Bassoon: story, video, interesting facts, listen

Musical instrument: Bassoon

The word "bassoon" in Italian means "knot" or "bundle". Why is the most dimensional and lowest instrument of the woodwind so called? Everything is simple - the first bassoons, which appeared more than half a millennium ago, were of immense size and, when disassembled, looked more like a bundle of firewood than a musical instrument. In the modern guise of bassoon like an oboe: he has the same elongated conical tube and double cane. But because of its impressive size - more than two meters, the tube is folded in half.

The history of the bassoon and many interesting facts about this musical instrument, read on our page.

Sound

The bassoon is considered a moving musical instrument, but the fast-moving passages are not easy to perform on it. However, it was precisely this feature that became its "highlight" - a quick abrupt execution of sounds (staccato reception) creates a "boomy", comic effect, which many composers were quick to take advantage of. Among them is M. Glinka in the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila, where such a technique was used to characterize the cowardly Farlaf.

This tool may sound completely different: gently, affectionately, languidly with a hint of passion. Enough to listen to the famous romance of Nemorino from the opera Donizetti "Love potion". Bassoon, accompanied by pizzicato strings, begins this, perhaps, one of the most romantic and soulful arias in the world.

The timbre of this instrument is difficult to confuse with any other. He is short, hoarse, and also very expressive. The lowest and middle register is used most often, but the top notes are very squeezed and even nasal. The range of the bassoon is relatively small - almost three octaves, from b-plane contraktav to d-second. It is interesting that higher notes can be extracted, only they do not always sound good and composers almost never use them, knowing this peculiarity. Bassoon batch is usually recorded in bass or tenor keys.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• The dynamic range of the instrument is about 33 dB: from 50 dB when playing a piano, and up to 83 dB with a loud game.
• Antonio Vivaldi wrote 39 concerts for the bassoon.
• For a long time, the bassoon was known as dolcin, as well as dulcin-bassoon, which meant only its delicate sound. Naturally, it was considered as such in comparison with the bombardment.

• For playing the bassoon, all the fingers of both hands are required, which is not required by any other instrument from the symphony orchestra. Moreover, the thumb of the left hand controls 9 valves at once, and the thumb of the right hand presses 4 valves.
• In the XVIII century, the bassoon was particularly common in Germany. There, the masters made instruments with different volumes and ranges of the scale, and they were all used in the church choir to support the voice and enhance its sound.
• The canes of the oboe and the bassoon are similar in their arrangement, only the first one is smaller and includes a metal pin and reed. At the same bassoon of reeds wrapped with thread, and the role of the pin performs es. Recently, plastic canes are gaining popularity.
• Sometimes the score obliges the use of sound for the controcade. For example, in the "Nibelung Ring" by Richard Wagner. Then an ordinary newspaper comes to the rescue of the musicians. It is rolled into a pipe and inserted into a bell, the B-flat is lost and a lower sound is heard - la. Occasionally composers force instruments to do the impossible. R. Wagner in his opera "Tannhauser" forced the bassoon to use the unusually high for him sound "mi" of the second octave. But he did support him and heightened the bassoon sounding by the string group.
• All the original versions of the mute were rejected and the musicians refused to use them, as this had a negative effect on the sound quality. Only the invented mechanism of the Soviet phagotist Y. Neklyudov became widely used. He installed in the middle part of the bell a metal circle covered with velvet. With the help of the mechanism, this circle changed its position and blocked the receiver, muffling the sound.
• On the bassoon it is possible to start learning from 9-10 years old.
• The bassoon is made exclusively of light maple wood, except for some school models of plastic.
• The cost of the bassoons can reach up to 30,000 euros, we are talking about the tools of the famous company Haeckel.
• There are two types of tools - with the French and German systems. Their differences concern only the performer, the listener will hardly notice the difference. The most common is the German system.
• In 1856, the sarruzofon was invented, the metallic version of the counter-photomultiplier for outdoor play. This instrument looks very similar to a saxophone, but has a double cane.

Popular artworks:

V.A. Mozart - Concerto for bassoon and orchestra in B flat major (listen)

Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto for bassoon with orchestra in E minor (listen)

K. Weber - Hungarian Fantasy (listen)

Design

Outwardly, the bassoon is like a bent pipe, and is a noble combination of dark wood and metal parts. The cane of this tool is double. It is put on a tube made of metal and having the shape of the letter S, hence the es. It is this tube that connects the cane to the main body. If you pay attention to the bassoon socket, it is easy to see that it is smooth, without a widening end - this affects the sound of the instrument. His main tone is poorly distinguished, and high “overtones” are poor. Moreover, for this reason, the bassoon is not endowed with tremendous sound power.

On the bassoon there are 33 holes, many of which are closed by 29 valves of content complicated mechanics.

If you unfold the bassoon pipe, then its length will be 2.6 meters, with the counterphalot almost 5 meters. The weight of the bassoon is about three kilograms.

Bassoon Varieties

Over the entire period of the formation of this instrument, there were several types: quartet, fagotino and counterfasc. The last of them is still preserved and is successfully used in symphony orchestras.

Story

The emergence of the first bassoon dates back to the 16th century, its predecessor was the ancient wind instrument bomber. The new invention slightly modified the design and divided the tube into several parts. At first, the tool was called "dulcian". The name of the present inventor of the bassoon is still unknown. It is only known that the instrument gradually changed slightly and improved. A special place among all the masters involved in this belongs to the bassoonist and conductor Karl Almenderer and Johann Adam Heckel. It was they who in 1843 presented the 17-valve model of the bassoon, which was taken as the basis.

Role in the orchestra

For a long time, the bassoon was assigned a supporting role in the orchestra - nothing but “support” for the bass parts was trusted to it. But everything changed with the birth of the opera genre - the composers saw something special in it. From now on, this owner of an expressive and overtoned timbre with a slight hoarse became a bright and full-fledged soloist. Usually several bassoons are used in the orchestra - two or three, very rarely four, with the latter often being replaced with counter-basses, if the score requires it.