Editions Salabert
22, rue Chauchat, 75009 Paris, France
Pub. 1986, paperback, sheet music size 104 pages, text in French
Reviewed by Charles Holdeman
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Alexandre Ouzounoff is a specialist on performing contemporary and avant garde music on the French bassoon. Many of you heard his brilliant performance of modern music at the Las Vegas Conference. I am happy to recommend the tape of his performance to those who are particularly interested in contemporary bassoon techniques. Also, many of the works Mr. Ouzounoff performed are published by Salabert, who have a bassoon music catalogue available upon request.)
This amazing volume describes contemporary techniques for the bassoon, for the sake of interpretation of existing works, and also for composers to use as a guide in writing for the bassoon. The title is translated as: "The Bassoon at Present". (The Mount Everest of Multiphonics is another possibility!)
It is amazing because of the detail and labor involved, and because its esoteric quality is made even more so by its reference specifically to the French bassoon, to which all the fingerings apply. The other various techniques, are applicable to both the French and German system bassoons. The author, Ouzounoff, a French bassoonist and contemporary music specialist is extremely scientific and well organized, making his work a good example for similar studies on other instruments.
The first of three chapters concerns typical qualities of the bassoon. (For example we bassoonists are described as being capable of single tonguing 16th's at quarternote = 132, double tonguing at quarternote = 160, and triple at quarternote = 1 84!). Chapter two contains the bulk of information: fingerings for all quarter tones (several notes have as many as seven alternate fingerings); trills which change timbre but not pitch (again with many alternates); and "sons roules" or rolling sounds. I would have labeled these multiphonics, but I can see where the author has given this classification, as the main pitch is well defined. Sounds are given with alternates for each mid range note, f to e flat. These are followed by four classifications of multiphonics; an unbelieveable total of 459 are described; and even more amazing are the lists of tremolos between pairs of multiphonics, running 17 pages! I have tried only a tiny fraction of these with varying success. With the exception of the typical half-hole notes, using the left index finger, half-hole fingerings are not employed. Perhaps the author did not want to open a Pandora's box, but I have found various half-holes to be helpful in my own use of unusual sounds.
Chapter three describes other techniques: pizzicato (popping the tongue on the reed without its vibrating); harmonics; vibrato and smorzato (throat tremolo); glissando; key clicking; singing and playing simultaneously; circular breathing; and use of a mute. There are also 16 one-line excerpts from contemporary solo bassoon works, using the described techniques, and a bibliography of 26 such works with publisher, when applicable.
That Actuellement le Basson is a technical tour de force is undisputable. The potential artistic and aesthetic significance of these techniques is left entirely to the player or composer, though the intention is clear - to provide the means of the bassoon to be a solo instrument of rich possibilities.
This study was produced with a grant from the French ministry of culture, and with the collaboration of I.R.C.A.M. in Paris. Included is a reproduction of a handwritten appreciation of the work by the composer Xenakis.
About the writer...
Chuck Holdemann is a free lance professional bassoonist in the Wilmington, Delaware area who plays both French and German system bassoons. A former student of Maurice Allard, he is a pioneer in the championing of the French bassoon in America.