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Re: French bassoons

Author: John B Dick
Date: 2010-04-19 12:21

You certainly need a reed designed for the French Bassoon. I have about half a dozen bassoons, three are playable at modern pitch. One of the others is a bit sick and can't be used.

I've never played the German instrument, but of necessity I had to use German reeds at first. When I got a supply of French reeds from Cecil James it made such an improvement in the sound that the people I played with were instantly impressed and must have observed an even greater improvement than was apparent to me. I had a similar reaction after playing only TWO notes on a French Contra which I hadn't played before.

When on a Galpin trip to Munich I met a German player who had made a special study of the French instrument and repertoire and as he didn't have any French reeds I gave him all the reeds I had with me, but the label on the box was the only record I had of Cecil James's address, and opportunities for bassoon playing diminished soon after.

William Waterhouse gave me an address for Glotin and I ordered and paid for some reeds which didn't arrive probably due to the size of the letterbox and my absence abroad.

I've found my way onto this page because I am again looking for a supplier of reeds.

Another thing I need before I can take the instrument which I have here out of the house, is a new case. The one I have is falling apart.

In 2002 I go up in the morning feeling unwell, and tried to play the music I had been practicing on the bassoon the previous evening. I could finger the fast passage all right, but the sound was not good and some notes came out at a pitch around the top of the treble clef which I hadn't realised was possible. So I told my wife to call the doctor. I'd had a CVA caused by hypertension.

Even in France, most new bassoons are made in the German style but I'm told that some players use both according to the repertoire.

The German clarinet is holding its own better than might be expected. Some years ago in Gran Canaria I heard a Spanish orchestra playing the Pastoral Symphony. Some of the German tourists sitting behind me were laughing at the inappropriateness of an extreme French sound.

A few players play the French instrument in Germany and Austria, and the huge price difference of the low clarinets due to volume production for a larger market is too great to be ignored even by institutions commited to the German model.

There can't be many in the UK who normally play the German instrument except a pupil of mine who has lost part of his L4 finger and has the articulated B/E, C#/F# key lever for round the back fo RT.

I'll be using mine next week as it's the only modern one I have which is accessible right now, but in the last three years I've only played once in a band rehearsal and once on early clarinets. Nowadays the only opportunity I have to play is on the Viola, an instrument on which amateur orchestras are even less picky about the standard of the player than on the bassoon.

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French bassoons new

Terry Stibal

2006-08-02 20:07