BASSOON ESSAY

Byron Graw

Wind Ensemble

5/16/99

"Okay, for the last time!! Yes, I play the bassoon!"

"HUH?"

"The bassoon!"

"Buhhhh-¯"

"Bassoon!!!"

The bassoon is the bass member of the oboe family and is distinguished by a long conical bored body and a sound that by turns can be comical, haunting, or jaunty. While in the 17th century multiple types of this instrument existed, at present there is only a single type of bassoon and contrabassoon, which is pitched an octave lower. Bassoons are usually made of maple, rosewood or plastic and consist of five pieces that fit together to form a conical tube that stands approximately 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall. Attached to the instrument is a bent piece of hollow metal called a bocal, to which the double-reed mouthpiece is fitted. Bassoon players hold their instruments away from their bodies at an angle. The left hand, with the palm upward, is held at chest level, while the right hand, palm downward, rests over the bassoon's lower portion and supports it against the right thigh. Lending additional support are a cord attached to the upper part of the instrument worn around the player's neck and a strap, on which the player sits, that is attached to the instrument's lower part. The sound originates in the reed, then travels through the bocal, down the right wing, through the boot and out the left wing following with the bell. It has a range of about three and a half octaves, from three B-flats below middle C to two Gs above. It has quite a nasal sound, which makes it sound quite humorous when playing staccato notes. Some people refer to it as the "Clown of the Orchestra."

The bassoon is the bass member of the woodwind instruments that include the English Horn, an alto oboe used in opera and orchestral music, and the contrabassoon, the lowest voice of the family. It traces its ancestry from similar instruments like the English curtal and French sordone used in the Renaissance. The bassoon's unusual shape is due to its long wooden bore being folded in two. The bassoon has four sections: the bell, the long joint, the butt, and the wing, into which fits a curved metal mouthpipe. The mouthpiece itself is a double reed. Like the oboe, the bassoon's double reed produces a characteristic nasal quality that lends distinctive color to the woodwind instruments.

The use of the bassoon was first documented in the 16th century. The Bassoon and oboes, the double reeds (called so because of the carved reeds that serve as mouthpieces for there instruments) were the first wind instruments to gain entry into the orchestra. Throughout the Renaissance and baroque eras the instrument provided harmonic support in collaboration with the lowest-pitched instruments in large and small ensembles. Occasionally Jean-Philippe Rameau employed as a solo and virtuoso instrument, as in the concerti by Antonio Vivaldi and in operas the bassoon. In the classical era composers began to explore the instrument more fully. By writing with a new freedom for its upper registers, they gave the instrument prominence as a melodic voice. From the mid-18th century. The bassoon provided both orchestras and smaller ensembles with harmonic support and added a melodic voice of distinctive color and sound.

Composers in the baroque era could write quite fancifully for these instruments-¯Bach's 'Suite No. 2 in B Minor', with its florid solos for flute, is a good example of such instrumental virtuosity-¯but classical composers were more likely to make less extravagant use of these instruments. Oboes often played in unison with the violins, and the bassoons could be found doubling the lowest voice of the harmony, usually played by the cellos and basses.

The Bassoon is becoming a more versatile instrument. It has been appearing in many jazz ensembles, such as the UK group "Bassoons and Beyond". This group has been invited to numerous performances and competitions throughout the world.