The annual festival orchestra I play in, in Seattle, has committed to a performance of Turangalîla, in Benaroya Hall, and I seem to have started rounding up percussionists. I've heard the Chung recording a dozen times. I can still remember the impact of the RPO/Groves/Loriod/Ogdon Prom in 1969; it was a turning point in my understanding of the symphony orchestra.

I'd like to seek out practical advice from anyone who has tackled the piece. First question is how many players to strive for. We have a cadre of talented amateurs and semi-pros attached to the festival who can handle the rhythmic complexities. Apart from the astonishing glockenspiel part, there doesn’t seem to be a requirement from the greatest chops; panache and good tonal control would be top of my list. I know the National Youth Orchestra played it recently, and we're probably one notch below them.

Various sources have put it at 5, 6, 7, and 10 players (Messiaen's program note in the Chung CD has the not-very-credible 5). It’s not clear whether those counts include the glock/vibe/chimes and whether those three could be done by one player.

I just got a copy of the score's cover pages, where a layout by one Gerard Perotin gives a detailed choreography and suggests how to substitute for the keyed glockenspiel. He has 8 players for just the untuned instruments. I was wondering if he this results in something that requires superhuman effort, or on the other hand leaves someone a little too idle.

So, any random advice would be helpful.

The other problem is that none of us probably owns the big, bad bass drum that it requires. Maybe not even the tamtam.

I haven't played this (though I would dearly love to, on percussion, piano or ondes martenot ) but in your position I think I'd disregard all the other - conflicting - information you have and start from scratch. Only you know the forces you have and the talents of the people involved, and these are going to be different from any other situation.

If the supply of percussionists is effectively limitless and the budget is OK, I think I'd risk idleness on the part of some of the players rather than overload members of a smaller section.

Slightly off-topic, where does your ondiste come from?

I don't know. Geoffrey Simon rehearses and conducts the festival concerts, and I understand he will sign up the ondes and piano.

Having been a soloist on (diatonic) tubular bells in my youth, I cheerfully volunteered to play the (chromatic) tubular bell part in Turangalila, and found myself totally out of my depth. As well as having difficulty finding the notes, I was also at sea on the sustaining pedal, which worked the opposite way to a piano. I would recommend that you get a player with some experience on tubular bells, or with lots of time to get acquainted with them.