In researching music for a recent recital, I ran across several
pieces for bassoon and horn which are not much played. This article
will serve as an introduction to three of these pieces for bassoonists
who may not have seen them yet.
I have always believed that the Classical-era practice of writing
for wind instruments in pairs leads to the best possible aesthetic
blend. In my mind, the wind octet and sextet of the 18th Century
represent a pinnacle in the history of scoring for winds in chamber
music. As a bassoon recitalist, however, I had to face the fact
that the first oboe and first clarinet are the leaders in virtually
all of this repertoire, rendering it less than ideal for a program
designed to feature the bassoon. Thus I was overjoyed to discover
two pieces from this era scored for two bassoons and two horns.
The Divertimento for two bassoons and two horns by Ignaz Jacob
Holzbauer (1711 - 1783) is published by Hofmeister. It is in the
key of C major, and is comprised of six short movements. Each
movement is in binary form, and all are quite short. The tempos
are indicated as follows:
Marsch: Andante
Allegro
Menuett
Andante
Presto
Larghetto
The order of movements is somewhat unusual, as the fast movements
are the second and fifth. Modern ears also find it strange to
close with a Larghetto.
The first bassoon has the top line throughout. The part is not
difficult, ranging only up to high A. The key of C major is a
friendly one on the bassoon, and Holzbauer does not try to challenge
us technically. The texture is thick throughout, with few rests,
and little variety in scoring. In fact, the music is so simple
in form and melody that it quickly becomes dull. What the piece
does offer, however, is a beautiful timbre that will woo audiences.
The richness of the low horns and resonant bassoons has proved
popular in two performances of the work in my home city. (incidentally,
the second horn is written very low. It may be the most challenging
of the four parts.) A shortened version, consisting of the second
movement, followed by the first, third and fifth, would be a welcome
alternative in any concert environment. Complete performances
might best be reserved for double reed .conventions and other
captive audiences.
Sonata a quattro for two horns and two bassoons by Johann Wilhelm
Hertel (1727 - 1789) is published by Noetzel. This piece is in
the key of E-flat major, and is in three short movements:
Largo
Vivace
Tempo di Minuetto (in two sections)
In this work, the first horn and first bassoon alternate as the
leading voices. The horn part is heroically high in places, (up
to written high D for E-flat horn) so show it to your hornist
before you schedule a reading session. If anything, the timbre
of this work is even more beautiful than that of the Holzbauer.
The soaring horns are well supported by the bassoon lines, and
the frequent alternation between pairs of instruments gives respite
from thick-textured tuttis. The melodic writing and form are much
more creative than in the Holzbauer. Find a high-horn virtuoso
and perform it when you can. If only "mortal" hornists
are available, perhaps the work could be transposed down to the
key of C without distorting its character.
The third work I would like to introduce is the Concert Piece
for Bassoon, Horn and Orchestra by Niccolo Paganini (1782 - 1840),
published by Musica Rara in a reduction for bassoon, horn and
piano. Orchestra parts are available on rental.
This single-movement work is in the key of E major. There is an
extended slow introduction (Larghetto), followed by a Rondo (Allegro
moderato) with Coda (piu mosso). The two soloists alternate throughout
the work, with little direct counterpoint between the two parts.
The natural horn is limited to the home key, so the bassoon part
predominates in the episodes of the Rondo and in modulations.
The first time I read through this piece with my hornist, we laughed
so hard we could hardly finish it. This work is made up primarily
of cliches and repetitions. Additionally, the key is
such that figuration in the bassoon part is unnecessarily awkward,
and some accompanimental horn parts are unnaturally high. Since
we had already programmed the work, I decided to perform radical
surgery.
My first decision was to take the whole thing down a half step
to E-flat. This entailed the use of "white out" to remove
and replace the key signatures and accidentals in the piano and
bassoon parts. The horn part required no such modification.
A careful reading of the editor's notes in the score revealed
that the manuscript score is in standard orchestral format, without
clear delineation of solo versus tutti sections. The solo parts
are written as though they would be played from within the orchestra.
This led me to remove all the lines in the piano part which doubled
the solo lines, in order to create a more soloistic texture. In
one instance, I dropped a few notes from the bassoon part which
seemed to belong to the accompaniment, and asked the pianist to
play them instead. In studying the score, I found that four bars
had been accidentally omitted from the bassoon part in copying.
I restored these bars to their proper place.
In the manuscript, the Coda does not contain any music for the
soloists. The editor has supplied notes to play in the final 58
bars, but the Coda is just too long and repetitive. I elected
to cut a 16-bar repeated section.
Ultimately, the result was still not a great masterwork, but it
was a piece I was proud to play. A complete list of the changes
made is included here, in case anyone wants to perform my version.
| Measures | Alternations |
| all: | Transpose down to E-flat. |
| 11 & 13: | add bassoon to echo horn. Select notes from score. |
| 64: | cut this bar. |
| 65 - 66: | cut doubling from piano part. |
| 67 - 71: | take the horn part down an octave. |
| 105: | cut this bar of rest out of the bassoon part |
| 106: | cut this bar of rest out of the piano part. |
| 109: |
do not re-articulate the B-flat and F in the piano part.
Bassoon can play a short cadenza over B-flat or B-flat seventh chord in this fermata. |
| 168 - 177: | cut doubling from piano part. |
| 178 - 182: | for performance with piano, the soloists should take the accompanimental eighth notes so that the pianist can play the melodic thirds using both hands. |
| 186 - 188: | cut bassoon part. |
| 193 - 196: | copy bassoon line into part from score. |
| 231: | same as m. 105. |
| 232: | same as m. 106. |
| 235: | same as m. 109. This cadenza might be slightly longer. |
| 244 - 259: | cut this section. |
| 276: | change "piu mosso" to to "accelerando poco a poco." |
| 294 - 298: | add notes to solo parts from score ad libitum. |
[Steve Hanna is the administrative assistant at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music. He has studied bassoon performance at the Eastman School, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory, and the University of Denver.]