What are some notable classical bassoon solos aside from The Rite of Spring?

December 24, 2008 at 07:05 PM by Anonymous | Posted in Classical

Q: The movement would be helpful as well as title and composer. Thanks!

December 25, 2008 at 08:21 PM by Phil

A: I'm a bassoonist, so this is "rite" up my alley.

"Big" orchestral solos:

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (Opening)
--Everyone knows this one.

Stravinsky: Firebird (Berceuse)
--A true gem!

Beethoven: Ninth Symphony (Fourth movement)
--The famous countermelody to the Ode to Joy theme

Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra (Second movement)
--This quirky one is for three bassoons!

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Second movement)
--This movement has two big bassoon solos.

Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique (Fourth and fifth movements)
--This piece has some tough material in it!

Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major (First and third movements)
--The first movement has a very high, and pretty solo.
--The third movement has one of the most technically difficult excerpts in the orchestral repertoire.

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 9 (Fourth movement)
--The entire movement is a wonderful largo bassoon solo. Another gem.

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Aria: Una furtiva lagrima)
--One of the great opera orchestra solos, from an aria sung by Nemorino.

Ravel: Bolero
--Speaks for itself.

Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro(overture)
--Most people are probably familiar with this solo.

And of course...
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf
--The grandfather

As far as solo works are concerned, the "biggest" works would probably include:

Mozart: Bassoon Concerto in B-flat, K191
Weber: Concerto in F
Hummel: Grand Concerto in F
Vivaldi: An assload of concertos (37 total)

5 Comments

  • suhwahaksaeng says:
    December 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
    Someone is bound to mention the Vivaldi bassoon concertos,
    so I'll be the first.

    If I remember correctly, the bassoon is the grampaw in Peter and the Wolf.

    I like the bassoon solo in the last movement of the Beethoven violin concerto.

    PS I notice Maestro only joined yesterday.
    At the time I'm writing this, he has written only 7 replies, but some of them are sure to et checked as Best Answers.
    Betcha he will become our next Top Contributor.
  • maestrosda says:
    December 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
    The first that comes to mind is the Concerto for Orchestra by Bela Bartok, however, I remember most of my conservatory bassoon friends working on Movements 4 and 5 of Symphony Fantastique by Berlioz, and there is a great solo in the Percy Grainger "Lincolnshire Posy" and an amazing contra solo in F.J. Hyden's "The Creation"

    There are also the old standard exerpts,
    Mozart's Overture to "The Marriage of Figaro"
    Ravel's "Bolero"
    Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade
    and
    Stravinsky's "Pulcinela"
  • Holden says:
    December 24, 2008 at 12:00 AM
    The WP article gives a list, including some that have already been mentioned. I think the Mussorgsky example is The Old Castle, from Pictures at an Exhibition (aka Pix @ X).

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APSS: Playing a Bassoon Protects Against Sleep Apnea MedPage Today

Jun 10, 2009

In a study of 901 professional musicians, the woodwind players also had a lower risk of apnea than did singers or conductors, according to Christopher P. Ward, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, who reported the findings at the meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies here.

High-resistance woodwind instruments are those in the double-reed category, such as oboes, English horns, and bassoons.

The protective effect was only observed in those musicians who practiced an average of three hours a day, Dr. Ward said.

A musician himself -- he plays the trumpet and once served as interim band conductor at a college where he was teaching -- Dr. Ward said he did not know the exact mechanism that protects double-reed musicians.

Based on results of this study, Dr. Ward theorized that training sleep apnea patients to play double-reed instruments could be therapeutic.

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