Here Comes Treble: The Bassoon
..The bassoon is, perhaps wrongly, reputed to be the clown of the orchestra. When well-played, its sonorous sounds are rich and glorious. It can also make some rather rough, ‘over-ripe’ tones when required...
Isabel Bradley delightfully defends "a glorious and, sadly, underestimated instrument''.
To read more of Isabel's delicious columns please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/here_comes_treble/
A grin split my face from ear to ear as I listened to the mellifluous tones of the bassoon. It was accompanied by a sweet oboe and rippling piano, but the bassoon-playing kept me smiling.
“Oh, how I rejoice,
When I hear its sweet voice,
So tasty – so oom, pah, pah, pah…”
The words of a song Dad sang to great acclaim over many years, echoed in my mind. I had a vision of my father, singing his heart out. There was a wicked twinkle in his eyes over which his bushy eyebrows twitched ferociously. In his big fist he wielded a small, green, plastic kazoo, moulded like a mini-saxophone. Each time the song demanded a simulation of the sound of the bassoon, he brought this strange instrument to his lips, singing into it to obtain a deep, buzzing sound which tickled the sense of humour of all who heard it. Of course, the kazoo in no way emulated the bassoon, but it was a wonderful ‘prop’.
The bassoon is, perhaps wrongly, reputed to be the clown of the orchestra. When well-played, its sonorous sounds are rich and glorious. It can also make some rather rough, ‘over-ripe’ tones when required. A player’s thumbs must be dextrous, travelling over three or four keys on this unwieldy woodwind instrument. The characteristic woody sounds are made by setting a double-reed vibrating between the player’s lips, and sending sound-waves travelling through the two parallel wooden pipes of the instrument’s body. A good player can make the bassoon run up and down scales, burble gently in support of higher-sounding instruments, or sing solos like a baritone angel, absolutely fitting for singing to one’s love:
…One night I mean to serenade her,
‘Neath the silv’ry moon,
And the instrument I’m going to use,
Is the good old deep bassoon!
I will go, ‘prrumm pum pum’,
To my love, prummmm’…
Oh, Darling, I love you so pom-pom,
And I want you to ‘pom-pom-pom’!
If you will be ‘pom’, I’ll be so ‘pom-pom’,
My own little ‘oom-pah-pah-pah!’
Dad’s song, a Victorian ballad composed by J Quenton Ashlyn ‘after’ Mendelssohn’s “Spring Song’ Opus 62 No 6, was hilarious, but it demonstrated the pathos of the traditional clown, the shy, eternally sad character hiding behind a mask of jollity.
As lovely music soared through the theatre, the words of the ballad and the vision of my father faded, leaving only the sound of delightful music, including an arrangement of a Mozart Divertimento, Poulenc’s wonderful trio for piano, oboe and bassoon, two Piazzolla tangos and a superb medley, arranged by Daryl Griffith, of tunes from My Fair Lady. Throughout, though the oboe sang with great poignance and the piano performed superbly, it was the bassoon, so ‘tasty, so ‘oom-pah-pah pom’,’ that held the attention of the audience.
The bassoon is a glorious and, sadly, underestimated instrument. It is not popular, the repertoire is hardly heard outside a small circle of those who love music written for wind instruments.
Next time you have a few moments, try to listen to the burbling, joyous sound of the bassoon, to identify it among the other instruments of the orchestra, as it doubles with the ‘celli or supplies a rhythmic bass line – sings its soaring love songs.
The bassoon is, indeed, a king among clowns, a clown among instruments, a many-faceted musical personality.
Until next time, … ‘here comes Treble!”
© Copyright Reserved
