The following article first appeared in L'Ame et La Corde, No. 10, Sept.- Oct. 1985 121 Boulevard de Magenta 75010 Paris, France and is reprinted with their kind permission. Ed.

Bassoonist with the Orchestre de Paris, member of the Maurice Bourgue Wind Ensemble and the ensemble "Secolo Baroquo, " soloist in numerous concerts with the jean -Francois Paillard Chamber Orchestra, Amaury Wallez i's what one could call a complete musician. Mr. Wallez (no relation to the violinist of the same name) has graciously agreed to share with us his experiences and thought on the life of an instrumentalist and teacher. I would be more accurate to say "on the life of a musician," because everything revolves around music. We met a man who, by his evolution, has known how to go beyond purely technical considerations which others, despite repeated efforts, do not succeed in overcoming.

Amaury Wallez discovered the bassoon via the piano and solfége, which he studied beginning at the age of four in Sebourg, in northern France. Without giving up the piano he then studied saxophone and clarinet. M. Koza, his saxophone teacher, also taught the bassoon, and it is through him that M. Wallez took up the bassoon. He graduated from Maurice Allard's class at the Pari's Conservatory in 1960 with a first prize in bassoon. The opportunity then presented itself to join the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, the famous organization which has made numerous valuable recordings.

Int.: M. Wallez, your debut with the Société des Concerts...

AW: Yes, in 1960 when I left the Conservatory, I had a chance to play first bassoon in this orchestra at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence. The Société des Concerts was a great experience; it was a fantastic orchestra. There were some excellent first-chair players, like the clarinetists Boutard and Druard, the horn players Thevet and Barboteu as well as an outstanding string section made up of musicians from various national opera houses. I had a chance to play under conductors like Schuricht, to play the last concert of Cluytens (with Ravel's Bolero)...

Int.: How did the Société work?

AW: It was an ensemble made up of musicians having, for the most part, a lot of skill, so we worked quickly. At that time I was more interested in chamber music than in orchestra playing, which was a mistake on my part. I believe that the training brought to a musician by orchestra playing, especially when he does something else on the side, is valuable in regard to intonation, playing, homogeneity and flexibility in relation to others. One must make an abstraction of many things to be interested in ensemble playing.

Let's get back to the Société which was a very strong orchestra, which moved pretty quickly. There were one or two rehearsals. That's a kind of work schedule one gets used to but I prefer what we do now, we take more time.

Int.: Now you are in the Orchestre de Paris.

AW: The Orchestre de Paris grew out of the Société des Concerts. I auditioned and joined as first bassoon. There was first the Munch period, then the Karajan period. Then we had Solti, who had a very hard and lively character. He was very demanding with himself and therefore with the orchestra. He was a great conductor, he knew very well how to make the orchestra sound.

Int.: Your permanent conductor is Daniel Barenboim...

AW: Yes, he is an excellent conductor. He knows how to rehearse the orchestra; he obtains a very good sound and tone color. Because of how he works, the orchestra has become his instrument, in a sense. And furthermore, he is a great musician. When he plays piano concertos, I'd play them anywhere, anytime, night or day. In Mozart, it's a revelation every time. Such phrasing, such individual balance, it's a great lesson!

Int.: Wasn't that the period when you began playing the German bassoon?

AW: Yes, but it was under Karajan that I switched from French to German bassoon. Karajan didn't really have a preference either way; he wanted the orchestra to sound good and to blend. Sold said openly that he wanted the German bassoon; that was his character.

In any case, it's a pointless debate, because one can make music with any instrument. Personally, I am very happy with the German system and I am sorry that I didn't take it up ten years earlier. Instruments like the horn have changed over the years, their bores have gotten bigger. The new bores have given a bigger sound and the French bassoon hasn't gotten together with their new sonorities. I am sorry about it, because it's easier to stick with what you've got and I still love the French bassoon, but it didn't correspond anymore to what I asked of it.

Furthermore, you can't compare them. They are two instruments which differ as to technique, sound, embouchure... you can't compare an oboe and a clarinet.

Int.: What are the differences between the French and German bassoon?

AW: First of all the sound, that's why I chose the German bassoon ten years ago. It has perhaps a rounder and warmer sound.

In France, the French bassoon is built by Selmer and Buffet-Crampon, which is the successor to Evette. The bore is narrower than that of the German bassoon, giving it a very pretty kind of sound; the notes speak precisely and with a bright tone. The Selmer has adopted a German-style boot which has a tendency to sweeten the tone while assuring a continuity of sound. The two French systems use the same fingering technique but with slightly different reeds.

As for the German system, Heckel is at the head of a parade of about twenty makers. The instrument has a different playing technique because of its wider bore, a different ein

bouchure and different reed as well. Changing from the French to the German bassoon is very difficult. It takes months. While it is being built, the instrument can be personalized as to the placement of keys, rollers, even the finish. We don't have that in France.

Int.: The German bassoon is not taught at the Paris Conservatory...

AW: No, because Professor Maurice Allard, who was my teacher and for whom I have always had a great deal of esteem and admiration, doesn't teach it. I find it too bad that there aren't any students playing the Heckel system in the National Conservatories, seeing as there is a demand.

For my part, I let my students choose whichever system they prefer. I think that one shouldn't close off a road, whatever it is simply because one plays one system more than another. It suffices for orchestras, for example, to listen to and recruit the best players. The listener is captivated by what comes out of an instrument musically and not materially.

Int.: Is there a large repertoire for the bassoon?

AW: Yes, in concerto form and in chamber music. There are 37 Vivaldi concerti, two by Weber, one by Mozart... there's a sonata by Saint-Saens, a sonatine by Tansman, the "Sarabande et Cortege" of Dutilleux, and a very beautiful concerto by Jolivet. We have an enormous repertoire of music with strings and winds. Practically every composer has written for wind groups. We have really interesting contemporary pieces like Stockhausen's "In Freundschaft" and many others. It's a specialized kind of work to search out and learn to love these pieces.

Int.: What are the things of prime importance to you as a musician?

AW: To make music with people like Maurice Bourgue always causes one to develop in a positive way. Rhythm and phrasing happens much before one gets into the technical aspect of playing. The development takes place in the most musical sense but it also has to do with the best use of one's own technical resources. At the beginning, Bourgue said to me: "You have ten times too much technique for what you do with it, you play too freely. " That was very true, but it's difficult to use fully what one has at one's disposal. For me, another thing of prime importance is tone quality, the way one "centers" the sound so that it is alive, never indifferent. The sound has to speak, it has to sing. Demanding a beautiful sound must be a constant. I only began seven or eight years after I was at the Conservatory to appreciate fully how to draw the most out of an instrument, in terms of its personal vibration and not on the level of the demands that one might have.

Int.: And the French school of wind playing...

AW: The rest of the world has made tremendous progress. It is certain that, esthetically speaking, one would be surprised at the beginning to hear certain English and American musicians because, in fact, we don't have the same lifestyle, the same ear, or the same culture. Of course, they have as many things to say as we do. You can criticize them for vibrato or other things of this nature. It's the music that must express itself, that's all, I think.

Int.: How is the contact between a member of the wind section and a great soloist?

AW: It's often an artistic dialogue that one tries to take as far as possible. There is no more violin, no more bassoon; there is only the music... at least one strives for this.

Int.: At the beginning, you didn't like orchestra playing very much; you preferred chamber music. How do you feel about chamber music today?

AW: It goes along well with and actually improves one's orchestra playing. An instrumentalist needs to get out there, to play, and to define himself, and the more he does this under good conditions, the better he gets. So, chamber music brings experience and training to one's instrument, the audience and the concert hall which is beneficial for orchestra work. One shouldn't play only chamber music or only orchestral music, but rather both together if possible. In any case, a teacher must play everything to realize what he's teaching.

Int.: And opera?

AW: Unfortunately, I haven't had a lot of opera experience since I'm not in an opera orchestra. I've only played at the Aix festival for ten years and so I know mostly the Mozart operas. They are so extraordinary I could listen to them night and day.

I've played very few operas, but everything that goes along with the lyrical aspect of music is fantastic, since an instrumentalist comes closer than others in blending with the voice, which is the most beautiful instrument. That's where the tonal development and balance of the individual in relation to the instrument which is the voice are best, because you have to vibrate everything so that it works.

Int.: Have recordings changed in their conception?

AW: With each conductor it's different. We recorded a lot with the Société des Concerts. Recording technique is different now, we record faster and better. That can be just as spontaneous. For example, the Orchestre de Paris recordings with Karajan were done exactly as in concert, in a single take. I'd rather let a little thing pass so that the recording has a total ambience. Today, we make many fewer records than before. More concerts and fewer discs!

Int.: You have recorded with the Maurice Bourgue octet.

AW: Indeed; we've made two records: the two Mozart serenades, the Gounod "Petite Symphonie" as well as the "Chanson et Danses" of d'Indy. We'd like to record our entire repertoire, but we have no current project going. With the Maurice Bourgue octet we work a lot and give concerts regularly.

Int.: Do you have any recording possibilities personally?

AW: No. I'd like to but the occasion hasn't presented itself. One day, maybe... I hope to do it, I'd like to record some Vivaldi concerti and those of Mozart and Weber. For us bassoonists it's not easy, the record companies know that a piano concerto sells better than a bassoon concerto. It's not just our problem; it's true for all wind instruments.

Int.: You are a teacher also. Is musical training in France geared mostly towards orchestral playing these days?

AW: There is certainly a progression in that direction, but the cycle of conservatory training ends with a concerto competition. It is very clear that the schooling is leading up to that. I believe that there will be more and more emphasis on orchestral playing in the national conservatories. Let me repeat that above all, all instruments are first and foremost orchestral instruments. Teaching should be done in this spirit. Furthermore, there are now more and more orchestral training programs, youth orchestras... it's a very good idea. You have to understand that in the national or municipal conservatories, there are no second-rate instruments. Parents should be open enough to permit children to pick whatever instrument appeals to them.

In any event, to start with some basic harmony can only be good, then the choice of instrument should be easy. You have to open the mind to an instrument suitable for chamber or orchestral music, playable professionally or not. One can't start on bassoon, for example. You only start it at about 12 or 13 years of age, you understand therefore the importance of the proper prior training. The taste for playing chamber music doesn't seem developed enough especially among conservatory students: that is too bad. It's generally shared affinities of playing, taste, and personality which bring musicians together.

Int.: Has your concept of teaching evolved?

AW: Yes, a lot, fortunately. Teaching is captivating and engaging. Each student is a special case. Teaching is personalized, starting at a certain level, of course. It is important that Students have class together, to learn by hearing others. I believe that teaching has progressed a lot, on my part anyway. I even have the impression that the more the teaching progresses, the more difficult it is for the students. Not technically, but it's very difficult to make them understand the use of the air, the center of gravity; they only talk about fingers. A blocked student can't have fingers.

In general they ask too many questions and don't take enough into their own hands. Yet it is necessary to know yourself and have love for your instrument, to be balanced in relation to it, to be able to make use of it and to find yourself through it and with it.

Int.: What do you think of the study of early music and of performances on authentic instruments?

AW: I think that it's very interesting, the results are extraordinary and that early music groups such as those of Harnoncourt, Hogwood and Pinnock have a very high level of quality. That has not always been the case of early music groups.

I believe that learning a historical instrument or a copy of one is necessary for a modern instrumentalist, to aid in the research of sound and phrasing.

I have noticed that in early music ensembles, phrasing comes naturally. The accents are different but very natural.

Int.: Isn't it easier to become one with a wind instrument, because one uses one's breath?

AW: No, I don't think so. It's difficult with all instruments. I even believe that it is more difficult with a wind instrument, because there is no tangible material to define the breath. Everything that string players do is external - I'm speaking of physical movements - but I suppose that the result is the same as for us and, if they dampen or smother their instruments, if they don't let them vibrate and don't become one with them, they'll have the same results as with a wind instrument. For us, the technique of breathing is a projection which is like a bow and arrow. Vibration is born inside the body. It's difficult to practice, it takes a long time, but the result is very exhilarating. That's also a part of teaching: to make the student understand that the instrument is an object which will permit him to experience everything.

Int.: We haven't yet touched upon the technique of the bassoon, and the big problem is that of reeds.

AW: The cane is a living thing, and reedmaking has to be meticulous and painstaking work. Each reed is tailored to one's personal physique and, following criteria adapted to each instrument, the reed must have a centered sound and not be an obstacle.

The reed must also be balanced to vibrate well and with a lot of harmonics. It is certain that the exterior climate - humidity, heat, etc. - affects the cane to an enormous degree. It is very important to have a good reed, but, above all, even more important to know how to use it.

I'll conclude by emphasizing that it's a captivating calling, very hard, and it's necessary to involve oneself. You must also not hesitate to question everything constantly.

translated by Philip Göttling

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