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Bassoon
in
the
Baroque Era
by
Emily Spradley
A
Thesis Submitted
the
in
Partial Fulfillment of
CSU
Requirements of
Honors Program
Honors in the degree of
Music in Music Education,
Schwob School of Music,
for
Columbus State
University
<
Thesis Advisor
Date
t/l /O i
Committee Member
Date
S/7/e) f
Date
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Committee
CSU
Membe
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jMfL.
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Bassoon
HONS
in
the Baroque Era
4002 Thesis and Lecture
Emily Spradley
Recital
Good
Welcome
afternoon!
learning about the
bassoon
and developments
of the
music
for
in
lecture recital.
I
hope you
will
enjoy
the Baroque era. This lecture focuses on the origins
Baroque bassoon, elements
bassoon, and the application
composition for bassoon, Concerto
In
my
to
in
Baroque
style
found
in
those elements through Antonio Vivaldi's
of
G
of
minor, Op. No. 23.
the 1901 edition of his book, The Holy Cross
and Other
Tales,
Eugene
Field
states:
If
is
you have never beheld or heard a bassoon you are
an instrument
of
wood,
of considerable
more
to
understand that
it
length than breadth,
provided with numerous stops and keys, and capable of producing an
infinite variety of
tones, ranging from the depth of lugubriousness to the
highest pitch of vivacity (198).
The legacy
of the
bassoon goes back over four hundred years, beginning with
the precursor to the bassoon, the dulcian.
dulcian
is
from the early sixteenth century;
around that time (Jansen
14).
The
The
it
is
earliest written reference to the
thought that the dulcian originated
original dulcian
wood, had few keys, and had a wide, conical bore.
Latin root dulc,
meaning
soft
and sweet, and
is
was made
Its
name
of
one piece
derived from the
thought to refer to the subdued
tone quality of the dulcian, which contrasted to the louder tones of the
and pommers (Oxford
that
developed
4).
Shawms were
of
shawms
double-reed instruments similar to oboes
into families during the rise of instrumental playing in the early
were called pommers. These
sixteenth century; the lowest pitched of which
families
had
different sizes of the
the individual instruments, and
same
made
instrument, with adaptations depending on
possible to perform with an extended range
it
within the family.
Similar to the
treatise
shawm, the
on instrumental music
dulcian
please view the
first
powerpoint
part of
a family
Syntagma musicum
entitled
described a consort consisting of
was
of dulcians.
(1619), Praetorius
five different sizes of dulcians.
you
slide,
will
see pictures
of
Refer to the above picture for the range of these instruments.
right-hand side of the picture,
C5.
Number 6
shows the
illustrates the alt-fagott,
uncertain extending up from D3.
Number 5 and had a range
had a range
unmuted
of
C2
to
G4,
choristfagott,
of
is
The
G2
to
pictured
In his
discantfagott, which
If
you would
these dulcians.
Number
7,
had a range
on the
of
which was keyless and whose range
fagott piccolo or singel corthol
is
G3
to
is
pictured
in
G4. The choristfagott or doppel corthol, which
in
Numbers 3 and
Number 3 shows
4.
the
and Number 4 shows the muted instrument. Number 2
depicts the doppelfagott. There were two varieties of the doppelfagott: the
quartfagott, which
of F1 to
the
had a range
of
G1
G3. The dulcian pictured
modern bassoon
playing the F
family that
is
rare.
is
from
The
became most
B-flat
is
1
to
A3, and a quintfagott, which had a range
the quartfagott (Langwill 23).
to
of
approximately F5, though the necessity for
choristfagott, or fagotto chorista,
used, and perhaps
the bassoon within the dulcian family.
The range
is
is
the
member
of the
the most specific predecessor to
The
dulcian
which a tube
was made
doubled upon
ran,
and a reed was
playing end,
the conical bore,
was a
one piece
of
itself like
a
of
wood about one meter
hairpin.
On
affixed to the crook.
flared bell.
Sometimes
A crook was
this
tall
through
inserted into the
due
the other end, wider
end had a perforated cap
to
that
acted as a mute, changing the tone and pitch of the instrument. The choristfagott
could therefore be either type: muted or unmuted.
The
holes and two keys, and could comfortably play from
of the instrument
G
fagotto chorista had eight
C2
to D4.
The upper notes
were achieved by overblowing the octave. Above D4,
E, F,
and
could be played. However, they could not be as freely overblown as the notes
leading up to
The
(Langwill 24).
transition
any
attributed to
such a way
them
between the dulcian and Baroque bassoon cannot be
particular year;
that, for
in fact,
the years or periods of each overlapped
a short time, they coexisted and were probably used
interchangeably and perhaps simultaneously. The modern bassoon
four separate pieces of wood, has a befuddling
conical bore.
joint (the
and
of
The
in
initial
number
of keys,
changes included the separation
bottom, U-shaped joint
was
still
in
one
is
made
and has a
of the long joint
of
slightly
and wing
piece), the addition of a bell joint
another key to the preexisting two keys of the dulcian, and switching to a
narrower bore.
Will
Jansen writes
gave the instrument a much more
that "switching to the narrow[er conical] bore
beautiful tone:
instrument worthy of further development" (16).
contains a sketching from The Bassoon
and
perhaps suddenly,
The next
it
slide of the
the Contrabassoon by
became an
powerpoint
Lyndesay
Langwill that
compares the bores
narrower bore of the bassoon
It
in
comparison.
thought that the gradual
is
shift
from the
the four-piece, narrower-bored bassoon began
century (14).
powerpoint
You can compare
slide;
picture illustrates
are newly
the
first
solid,
in
widely conical dulcian to
the mid- to late- seventeenth
the dulcian and Baroque bassoon
shows
different sizes of dulcians
an early Baroque bassoon. The instruments
made models
bassoon may be found
of Lully's
picture
and the bassoon. Note the
of the dulcian
of the original instruments.
in
the early 1680s, including
opera Proserpine
in
1680.
It
was
first
in
in
the next
and the second
these pictures
Written references to the early
its
use
the instrumentation
in
described and
illustrated in
England by James Talbot, who gathered information from professional English and
French bassoon players
Perhaps the best
the early bassoon
of
in
London (Oxford
historical
is pictorial.
9).
evidence
to the evolution
One example
is
a
and development
of
German woodcut and engraving
a drawing from Johann Weigel's Abbildung der Gemein-Nutzlichen Haupt-
Stande, dating from 1698 (Langwill 28). You
slide.
will
find this
drawing on the next
The woodcut shows a bassoon- and dulcian-maker boring
finger holes into a dulcian. Also pictured are a
bassoon. This lends substantial evidence
(or hollowing out)
second dulcian and a three-keyed
to the idea of
an extended
transitional
period between the dulcian and bassoon.
Der
Fagottspieler,
an unsigned Dutch painting thought
to
be by Harmen
Hals (1611-1 669), shows an example of an early bassoon. This painting
viewed on the current
slide.
The bassoon
in
this painting
may be
has "turned moldings on
the upper joints that served both as decoration and mounts for the keys" (Oxford
8).
There
the
B-flat.
needed
joint
a
is
Also
to
and extra key
bell joint
the finger-holes obliquely to
drill
of the instrument
from
C
modern bassoon today.
was
the
to B-flat,
It
is
which
to
match the range
name an
Schlossmuseum
in
the
the bassoon
The F
in
This changed the lowest note
the lowest note of the typical
on the boot
of the
basse de violon
Adding the
emergence
bell joint
in
of the day,
solved the
the late 1600s.
Sondershausen dates
Der Fagottspieler (Oxford
key, located
addition of the bell
exact date for the creation of the
its
in
The
match.
to
but historical evidence points to
bassoon
is still
to B-flat (Oxford 8).
impossible to
the fingers.
thought that one of the reasons for the bassoon's
problem by extending the range
is
fit
of tubing of the instrument.
demand
which could play down
It
of the instrument to
the painting, the tenor or wing joint has the obvious thickness
in
extended the length
evolution
extended the range
that
joint,
was
8).
of
to 1699,
A
first
bassoon,
well-preserved
and resembles
This early bassoon had three keys.
a "swallow-tail" design. Locate the
next slide to see a photograph of the "swallow-tail" key. Interestingly, this design
allowed for the instrument to be played both left-handed and right-handed. The
swallow-tail design of the key
position.
there
is
In
extended the key
to
be reachable from either
Weigel's Musikalisches Theatrum, dated between 1715 and 1735,
an engraving
same model as
of
a left-handed bassoon player, whose instrument
the one pictured
in
is
of the
Weigel's Abbildung der Gemein-Nutzlichen
Haupt-Stande. Beneath the engraving, the following wise words were stated:
"When
the organ, the regal, and the harpsichord are inadequate, and even
the lowest notes of the double bass, then for the best bass
for the
bassoon, such notes are produced from
unmoved"
The
standard use through the rest of the century (Oxford
and the
reed.
They are generally
contrabassoon today. The reed
Besides being a
third
similar to
and had
differently
One huge
in
in
stabilized the
only reachable on
9).
modern ones; however, both were
modern
early reed are
in
However, the more
different
the
of the
The
rails
reed.
was gouged and
were bound with waxed
on immediate
The scraping
patterns of the
a U or V, similar to the modern French reed.
common German
edges
in
of
modern
banding and proportions. For example, while
with wire bands, the early reeds
shape
of the reed for support.
blades was
size to those of the
difference, though not necessarily visible
the
thinner toward the
in
reed, the early reed
investigation of the reed, are the scraping patterns.
of the
was
it
particular differed from the
longer than the
modern reeds are bound
thread.
joy
other notable aspects of the early bassoons are the crook, or bocal,
remarkably larger and could somewhat be compared
scraped
instill
F key. The four-keyed instrument remained the model
of the swallow-tail
Two
wonder and
bassoon
holding position of the instrument as right-handed, since
for
is
(Langwill 29).
addition of the G-sharp key as a fourth key to the
one side
preference
by strongly expelled
it,
breath and deft hand, that they rouse the listener to
his spirit, hitherto
my
reed of today
is
an inversion
of that pattern,
blades and with a defined spine down the middle
early reed
was
thinner
or blade edges.
in
the middle, so the strength
8
Over the years, the bassoon has had
development. By 1800, the bassoon had gained a
in its
was
intermittent periods of
the instrument that
Symphony No.
around 1800
1
in
was used
in
1800 (Langwill
The
48).
modern bassoon has come a long way from
German Heckel and
its
transient period of the dulcian to the
is
it
The Baroque period spans from
1
600
dulcian ancestor.
bassoon was consequently
numerous developments were being made
this time, the
bassoon underwent many developments
to the ear,
composers more
18
th
century,
have
of
made
that
written profusely
bassoon]: from excellent and most impressive parts
enormous amount
to the instrument.
that
Jansen notes
woodwind ensemble music
to
in
in
By the end
century.
and had a three-octave range and a
flexibility in their writing.
particularly during the
th
to the mid-1
of the period,
more pleasing
the
clear that the
concurrent with the transient period of the Renaissance to the Baroque era
music.
was
greatest period of improvement
French Buffet bassoons had emerged (Jansen 32). Today,
The
sixth key; this
the premiere performance of Beethoven's
At the end of that time, the early
to 1870.
and
fifth
advancement
During
the instrument
versatility that
gave
"composers,
and varied
[for
the
orchestral scores via an
hundreds
of
bassoon solo
concertos" (13). Antonio Vivaldi wrote thirty-seven bassoon concertos alone,
some
of
which are
still
considered very
difficult to
modern
play today on a
bassoon.
The music
of the
Baroque era characterized
itself
through the expression of
emotions, through musical contrast, and through embellishment.
many composers
of this era
was
to
arouse or express emotions
One
in
goal of
the listener,
often referred to as the doctrine of the affections. This
techniques to evoke the proper
states,
"It
was
effect. In
A
was done
using specific
History of Western Music, Burkholder
widely believed that experiencing a range of affections through
music could bring the humors
into better
balance, promoting physical and
psychological health" (296). Examples of these affections that were portrayed are
excitement, sadness, joy, fear, love, and anger.
Musical contrast
is
found throughout the music
juxtaposed to the "smooth polyphony, flowing
the Renaissance (Sadie
in
solo and
tutti
1).
In
passages, and
lines,
performance, contrast could be found
in
varying
tempos
contrasts were necessarily notated
in its
original intended style.
practices of the
stylistic
Baroque
within multiple
may
all,
or
dynamics,
movements
even many,
of
of
a
these
attempts of a modern performer to play music
a musician
pitch,
in
of
the written music, however. Today, the term
From gathering information on
style,
dynamics, vibrato,
addition of notes (also
to the
in
period,
and homogenous textures"
piece as well as within the individual movements. Not
"performance practice" refers
Baroque
of the
may
typical
performance
perform Baroque music with
tempo, rhythms, phrasing,
known as embellishment
articulations,
and the
or ornamentation) -all of which
not be clear by simply reading the written music.
Embellishment, or ornamentation, was
expression.
It
was common and expected
to the written music,
improvised.
at the
that performers attach
whether written out ahead
These could be
trills,
center of Baroque musical
of time or,
embellishments
more commonly,
turns, mordents, appoggiaturas, scales, or
arpeggios, and they were added for emphasis at important places
in
the melody,
10
for elaboration
on long notes, or
harmony (Burkholder
304).
In
for highlighting
some
a chord or progression
solos, both instrumental
and
in
the
vocal, an
improvised cadenza would occur following an important cadence. More often
today, these
cadenzas are
was
written, but the original practice
to improvise
these
solos.
One Baroque composer who
who had
written
in
allowed for
ornamentation as
well,
this sort of
was Antonio
Vivaldi.
the affections, and contrasted between both sections and
evident
many
in
of his scores.
He
one
is,
that
2).
abrupt changes
of the first instances during the
changes
were evident
in
His music reflected
movements
of pieces,
anticipated early Classical style with occasional
crescendos and decrescendos (Oxford
subito markings; that
ornamentation, and
in
The
typical
Baroque dynamics were
the dynamic level. Vivaldi's music
Baroque period
of the gradual loud
in
Vivaldi's
Programmatic elements may be found
in
some
style.
Different solo instruments
soft
the Classical period.
There are numerous other notable elements present
compositional
and
was
and groups
characters to depict a scene.
Among
of his works.
of instruments represent individual
the most noteworthy of Vivaldi's musical
elements, especially relevant to his bassoon concertos, are his use of
syncopation, his
scale,
All
and
his
flexibility
with the sixth
in
G
within the
minor
freedom with interchanging the major and minor modes (Oxford
three elements are present
Concerto
and seventh degrees
in
the third and final
movement
of Vivaldi's
1 ).
Bassoon
minor.
K)
We will now
Op. No. 23
look at excerpts from Vivaldi's
order to
in
illustrate specific characteristics of
Vivaldi's compositional style.
predominant technical styles
The
Bassoon Concerto
the
In
first
in
G
minor
Baroque music and
movement, we can
of Vivaldi's composition: scalar
identify the
and
of
two
disjunct material.
scalar lines are simply melodic lines built on a scale that
follow the harmonic
progression of the accompaniment. Here
which you
may
follow along with
in
the
an example
is
first
example
of
of the
a scalar passage,
powerpoint
slide,
mm. 149-154
Vivaldi also
used disjunct phrases
between octaves. For example,
listed
as the second picture
in
I
in
will
his composition;
namely, broken lines
play an excerpt from the
first
movement,
the slide.
mm.200-207
m
te
£
9
r
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ffi
Though
of Vivaldi's
This
due
£^ -w-
this particular
concerto does not have rapid disjunct phrases,
bassoon concertos
was (and
is) in
to the rapid
embouchure
in
did
have
many ways more
change
fast
passages
difficult
of throat, tongue,
many
of this kind of material.
than performing the scalar passages
and
lip
positions to form the correct
each octave.
II
12
Vivaldi also frequently
highlighting the
example
combined these two techniques, which was a great way
harmonic progression. The
third picture of the slide
of
shows an
of this:
mm. 133-139
In
the second
movement, there are opportunities
notes or phrases. Here
first
is
for
embellishment
to color
the opening phrase of the bassoon melody, found
in
the
excerpt on the next slide, without any embellishment:
mm. 298-300
Here
is
the
same phrase
again, with
added embellishment:
12
13
In
addition to adding embellishment as part of performance practice,
ornamentation could be written
into the
music as
well.
The
following picture on the
powerpoint slide shows the following written embellished phrase:
mm. 302-304
mf cantabile
In
the third
movement
This
of the concerto, Vivaldi
uses
use
different rhythmic ideas
in
his
following passage, located on the next slide,
is
a prime example of
is
The
of syncopation.
especially evident
to create contrast.
this
technique,
mm. 387-390
Vivaldi wrote thirty-seven concertos for the
only by his violin concertos. Most,
1740.
A
couple
of
at the
in
not
all
of
composed
orphanage may have been the
for the girls at the
initially
earliest
orphanage Pio Ospedale
The
girls
female bassoonists (Langwill 79).
hired Vivaldi as a violin teacher, but he also
composed, conducted, and otherwise taught during
in
number
them, are dated between 1720 and
Venice, where Vivaldi taught for thirty-six years from 1704.
The State orphanage
asked
in
these concertos were dedications, but most of the concertos
are thought to have been
della Pieta
if
bassoon, exceeded
1723 by the governors
at Pieta to
his tenure.
In fact, Vivaldi
compose two concertos a month
was
for
13
14
extra remuneration. This
was an
accepted and maintained
offer that Vivaldi
for
several years (Burkholder 422).
Vivaldi's concertos
performance (Oxford
18).
suggest that standards
in Italy
He composed approximately
were
five
particularly high for
hundred concertos,
and established the three-movement model, complete with musical elements and
form, that would inspire others to follow
concerto
was so
effective that older,
Albinoni and Dall'Abaco
changed
The bassoon gained
in
more conventional composers such as
their style to
popularity
works by composers such as Antonio
in
Vivaldi.
of the musical features attributed to
style.
This
history
model
after Vivaldi's (Oxford 1).
the Baroque era, particularly through
many
was a
on the
Vivaldi's influence
his steps.
His concertos for bassoon exhibit
him as a composer and
transient time for the bassoon.
as the bassoon rose to the forefront
of the
The
dulcian
was
to the
fading into
low woodwinds. Composers of
the Baroque began to write versatile, beautiful music for the bassoon as
more widespread.
Vivaldi
in
particular challenged the
concertos, demanding technical prowess and
Baroque
bassoon with
flexibility in style,
the concerto form as a model for other composers.
The
Vivaldi
his
it
became
many
and established
bassoon concertos
remain an important part of the Baroque bassoon repertoire today.
14
15
Works Cited
"Bassoon", "Vivaldi: Points of
style", "Vivaldi:
Instrumental Music". Oxford Music
Online.
Burkholder,
Peter,
J.
Music. 7th ed.
Field,
A
Donald Grout, and Claude Palisca.
New
York:
History of Western
W.W. Norton and Company, 2006.
Eugene. The Holy Cross and Other Tales. Books
for Libraries Press:
Freeport, N.Y., 1969 (reprint).
Jansen,
Will.
Frits Knuf:
The Bassoon:
Its
History, Construction,
Makers, Players and Music.
Buren, 1978.
Langwill, Lyndesay.
The Bassoon and Contrabassoon. London: Ernest Benn
Limited, 1971.
Mons, Hans. Bassoon d Amour or Liebesfagott.
http://www.baroquebassoon.org/basson-d-amour.htm. 2006.
Sadie, Stanley. "The Baroque Era." Grove Music Online.
15
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