About the Baroque Bassoon
The baroque bassoon is a bass woodwind instrument played with a double reed. It is the ancestor of the modern bassoon, but is much simpler in construction and the internal dimensions of its bore are different. It is made in 3 (earlier models) or 4 parts, and has 3 to 5 keys. Its range goes from B flat 2 octaves below middle C, up to the a above middle C. This gives it the widest range of any baroque woodwind instrument. Its heyday was the 18th century.
The origins of the baroque bassoon are obscure, and subject to debate. The most common interpretation assumes that the baroque bassoon evolved from the dulcian/dulzian/curtal. The baroque bassoon is distinguished from the dulcian by being constructed in several parts, as opposed the dulcian which is made in one part, and by having a range wider by 1 full tone at both its bottom and top registers. Moreover, as one of the alternative names for the dulcian, "chorister fagott" suggests, this instrument was used particularly in accompanying church (choral) music, which was usually played at a higher pitch than secular (court) music. Another marked difference between the bassoon and the dulcian is that as was common with other Renaissance instruments, it came in a consort or family. This practice survives today with recorders and the violin family, with their range of instrument size and pitch, and is connected with the Renaissance preference for blending instruments of the same tone colour at different pitches, as opposed to the Baroque preference for blending instruments of different tone colours and pitches.
However, not all authorities agree that the baroque bassoon evolved from the dulcian. James B. Kopp suggests that the bassoon was invented at the court of Louis XIII of France, not as a technological reworking of the existing dulcian, but as a conscious rejection of dulcian based answers to the need for a double-reed bass, in favour of a shawm-based solution.
Unlike the modern bassoon, the baroque bassoon does not have a key to sound BB natural in the bottom octave of its range, and notes above a are not given on standard fingering charts. Otherwise, it can play fully chromatically up its range, although to facilitate this, many modern replicas include a key each to facilitate playing EE flat in the bottom octave, and FF and F sharp in the bottom and middle octaves.
The baroque bassoon is made from maple and is surprisingly light and easy to hold, unlike modern instruments of either German (Heckel) or French design. The fingering in its basics is similar to the bass recorder (or any other recorder, for that matter), with extra holes and keys on the underside of the instrument to give the extended range down to BB flat. The reed is larger than on modern instruments to help achieve a stabilisation of tone that modern instruments attain by adding heavy metal machinery. (At the time that I wrote this in about 1998, people still played the baroque bassoon using a reed that was essentially a modern contra-bassoon reed. This worked within certain limits, but still did not easily let the instrument play at correct pitch, nor with a proper tone. Since entering the first decade of the 21st century, it has become standard to play the baroque bassoon using either a historical reed, or a hybrid reed combining the stability of pitch and tonal characteristics of the historical reed with the ease of use of the modern reed. Historical reeds are made by scraping the reed from the inside and then binding it, in opposition to the modern reed which is scraped from the outside and then bound, and which can therefore be modified after it has been made. I purchase my reeds from Jim Kopp, listed on the Reeds section of this site. After using the historical and hybrid model reeds, I myself would never consider using the older contra-bassoon type of reed. 23rd October, 2011)
From around the end of the 18th century, composers began to demand an even wider range from the instrument, and the number of keys was increased and the bore altered to bring the instrument's upper register up to the c above middle C. These instruments with a narrower bore and more keys are commonly called "Classical Bassoons." By the mid 19th century, the number of keys was increased to somewhere around 16 or so to produce the Romantic bassoon. Experiments were made in making a bassoon on Boehm's scientific principles, but these faltered. In Germany changes made to the classical bassoon by Almenräder, later assisted by Heckel led to a radically different design in keys and bores, to produce the Heckel or German bassoon, which is the most common form of modern bassoon. In France, experiments with adding more keys to the Romantic bassoon produced the modern French bassoon (or "basson"). Modern bassons are made from rosewood or palisander, but underneath all the heavy metal, the basic fingering is either the same as that of the baroque bassoon, or the instrument responds to baroque fingerings (except that doing this might upset your teacher...)
The baroque bassoon probably evolved in northern Europe. Vivaldi is famous for his compositions for "fagotto," but the fact that all of his compositions fall within the narrower range of the dulcian suggests to some scholars that it was this instrument that he composed for, and not the baroque bassoon. Bach wrote for both, and within his choral music distinguishes between which he intended to be used. Telemann is famous for his Sonata in F major as being the first serious composition for the instrument (or so it says on the notes to my edition from Amadeus BP 665...), but he also wrote a wide range of fascinating music (some of it great fun to play!) either specifically for the bassoon, or designating the bassoon as a possible choice (as in the famous Tafelmusic Quartett in D Min, usually given as for recorder, 2 flutes and BC, but with the bassoon specifically given as an alternative to the recorder). Mozart's famous bassoon concerto K191 goes above the register of the baroque bassoon, and would require something closer to a classical bassoon.
It is still very rare to hear the bassoon used as the continuo (bass line) in
"historical recordings" of baroque music, but in its heyday, the
instrument enjoyed great popularity. Modern bassoons have become enormously
expensive and are difficult to play because of the obtuse and esoteric
fingerings. For a baroque amateur musician, the only difference between the
baroque bassoon and other woodwinds was the double reed. The fingerings would be
already familiar, and while not cheap, the instrument was much simpler to make
than its modern counterpart and would not have had been all that expensive
compared to other contemporary bass instruments. Our image of baroque performance is probably very
much coloured by our modern experience of the bassoon as a rare and esoteric
instrument only to be used when specifically called for, whereas in the baroque
period it would have been one of the commonly available choices of instrument
for the bass line, or even doubled with a string bass (viola da gamba or cello)
to reinforce the bass in a way that modern practice does not condone ("if
it's not written on the page, then it is not permissible to do it"
syndrome). If you have the chance, try doing this yourself. I expect that you
and those playing with you will get a pleasant surprise.
Links:
Dulcian: Hans Mons has a superb home page on the
dulcian. Moreover, as many makers of baroque bassoon also make dulcians, his
page on makers has wonderful photographs of both many makers and their works.
Highly recommended!
http://hansmons.com/dulcians/index.html
German and French Bassoons: While not specifically an
introduction to the difference between the 2 instruments, the following provides
good information from an artist who plays both.
THOUGHTS ON IMPROVING BOTH THE GERMAN AND FRENCH SYSTEM BASSOONS by Gerald E. Corey,
Ottawa, Canada. IDRS Journal
Boehm-system Bassoon: For an important
article which challenges the idea that 19th century Boehm-system bassoons were a
failure, see the following:
BOEHM-SYSTEM BASSOONS IN THE 19th CENTURY By Karl Ventzke, Duren, W. Germany
IDRS Journal
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An even more extensive and general discussion of the history of the bassoon can now be found under "bassoon" in the English-language (USA version) of Wikipedia.
General: Much important information ( and certainly much more reliable than
what I have written above!) can be found in libraries. Highly recommended!! Look
under "musical instruments" as well as "bassoon."
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