even though “Get your head in the game!” is one of the most commonly shouted phrases in sports, I don’t think you have concert-goers yelling “Get your head in the symphony!” Not that this drummer needed to be told that, though, as shown by the startling flourish he put on the end of his performance.

Specifically, the musician highlighted in the video is playing a timpani. Compelling musical qualities aside, the instrument isn’t exactly the manliest-sounding name for the set of kettledrums, since it’s not too far off from the girl’s name Tiffany.

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Still, the drummer manages to mix in a few flashes of wild machismo. In a later segment, we see he’s ditched his sticks and is pounding on the drums with his bare hands, and he later plays with a bullhorn clenched in his mouth.

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Still, that’s not nearly as dynamic as what he does for the finale.

Painful as it may look, this seems to have all been part of the show. Go back and watch the video again, and you’ll notice that until the big finish, the drummer never once hits the drum farthest to his left, as it’s made with a flimsier covering than normal. Look carefully, and you can also see that while he almost appears to strike the drum’s head with his own, he’s actually torn it with his mallets a split-second before he sticks his upper body in there.

Of course, if you remember what they taught you in German-Argentinian Composer Appreciation class back in high school, you might have seen this twist ending coming. The piece being performed is Mauricio Kagel’s Concert Piece for Timpani and Orchestra, and one Japanese Twitter user even tracked down sheet music for it that diagrams the timpani trick.

Kagel’s compositions have been described as humorous and absurdist, and whether or not you find the video’s ending to be comedy gold or humor bronze, you’ve got to agree that it’s definitely weird.

Source: Livedoor
Images: YouTube