The timpani provides an essential rhythmic pulse for the orchestra. In the case of Everett “Vic” Firth, the iconic timpanist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1956 to 2002, that pulse was ...

Everett “Vic” Firth, a longtime timpanist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra who became renowned among drummers of all stripes as a manufacturer of drumsticks, died July 26 at his home in Boston.