 The Bassoon BBoard
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Author: super20bu6
Date: 2012-03-10 13:35
Greetings all,
First, I'm new to the bassoon board...but NOT new to bassoon playing. That being said, I'm wondering if anyone has any information on bassoons made by "H Richter" in Germany. I've sent email inquiries to people over the years...and not had any luck getting a response back. My bassoon was made in 1967, according to the previous owner....and I bought it in 1976, the year he retired from professional playing. He was the prinicipal bassoonist with a professional orchestra and would use the Richter for rehearsals...and his Heckel for performances. May sound strange...but he said he could swap from one to the other at any given time as they were so similar. (JUST his word on this....not my experience.) I've done searches for Richter bassoons and am getting no where. I was told there were only 10 of this specific model made...and I have number 6. That is the sole digit of the serial number....just the number 6.
If it matters, my Richter has the low c trill key, lh whisper lock and is keyed to High Eb.
Thanks for any information!
Mark
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Author: KayDee80
Date: 2012-04-11 09:21
Hi there,
I too have a Richter bassoon, which I bought from Wood, Wind and Reed in Cambridge, UK in 2003. It was described on my receipt as an 'old German bassoon' and they didn't know anything about it, other than that they were selling it on commission for a family whose father had played it before he died. It is obviously quite old and well-worn, but I don't know when it was made. My bassoon is serial number 1 (that's it, just '1', stamped on the metal u-bend bit at the bottom). I've never seen another anywhere else. Before I had the Richter, I used to play on an old Schreiber bassoon, and my Richter feels a lot like it - it even has the same keywork, with the distinctive Schreiber pins with the curled ends. I assumed that my bassoon was basically a Schreiber which had been stamped up by someone else, or perhaps a prototype someone had made, but bought in Schreiber keywork for it, but I don't know. A former colleague of mine said he'd seen a couple of Richter bassoons in the Birmingham area, again with single-digit serial numbers. I'd be interested to know if anyone finds out anything more about them!
Karen
Post Edited (2012-04-11 09:31)
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Author: Artemesia Tridentata
Date: 2012-05-10 04:56
I bought my H Richter Bassoon new in 1973 in a music store in a suberb of Atlanta. I believe it was called Fulton. I was in the Air University Band stationed in Montgomery AL. I was playing both a Puchner-Cooper and a Heckel Bassoon. They belonged to the USAF, and I wanted a good horn of my own. The Fulton Music Store in Fulton imported the Richter Bassoon. It was my understanding that they bought components and had them assembled in Germany. I believe that I was told that the wooden tube was manufactured by Heckel and that the key work was added by the Monennig Brothers. The instruments I tried were of an excellent quality. Mine is a beautiful red finish and those joints not lined with cartucho, have a beeswax lining. The fit and finish of the key work is first rate. I have full rollers for the right thumb but not the left. The day I purchased my horn, serial #52, they had just recieved a shipment of 16. I spent all day trying them and finally picked three that seemed to be identical in pitch, tambor and scale. I chose one that had a distinct swirl on the bell. I use Heckel C bocals. The Richter has a bright sound somewhat comparable to the Puchner-Cooper. However it felt more stable to me. It was not as stable as the Heckel that I had been playing. But it was brighter.
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Author: alemoinas
Date: 2012-11-15 05:39
I also have a H Richter bassoon, I bought mine at ebay about 2 years ago. Its keywork is exactly the same of the old Moosmann 150 (European model) made in the 80's before he put the high D and high C keys in two separated axles. it is probably a stencil made by him or by his father at the Kohlert factory. The exact same bassoon was sold as King Symphony.
Post Edited (2012-11-15 05:40)
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Author: Dean1962
Date: 2012-12-31 19:37
And in the post before mine, we have the answer. If the Richter bassoon has the same keywork as a Moosmann, then it was made by the Kohlert Company before they folded. After the company closed, the bassoon part of the business was bought out by Berndt Moosmann, who initially made very few changes to the keywork. In fact, there are many similarities between Kohlerts and modern Moosmanns.
Kohlert made thousands of bassoons that were stencilled with many different names for the US market. Some of them such as Polisi were either hand hand chosen or made to very tight specifications because they were excellent bassoons. This seems to be the case for Richter bassoons as well, but I would try a few before confirming that.
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