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05.03.2020

Italian fagotto, lit. - knot, ligament; German Fagott, French. basson, English bassoon

Wind reed musical instrument . Appeared in the 20-30s. 16th century as a result of the reconstruction of an ancient bombard (pommer). Consists of a barrel, bell and es. The barrel is lat-shaped. letter U (as if folded in half) and has 3 bends: a bass pipe, a “boot” (has 2 channels; it contains the return stroke of the F. tube) and a wing (wing). Thanks to the change in design, the strength and roughness of sound characteristic of the pommer and other predecessors of F. disappeared, which was reflected in the name. instrument (in the 16th century - dolcian, dulcian - dolcian, dulcian; from Italian dolce - tender, sweet). F. is made from maple (in the past it was made from beech, boxwood, sycamore or palm tree), now it is sometimes made from plastic. The sound is produced using a double reed reed placed on the es. The channel (length more than 2.5 m) is hollow-conical; drilling expanding towards the socket. Sound holes (25-30) b. h. are covered with valves, only 5-6 of them are open, closed with fingers. Has special valves to facilitate blowing. Almost everywhere (except for French orchestras) F. with a German valve mechanism are used. systems. This kind of F. was created in 1834. master I. A. Heckel and bassoonist K. Almenroeder (the Heckel company, founded in 1831, still exists). F. their design is with 24 valves and 5 open holes. The f. is made in S., in the scores it is written down in actual form. sound, range - B1 (sometimes A1, for example in R. Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelung") - e2 (g 2). In modern F. timbre is juicy and full in the lower (B1 - G) and less dense in the middle (G - g) registers; the high register (g - c2) has a melodious quality. The originality of the timbre in the high register gives the sound a special expressiveness; it approaches the plaintive intonations of the human voice (for example, in the ballet “The Rite of Spring” by Stravinsky); the highest register (c2 - e2) is compressed and very tense. Technical and arts. F.'s possibilities are great and varied - from virtuoso staccato and legato passages, various leaps to a gentle cantilena. F. is used mainly in symphony. orchestra (became a permanent participant in the late 17th century; in modern symphony orchestras there are two or three, rarely four F.; sometimes the 4th F. changes during performance to a contrabassoon), often used in chamber music and spirit. and estr. orchestras, as well as in ensembles and solos (concertos for F. with orchestra were written by A. Vivaldi, J. C. Bach, W. A. Mozart, K. M. Weber, I. Power, as well as L. K. Knipper, B.V. Savelyev and others). F.'s part is notated in bass, tenor, treble (rarely) clefs and (as an exception) in alto clef (in the opera "The Woman of Pskov" by Rimsky-Korsakov).

In Russia, F. has been known since the end. 17 - beginning 18th centuries F. was widely used as a solo instrument in Russian. classic music, eg. M. I. Glinka ("Ruslan and Lyudmila", Spanish overture for orchestra " Aragonese jota"), N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (operas "Sadko", "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia", etc.).

Of the many Varieties of F. that appeared in the 16th-19th centuries were widespread. types of small f., including fagottino (Italian fagottino), sounding an octave higher than f., tenor f. in G (less often in F; range G - f1), used ch. arr. for learning to play F., and Russian. F. (range G (F, E) - g1), similar to the serpent (differed by a metal cauldron-shaped mouthpiece), used in the military. orchestras. In Russia, such F. existed under the name. infantry and dragoon basses, produced in 1744-59 at the factory of E. T. Metsneninov, made of boxwood (master Ya. I. Rogov). In modern In practice, the contrabassoon has been preserved, which was included in their scores by W. A. Mozart (orchestral piece “Masonic Funeral Music” and serenades for orchestra), J. Haydn (oratorios “The Creation of the World” and “The Seasons”), L. Beethoven (opera "Fidelio", 5th and 9th symphonies, "Solemn Mass", etc.), in the 20th century. - C. Debussy, P. Dukas, M. Ravel. The F. family also includes the rarely used sub-bassoon (invented in 1872 by master V.F. Cherven), which sounds an octave lower than the contrabassoon.

Literature: Chulaki M., Instruments of a symphony orchestra, L., 1950, p. 115-20, 1972; Rogal-Levitsky D., Bassoon, in his book: Modern orchestra, vol. 1, M., 1953, p. 426-66; Levin S., Fagot, M., 1963; his, Wind instruments in the history of musical culture, Leningrad, 1973; Neklyudov Yu., On constructive improvements to the bassoon, in the book: Methods of teaching playing wind instruments. Essays, vol. 2, M., 1966, p. 232-45.

A. A. Rosenberg

(Italian - Fagotto, French - Basson
German - Fagott, English - Bassoon,)

Bassoon is a reed wind musical instrument, translated from Italian it means “faggot or knot.” It belongs to the class of musical instruments made of wood.

Bassoon range and registers

Orchestral range – from B-flat counter octaves to mi second octave.

The lower register is distinguished by a thick and strong sonority of a formidable character

The middle register has a dull, soft and weaker sound

The upper register sounds soft, gentle and at the same time somewhat compressed and tense

The reed wind device was constructed in Italy, approximately in the 6th century (approximately in the twenties - thirties), during great era baroque. At first, the invention of the bassoon was attributed to the clergyman Afranio del Albonesi, who was believed to have combined two musical wind instruments (exactly what, it is assumed) by adding a bellows to them, after which the invention was called phagotus, but as it turned out over time, the musical instrument created by the cleric had a common There was almost nothing with the real bassoon, and in essence it was an ordinary, simple bagpipe, additionally equipped with metal reeds, but the name of the real creator is unknown. However, it is known that the current bassoon appeared thanks to the reconstruction of an ancient instrument called bombard, and some also called it “pommer”. The bombard, itself a large instrument, was divided into two separate parts to make it easier to manufacture and transport. The changes made to the design not only simplified creation, storage and transportation, but also had a beneficial effect on the timbre itself and, as a result, a new, completely new musical instrument appeared. Due to the change in sound timbre, the bassoon was first called “dulcian,” which is translated from Italian as “sweet and tender.” Then the bellows pipes were removed from the bassoon. This reconstruction was carried out by the master of musical instruments Sigismund Sheltzer at the beginning XVII century. However, despite its “gentle” name, the instrument was completely different from the current concept of a gentle sound, but if we talk about how unpleasantly the bombard wheezed and growled in that period, then the new bassoon, which had experienced innovations in improving its complex mechanism, really should have seemed "soft" contemporaries. The Baroque instrument was rarely used for playing in a symphony orchestra. Starting from the end of the 7th century, at the beginning of the 8th century, the bassoon began to be used in Russia, especially often played solo for classical musical works. Michael Praetorius, a famous musical writer of the Middle Ages, in his description of this musical instrument gave five independent varieties of bassoon at that time, and what is quite interesting is that the bassoons of that time were quite similar in appearance to modern musical instruments. At the end of the 18th century, the bassoon had already come into widespread use in all cities of Germany, in particular in military garrisons. This is the history of the bassoon before XVIII century. Already with beginning of the 19th century centuries, the subsequent development of the bassoon proceeded with lightning speed. Some invented new things, others immediately added something of their own, others developed and improved it. And such a cycle existed until the fifties. Then the then famous master Eugene Jeancourt, together with Buffay and Crampon, made the most significant change in the design of the bassoon. And it is to them that we can bow down for a modern, completely perfect bassoon.
Bassoon in music.
From the beginning of the 18th century to mid-19th century, the bassoon very quickly begins to acquire its place in different musical genres and compositions. Thus, the very first solo performance of the bassoon was recorded in a fantasy from the collection Canzoni, fantasie et correnti created by Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde. This work was first presented in Venice, and the bassoon was given a difficult part. Especially when you consider that he only had two valves, and he needed to play in a range that was extended down to the B-flat counteroctave. Beginning in the 18th century, the improved bassoon was included in the permanent composition of opera orchestras. Because of the humorous, playful sound of the staccato notes of the bassoon, Glinka used the bassoon in his world-famous opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. Then he sensually showed Farlaf's cowardly character. The alternating staccato of two overlapping bassoons played a very significant role in conveying the character of the cowardly hero. And it's not last moment the use of the bassoon in operas... Also sometimes the bassoon could sound tragic. Thus, in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, the bassoon plays a heavy, mournful solo, accompanied by the sound of double basses. In some of Shostakovich's symphonies, the bassoon also acquired drama and dynamism, sometimes being cheerful and sometimes completely sad. In the music of foreign authors, the bassoon was heard by Haydn and J.S. Bach; I.G.Graun, I.G.Müthel and K.Graupner wrote concertos for the bassoon, where the full potential of this instrument was fully revealed. One of the most frequently played works for bassoon was Mozart's concerto (Concerto in B major or B major). One of the important components of the history of the bassoon are the 39 concertos created by Antonio Vivaldi. The solo parts written by Vivaldi for the instrument surprise with their quick transitions and leaps from one register to another, long continuous episodes and virtuoso passages, because such techniques came into wide use only with the improvement of the instrument several decades later. The structure of the new bassoon: The bassoon looks like a long curved tube (the keys are located on it), it has a valve system and a double reed, mounted on a metal tube made in the shape of the letter “S”.

It is this tube that connects the main body of the instrument to the reed.

The secret to playing this instrument is that you need to exhale very quickly and forcefully. The design of the bassoon itself is curved three times, but if it is unfolded, its total length will be at least 6 meters in length. Modern bassoons are most often made from light maple wood, then the valves are strengthened on it and small holes are drilled. This process is very painstaking, because it is necessary to drill a hole very narrowly, while gradually expanding it towards the end, so that the output is a hollow-conical section.

When played, the bassoon has an expressive timbre; in its full range it is rich in overtones. The middle and lower registers of the instrument are most often used. As for the top notes, they have a more compressed and nasal sound. Today, there are two models of wind instruments, the bassoon itself, and one of its varieties - the contrabassoon, which has an identical design, but sounds one octave lower.

An ordinary bassoon has a volume of three octaves and a little, starting with the “B-flat counter” and ending with the “D-second” octave, but still the musicians manage to extract the necessary notes, despite the fact that this is dangerous, especially during a concert.
The sound of the resulting octaves is dull and unpleasant. The sound timbre of a bassoon directly depends on the register of sound reproduction. With the advent of the bassoon wind instrument classical music acquired expressiveness and became richer in overtones.

Some interesting facts about the bassoon - a musical instrument:

The bassoon - “forgotto” - “bundle of firewood”, received its name for a reason, because when disassembled it exactly resembles that very same bundle of firewood.
The bassoon is not made from any other wood than maple.
Poets of the last century compared the sound of the bassoon with the “speech of the God of the deep sea”

So how do you learn to play the bassoon?

Know that nothing is impossible. A person is capable of doing anything, we are only limited by self-esteem and opinion about ourselves. The sooner you understand this, the better! So how to play this musical instrument and how difficult is it? As already said, we are limited only by consciousness, so get off the couch, buy a tool and get to work. I would like to say that the bassoon is an orchestral instrument, therefore it is not as universal as, say, a guitar and a piano, but without this instrument some sonatas and symphonies famous authors they simply do not have the right to exist. So, now you have already “iron” decided to build yourself a career as a musician. The first thing you need to do is find a teacher who will be your guide throughout the training. This could be a person from an art school (music school) or simply a private teacher who, for a fee (usually by agreement), will help you understand the science of music. To be honest, the bassoon is not the easiest instrument to learn; many people give up right away. However, what comes easy in our life? Learn, try and the fruits will not keep you waiting!

Listen to what the bassoon sounds like
Masahito Tanaka - Variations pour basson seul sur un th_me de Paganini

Bassoon(Italian fagotto, lit. “knot, bundle, bundle”, German Fagott, French basson, English bassoon) is a reed woodwind musical instrument of bass, tenor and partially alto register. It looks like a bent long tube with a valve system and a double (oboe-like) reed, which is put on a metal tube (“es”) in the shape of the letter S, connecting the reed to the main body of the instrument. It got its name because when disassembled it resembles a bundle of firewood.

Device and sound

The bassoon is a long, hollow-conical tube. For greater compactness, the air column inside the instrument is folded in half. The main material for making a bassoon is maple wood.
The body of the bassoon consists of four parts: the lower knee ("boot", which has a U-shape), the small knee ("wing"), the large knee and the bell. From the small knee extends a thin long metal tube, bent in the shape of the letter S (hence its name - es), onto which a cane - the sound-producing element of the bassoon - is attached.
There are numerous holes on the body of the instrument (about 25–30), by opening and closing which the performer changes the pitch of the sound. Only 5-6 holes are controlled by fingers; for the rest, a complex valve mechanism is used.
It has the largest range of all woodwinds (more than 3 octaves). It must be said that in general, as a rule, low instruments have a large range due to the fact that their overtones are not so high, and therefore they are not so difficult to extract. The bassoonists sit in the second row of the wind group, next to the clarinets; usually the orchestra uses 2 bassoons.
For large compositions, the contrabassoon is also common - the only widespread type of bassoon. This is the lowest instrument of the orchestra (not counting the exotic double bass clarinets and saxophones or the organ - a fickle member of the orchestra). He can play notes a fourth below the double bass and a second below the harp. Only a concert grand piano can be “proud” - its lowest note, A subcontractave, is a record. True, as in the 100-meter race - for a fraction of a second, but in musical terms - for a half-tone.
In terms of sound capabilities, the bassoon is at last place Among the wind instruments, the fluency is average, the dynamic capabilities are average, the range of images used is also small. Basically, these are either angry or persistent phrases with a typically slow attack of sound (the most typical example is the image of the grandfather from Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf”), or mournful intonations, most often in a high register (as for example in the side part of the reprise of the 1st movement 7 Shostakovich's symphony - it is better known as "Leningrad"). It is common for a bassoon group to duplicate string basses (i.e. cellos and double basses), this gives melodic line greater density and connectivity.
Of the combinations of instruments, the most characteristic are - bassoon + clarinet (the beginning of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" - a chorale of 4 instruments), bassoon + horn (this was especially popular in those days when there were only 2 horns in the orchestra - classical harmony requires four voices, and this combination is perceived as a completely homogeneous sound). Naturally, other combinations are not excluded - each “mix” is useful and can be used in a certain place.

Frequency range - from 58.27 Hz (B-flat counteroctave) to 698.46 Hz (F2, F of the second octave). Spectrum - up to 7 kHz. Formants - 440-500 Hz, Dynam. range - 33 dB. The sound is directed upward, backward, forward.
When played, the bassoon has an expressive timbre; in its full range it is rich in overtones. The middle and lower registers of the instrument are most often used. As for the top notes, they have a more compressed and nasal sound. Today, there are two models of wind instruments, the bassoon itself, and one of its varieties - the contrabassoon, which has an identical design, but sounds one octave lower.
An ordinary bassoon has a volume of three octaves and a little, starting with the “B-flat counter” and ending with the “D-second” octave, but still the musicians manage to extract the necessary notes, despite the fact that this is dangerous, especially during a concert.
The sound of the resulting octaves is dull and unpleasant. The sound timbre of a bassoon directly depends on the register of sound reproduction. With the advent of the bassoon wind instrument, classical music acquired expressiveness and became richer in overtones.

Story

In the 16th century, long before the invention of the bassoon, all bass voices of wind reed instruments were held various types low instruments. These instruments, in their overwhelming majority, belonged to the family of pipes, or better yet, oboes, and were known in the musical-instrumental usage of that time under the name “bombard” or “pommer”. Some of these tools are in this case we are talking about low varieties of the family - they were a wooden pipe up to ten feet long. They were very easy to use, but for the performer during the game they turned out to be prohibitively heavy and tiring. This peculiarity in the properties of low pipes, one of the varieties of which was almost already known under the name bassoon, stemmed from the fact that their “double mouthpiece,” reminiscent of the outline of the Latin letter S, was quite similar in its structure to the modern double-reed reed. However, during playing, it was not placed directly into the performer’s lips, as with today’s bassoons and oboes, but was placed in a special capsule or “tin”, into which the musician blew through a hole so that the mouthpiece tube itself shuddered. It is clear, of course, that under such circumstances the sound quality depended least of all on the musician and it was impossible to achieve subtle, expressive playing. Pipes of this kind clucked like a chicken and in the old days they were simply called gingrina, deriving the word from the Italian gingrire, which means “to cluck”, “to cluck.” The larger varieties hummed and buzzed and, in combination with other woodwind instruments, probably produced more than a strange impression. However, for all their relative merits and after three hundred years of existence, these types of low pipes disappeared without a trace and irrevocably. Thus ended the glorious activity of the closest ancestor of the modern bassoon.
And so, in 1539, one Farar canon, Abbot Afranio degli Albonesi (1480/1495-?), originally from Pavia, combined two such ancient instruments. He forced them to unite in one system of pipes, attached a blowing bellows to them and thus created the first bassoon, which, on his instructions, was built by a certain Giovani-Batista Bavilius from Farara (14??-15??). Afranio degli Albonesi named his instrument from the Latin word phagotus, which means “matchmaker” or “fagget.” He did this, obviously, because the pipes of the instrument he had newly created and connected in the manner just indicated resembled appearance a small bundle of firewood, as opposed to bombards, which were made from one long piece of pipe. The tongue of the new bassoon did not come into contact with the performer’s lips, but was contained in a special “embouchure” in the form of a small funnel. Thanks to this device, the new bassoon soon discovered a number of significant difficulties when using the instrument in practice. For this reason, several decades later, at the very beginning of the 17th century, one instrumental maker, named Sigismund Scheltzer (166? - 17??), first of all freed the bassoon from the bellows pipes and thus created that “authentic” bassoon , which for a long time was known under the name of dolcine or dulcine-bassoon, so designated only due to its exceptionally gentle sonority. However, this name should not be understood in the literal sense of the word and one should not at all think that this “tenderness” in sound was real “tenderness” in modern meaning words. This tenderness was a very relative concept, and if we remember that the sonority of the ancient bombard wheezed, growled and was extremely rude, then the new kind the bassoon, freed from these significant shortcomings, really should have seemed to contemporaries as something surprisingly tender and pleasant. The bassoon was “gentle” in comparison with the bombarda, but it became truly “soft” after it had experienced all the latest improvements in the design of its complex mechanism.
This newly improved bassoon had a complete family of instruments from double bass to soprano, and Michael Praetorius, one of the most prominent musical writers of the Middle Ages, in his description of this instrument gives five independent varieties of it. But the most curious thing remains that the bassoons of that time were quite similar in appearance to modern instruments, and differed from them only in the details of their structure. In France and Germany, improved bassoons were adopted in orchestras military music, and already in 1741 they were introduced into the orchestras of the French Guard and Uhlan regiments of Marshal Moritz of Saxony (1696-1750). Bassoons came into use in Russian brass music during the reign of Peter the Great. But at that time, along with the new improved bassoon, these orchestras continued to use similar serlents and “Russian bassoons,” which differed from the ordinary bassoon in their metal mouthpiece.
By the end of the 18th century, the bassoon was in great use in all the cities of Germany where there were military garrisons. Their orchestras, especially at military parades, performed many pieces of music written for two oboes, two; clarinets, two horns and two bassoons. Around the same time, many instrumental makers were already building bassoons in different volumes and with different scale boundaries. All these numerous varieties of bassoon had a temporary distribution in Germany. They served there to accompany choirs in churches, where each of their voices was doubled by one of these instruments.
This is the history of the bassoon until the end of the 18th century. With the beginning of the new, XIX century, further development the bassoon went with lightning speed. One master invented something new, another immediately improved it, a third introduced something completely original, and a fourth again developed and supplemented it. And so the matter of improving the bassoon went on in an uninterrupted sequence until the fifties of the 19th century, when Eugene Jeancourt (1815-1901), in collaboration with Buffet (18??-?) and Crampon (18??-?), made a significant change in the device bassoon. In short, the modern completely perfect bassoon owes its appearance to a number of outstanding masters, among whom, in addition to those already listed, one should also name Sachs, Triebär, Almenräder (1786-1843), Hackel and Boehm, whose valve mechanism, invented by him for the flute, was used some time later, although not very successfully, on the bassoon.

Among the wide variety of woodwind instruments, the bassoon occupies a special place. It is distinguished from other instruments of the wooden group big sizes, an s-shaped tube to which the reed is attached and an unusual U-shaped body.

But that's only external characteristics instrument, its main means of expression is an incomparable sound - a low, unusually colored timbre. To some it resembles the buzzing of a bumblebee, to others it resembles the sound of an oboe (especially when it comes to the upper register), it is bright and expressive, sometimes it can even seem a little harsh, and is rich in overtones.

The one who plays the bassoon is called a bassoonist.

History of the bassoon

Bassoon - translated from Italian. "bundle of firewood" It was precisely these associations that it evoked among the Italians in its unfolded form - a fairly young instrument, unlike other woodwinds, the history of which has long since sunk into oblivion.

It was invented by Italians in the 16th century. and was called “dulcian”, which translated means “gentle”, “mellifluous”. The identity of the inventor remains unknown.

Its immediate predecessor is considered to be the “bombarda” - an ancient large-sized woodwind instrument.

In contrast, the bassoon, for ease of transportation, was divided into several parts.

Initially, the instrument had only 3 valves, but in subsequent eras, the mechanics of the bassoon gradually improved, up to its modern form.

Bassoon design

The instrument is made mainly from maple.

Comparing the differences in how a bassoon looks relative to the musical instruments of a wind group, we can say that its design is quite complex. The body is a long, about 2.5 m, hollow tube of a hollow conical shape and consists of four parts: a lower U-shaped elbow, also called a “boot”, a “wing” - a small elbow, as well as a large elbow and a bell.

The neck is a thin, long, S-shaped metal tube that connects the sound-producing double reed to the body of the instrument. Mechanics – valve system. A modern bassoon has about 25-30 holes, with the help of which the pitch of the reproduced sound is changed; they are covered with a system of cupronickel valves, and only 5-6 - directly with the fingers.

Belongs to the subgroup of “double-tongued” instruments that have a double reed. These also include oboe, duduk, etc.

Types of bassoon: types of instrument

Currently, there are two common types of bassoon: French and German - they differ in the mechanics of the valves.

There are two types of bassoons - directly classical instrument and contrabassoon - having an additional octave in the lower register.

In the old days, the following varieties of dulcians were popular:

Treble bassoon;
Alto bassoon;
Piccolo-bassoon - these types mainly sounded a fourth or fifth higher;
Fagottino or “small bassoon” – sounds an octave higher modern instrument. Was widespread until the 19th century.

These varieties are distinguished by high pitch and were common in the 16th-17th centuries.

How to play the bassoon

Playing this large-sized instrument is quite difficult - you need a large supply of breathing. His repertoire consists of fast works that require the performer to high level skill and virtuosity.

The range covers from the “B flat” of the counter octave to the “F” of the second octave; you can play higher sounds, but their timbre will not be so beautiful. Notes for the bassoon are written in bass and tenor clefs, very rarely in treble clefs.

Sharp staccato, various passages, arpeggios and jumps at large intervals, double staccato, frullato, glissando and other technical techniques sound impressive on the instrument.

Where is the tool used?

It cannot be said that the bassoon always occupied some important place among orchestral instruments - at first it only performed the function of strengthening and supporting the bass line.

Starting from the 17th century, solo and ensemble works began to be written for him, and in the 18th century. — the updated bassoon became widespread and became part of opera orchestras.

The repertoire of “dulcians” consists of the works of such composers as Kaiser, Speer, Lully, Telemann, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Weber, Rossini, Saint-Saens, Glinka, Tchaikovsky and others - all of them considered the bassoon a bright instrument in melodic and technical terms .

This is a fairly rare instrument, which largely depends on the difficulty of playing it. It is distinguished by its bright, spectacular “appearance” and the same sound - that is why not a single symphony orchestra, and often even a brass orchestra, can do without it.

The warmth of the tree flows into my hands.
The valves, shining, call me to play.
Gently lips wrapped around the cane - and sounds
Floated low at dawn
The fingers came to life, conjuring over the bassoon.
No score is complicated

If you have only one concern -
Convey to the Other what the soul is full of.
Daily work and long-awaited hour:
I feel us whole at the concert.
Solo Bassoonist is a magnet for all hearts,
Catharsis for the audience The musician creates!

Oksana Efremova

Tobias Stimmer (1539 – 1584) The bassoon player

Denis van Alsloot (c.1570–c.1626) Musicians taking part in The Ommeganck in Brussels on 31st May 1615 (detail)

Denis van Alsloot (c.1570–c.1626) Curtal. Procession in Brussels (detail)

Harmen Hals (1611-1669) Retratos fagotísticos

Pieter Gerritsz van Roestraten (1630–1700) Still life with musical instruments

Seventeenth century. Bassoon maker

Jakob Horemans (1700 –1776) The Munich bassoonist Felix Reiner

A fresco above the organ loft in Vienna's Peterskirche (St. Peter's church) depicts cherubs playing trombone and bassoon (1715)

Nicolas Henri Jeurat de Bertry (1728-1796) Musical instruments and scores on a draped table

Thomas Webster (1800–1886) The Village Choir

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) l "Orchestre de l" Opéra

Hermann Kern (1838-1912)

Gerard Portielje (1856 – 1929) The Bassoon Player

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Pour Toi!… (Désiré Dihau with his Bassoon)

Bassoon (Italian fagotto, lit. “knot, bundle, bundle of firewood”, German Fagott, French basson, English bassoon) is a woodwind instrument of bass, tenor and partially alto register. It looks like a bent long tube with a valve system and a double (oboe-like) reed, which is put on a metal tube (“es”) in the shape of the letter S, connecting the reed to the main body of the instrument. When disassembled, it resembles a bundle of firewood (hence its name).
The bassoon was designed in the 16th century in Italy. Its immediate predecessor was an ancient wind instrument called the bombarda. In contrast, the bassoon was divided into several parts for ease of manufacture and transportation. The change in design had a beneficial effect on the timbre of the instrument, which was reflected in its name - at first it was called “dulcian” (from Italian dolce - “gentle, sweet”). The bassoon has been used in the orchestra since the late 17th - early 18th centuries, and took a permanent place in it by the end of the 18th century. The timbre of the bassoon is very expressive and rich in overtones throughout the entire range. The lower and middle registers of the instrument are most common; the upper notes sound somewhat nasal and compressed. The bassoon is used in symphony orchestras, less often in brass orchestras, and also as a solo and ensemble instrument.

IN symphony orchestra two, rarely three bassoons are used, even less often - four, sometimes the last of them can be replaced in accordance with the score by a contrabassoon.
IN different time Several varieties of bassoon were created. Kvartfagot is a bassoon of smaller size, with the same volume according to the letter, but sounding a perfect quart higher than what is written. Quintbassoon - a smaller bassoon, sounding a fifth higher than written. Fagotino is an instrument that sounded an octave higher than what was written.
The use of high bassoons is limited these days. IN Western Europe they are often used to teach children and have simplified mechanics.
Of the varieties of bassoon, only the contrabassoon has been preserved in modern orchestral practice - an instrument sounding an octave lower than what was written.

Gek Tessaro (1957-) Bassoon Stuff