Bassoon

The roots of this wooden reed instrument go back centuries. Its medieval ancestor is the dulcian, which had a similar appearance but was very limited in sound and function compared to the modern bassoon. As the bassoon’s name suggests, it functions as the bass of the woodwind family. The conventional bassoon is already the lowest of all woodwind instruments (although the contrabassoon goes another octave lower). This makes the contrabassoon effectively the lowest instrument of the entire orchestra, capable of producing lower pitches than even the tuba. With a warm and deep tone color, the bassoon is well-suited to melodic passages, and composers have responded to its charms throughout the ages. Vivaldi was among the first to recognize the bassoon as a solo instrument, and Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto underlines the instrument’s tender and mellow sound quality. In orchestral repertoire, the bassoon frequently appears when a mystical touch is called for, such as in Paul Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Another famous moment occurs in the opening of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, in which a bassoon begins in an unrecognizably high register, seemingly unlocking almost primal memories, showing yet again the instrument’s versatility.