Contrabassoon

Classification Woodwind instrument (double reed) Playing range Related instruments Tenoroon Bassoon Dulcian

The contrabassoon, also contrafagotto or double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon sounding an octave lower. A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. Types of woodwind instruments See also List of woodwind instruments Single-reed instruments use a reed, which is a thin cut A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various Wind instruments The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two In Music, the range of a Musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The tenor bassoon or " tenoroon," is a member of the Bassoon family of Double reed Woodwind instruments This group also includes the more The bassoon is a Woodwind instrument in the Double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and Tenor registers and occasionally The dulcian is a Renaissance bass woodwind instrument with a Double reed and a folded Conical bore. The bassoon is a Woodwind instrument in the Double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and Tenor registers and occasionally Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.

The contrabassoon compared to the bassoon

• The reed is considerably larger, at 65-72 mm in total length as compared to 53-58 mm for most bassoon reeds.
• Fingering is slightly different, particularly at the register change and in the extreme high range.
• The instrument is twice as long, curves around on itself several times, and, due to its weight and shape, is supported by an endpin rather than a seat strap. Additional support is sometimes given by a strap around the player's neck. A wider hand position is also required, as the primary finger keys are widely spaced.
• The contrabassoon has a water key to expel condensation, and a tuning slide for gross pitch adjustments.
• The instrument comes in a few pieces (plus bocal); and can not be disassembled without a screwdriver. A bocal is the mouthpiece of a musical instrument It's a curved tapered tube which is an integral part of certain woodwind instruments including the Bassoon, Contrabassoon Sometimes, however, the bell can be detached and in the case of instruments with a low A extension the instrument often comes in two parts (plus bell and bocal).

Range

With a range beginning at Bb₀ (extending down a half-step to the lowest note on the piano on instruments with the low A extension), and extending up just over three octaves, the contrabassoon is the deepest available sound in an orchestra of standard instruments. Accordingly, the instrument is notated an octave above sounding pitch in bass clef, with tenor or even (rarely) treble clef called for in high passages. The instrument has a high range extending to middle C, but the top fifth is rarely used. Tonally, it sounds much like the bassoon except for a distinctive organ pedal quality in the lowest octave of its range which provides a solid underpinning to the orchestra. Although the instrument can have a distinct 'buzz', which becomes almost a clatter in the extreme low range, this is nothing more than a variance of tone quality which can be remediated by appropriate reed design changes. While prominent in solo and small ensemble situations, the sound can be completely obscured in the volume of the full orchestra.

History and current use

The contrabassoon was developed in the mid-17th century; the oldest surviving instrument, which came in four parts and had only three keys, was built in 1714. It was around that time that the contrabassoon began gaining acceptance in church music, and by the end of the 18th century it was making its way into British military bands. A military band is a group of personnel that perform musical duties for military functions usually However, until the late 19th century, the contrabassoon typically had a weak tone and poor intonation. For this reason the contrabass woodwind parts often were scored for, and contrabassoon parts were often played on, contrabass sarrusophone or, less frequently, reed contrabass, until improvements to the contrabassoon by Heckel in the late 19th century secured its place as the standard double reed contrabass. The Eb contrabass sarrusophone was the only Sarrusophone that was ever mass produced in the United States The reed contrabass in C otherwise known as the contrabass(e à anche, is a type of Woodwind instrument. For more than a century, between 1880 and 2000, the contrabassoon of Heckel’s design remained relatively unchanged. A few keys were added during this time, most notably an upper vent key near the bocal socket, a tuning slide, and a few key linkages to facilitate technical passages.

Currently, contrabassoons are made by Heckel, Fox, Wolf, Moennig, Moosman, Püchner, Adler, Amati and Mollenhauer (and possibly others). In 2001, Fox introduced a new model of the contrabassoon with a completely revised system of register keys (octave keys), designed by Arlen Fast of the New York Philharmonic, and built by Chip Owen at Fox. The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 It addressed a variety of problems with the standard system, including poor articulation, and weak and uneven tone in the upper registers of the instrument. This design was granted a patent (#6,765,138) in 2004. The changes introduced with this system have greatly improved the playing characteristics of the contrabassoon and have extended its effective range upwards. It was quickly adopted by the contrabassoon players in the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the National Symphony, as well as others. The Kalevi Aho Concerto for Contrabassoon (2005) was written for Lewis Lipnick of the National Symphony, playing on a Fast-System Fox contrabassoon. Kalevi Aho (born 9 March 1949 in Forssa, Finland) is a Finnish Composer. It became the first contrabassoon concerto to be recorded and released by a major record label, BIS Records. BIS Records is a Record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr

Most orchestras use one contrabassoonist, either as a primary player or a bassoonist who doubles, as do a large number of symphonic bands and wind ensembles. A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, or wind ensemble While relatively rare, the instrument is most frequently found in larger symphonies, particularly those of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer The first composer to write a separate contrabassoon part in a symphony was Beethoven, in his Fifth Symphony (1808), although Bach, Handel (in his Music for the Royal Fireworks), Haydn, and Mozart occasionally used it in other genres. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Ludwig van Beethoven 's Symphony No 5 in C minor Op 67 was written in 1804–08 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The Music for the Royal Fireworks ( HWV 351) was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 under contract of George II of Great Britain Composers have often used the contrabassoon to comical or sinister effect by taking advantage of its clumsiness and its sepulchral rattle, respectively. A clear examples of its sound can be heard in Paul Dukas' Sorcerer's Apprentice. Paul Abraham Dukas (October 1 1865 &ndash May 17 1935 was a Parisian born French Composer and teacher of classical music. Some modern composers such as Gunther Schuller, Kalevi Aho and John Caughman have written concertos for this instrument. Gunther Schuller (born November 22 1925) is an American Composer and horn player Kalevi Aho (born 9 March 1949 in Forssa, Finland) is a Finnish Composer. Orchestrally, the contrabassoon is featured in Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and Piano Concerto for the Left Hand. The Piano Concerto for the Left Hand in D major ( Concerto pour la main gauche en ré majeur) was composed by Maurice Ravel between 1929 and 1930 It can also be clearly heard providing the bass line in the brief "Janissary band" section of the fourth movment of Beethoven's Symphony #9, just prior to the tenor solo. The Janissaries (derived from Ottoman Turkish ينيچرى ( yeniçeri) meaning "new soldier" comprised Infantry units that formed

The contrabassoon acts as the lowest voice of the woodwind ensemble, though the orchestral tuba can reach lower pitches. It is also often used to support other mixed orchestrations, such as doubling the bass trombone or tuba at the octave. There are many different types of trombones. The most frequently encountered trombones today are the tenor and bass though as with other Renaissance instruments such as the Recorder Mediatubaogg -->The tuba is the largest and lowest pitched Brass instrument. Frequent exponents of such scoring were Brahms and Gustav Mahler. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Joseph Haydn also used this instrument in both of his oratorios, The Creation and The Seasons. The Creation (Die Schöpfung is an Oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn ( H The Seasons (German Die Jahreszeiten) is an Oratorio by Joseph Haydn ( H In these works the part for the contrabassoon and the bass trombone are mostly, but not always, identical.

Contemporary contrabassoonist Susan Nigro has released six albums featuring herself playing the contrabassoon as a virtuoso instrument. Susan L Nigro (born 1951 is an American Contrabassoonist Unlike most players of the instrument Nigro's career is primarily as a solo recitalist and recording artist rather The albums include classical concertos, as well as modern tunes, such as The Pink Panther Theme. " The Pink Panther Theme " is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently She affectionately calls the contrabassoon the "big bassoon" in her album titles.

Notable Contrabassoons

Prof. Dr. Werner Schulze of Austria owns a contrabassoon with an extension to Ab₀, the note a half step below the lowest note on the piano.

Recently, the instrument makers Guntram Wolf and Benedikt Eppelsheim have collaborated in the reworking of the contrabassoon, resulting in a new instrument they call the Contraforte. The contraforte (spelled Kontraforte in German is a version of the Contrabassoon that with its improved dynamics It has a larger bore, as well as larger tone holes, resulting in a slightly different tone from a normal contrabassoon. The Wolf Contraforte contains a natural extension down to A₀, and several other features such as silent key movement and an automatic water drain.

Audio Examples

Cello suites (excerpt)

This segment of J.S. Bach's cello suites, played on a contrabassoon. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo Cello.

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External links

• Contrabassoon technique
• A contrabassoon discography
• Internet Contrabassoon Resource
• The Contraforte, Guntram Wolf/Benedikt Eppelsheim's contrabassoon.

See also

• Bassoon