I love the sound of a rich voiced bassoon! If I were to do it all over again, I would learn to play the bassoon, or the cello, they are both so delicious. And yet, I learned to play the piano when I was just 9 or 10 years old in the Philippines on a piano that my parents had purchased (and had shipped from the USA). And then after we moved back to the USA years later, and I was a teenager, then I learned to play flute on my momma’s flute, and then played flute in my college marching band. I wouldn’t trade either of those experiences (piano or flute), but I might add to them, with a bassoon or a cello, if I had it to do all over again. 🙂
Many people know about cellos, but few people understand the bassoon. So I thought I would take some blog time and share information about bassoons with all of you.
First off, what is a bassoon? Of course, the photo above shows one. Not surprisingly, the notes/music it plays are in the lower register, low notes.
So that’s what a bassoon looks like.
What does it sound like? Well, here’s a short video of a bassoon playing while the sneaky wolf lurks in the woods where Peter is walking, in “Peter and the Wolf” by Sergei Prokofiev. Turn your sound on!
So that’s a bit of how a bassoon sounds and how it’s played.
And then, next question, where did the name/word “bassoon” come from? Well, read on, but understand there is a lot of different information online about the origin of the word “bassoon”. But mostly it seems, the word bassoon comes from French basson and from Italian bassone (basso with the augmentative suffix -one). However, the Italian name for the same instrument is fagotto. And in Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Romanian it is fagot, and in German Fagott. “Fagot” is an Old French word meaning a “bundle of sticks”. It’s just a bundle of sticks … doesn’t have anything to do with gay men!! Don’t go there with me or I’ll chew your socks off! Don’t be rude! 🙂 The word “fagot” may have gone WAY astray in modern times and isn’t even properly pronounced correctly in the USA. The correct French pronunciation is something like FAH-go. Maybe more like Fargo, North Dakota, but then let’s not go their either. 🙂 Especially since I lived there too (when I was 3-4 years old).
So … ahem … sorry to get off track there. To continue on with the name/word “bassoon” and what it means and where it came from … there’s also info on some websites that links the earlier meaning for the word bassoon to “one single stick”. In truth, bassoons are carved/created from one single piece of wood. Indeed, the whole bassoon, even though pieces are separated for storage and carrying after the instrument has been created, each entire bassoon was originally and still is crafted from just one piece of wood.
Here is a video of the principal bassoon player of the London Philharmonia Orchestra who tells us about all things bassoon …
Lastly, here (below) is a part of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, 2nd movement, with the bassoon solo … ah but with a LOT of cellos in the very first notes, be still my heart.
So that’s what I know about bassoons, and why I love a good bassoon. 🙂 They often play in the background of musical compositions, but every once in awhile they are front and center, and their sound is so delicious!
What musical instrument do you play? Or wish you could play? Or enjoy listening to? Isn’t music wonderful!
After I finished typing all of this, I thought seriously about what instrument/s I truly would like to play if I really did have it all to do over again, and my answer surprised me.
Bass clarinet, cello, bassoon, french horn, piano.
How about you folks?