Dear Dr. Klimko,

Having just retired August 31st from the Boston Symphony and Pops after forty years as their contrabassoonist I am enjoying the time to write and reflect on such matters as are contained in a questionnaire sent me by Mr. James Ruddy of Bowling Green University. With Mr. Ruddy's permission I am sending his questions and my answers, which may be of some interest and/or entertainment for readers of Double Reed magazine.

1. In your development and career as a bassoonist, when and how did you learn to play the contrabassoon?

I am still learning the contrabassoon. I began learning contrabassoon as soon as I had access to an instrument, which was in 1948 in Juilliard. I took the instrument to my bassoon lessons for help from Simon Kovar. I also got help on fingering and reeds from my fellow student and orchestra member, Arthur Kurz, a pupil of Roberto Sensale, contrabassoonist of the N. Y. Philharmonic. Arthur used Sensale's reeds, which were good, and which I studied and imitated. Arthur left school to play contra in Minneapolis-late 1948 or '49-and I haven't seen him since. Thanks, Arthur, wherever you are!

Mr. Kovar had a new Mollenhauer contra for a possible switch for a longer career. He sold it to me when I expressed interest in it-he was becoming less interested in a longer career. Since a quarter to a third of the best jobs were contra jobs, I invested the money and went to work in earnest on the instrument, playing contra in [required] rotation with the other bassoon players in the Juilliard Orchestra. I also volunteered for significant contra parts in the opera and concerto orchestra. Contra was not popular with the other bassoon players, so they didn't object.

In 1951-'52 while I played second bassoon in Baltimore I got help on contra and reeds from Lou Skinner. He had been the contra player in Baltimore when I was bassoonist of the Army Ground Forces [now Field] Band in Washington [Ft. Meade].1

Both Kovar and Skinner appreciated my effort and commitment to the instrument. In 1952 both helped and encouraged my preparation for the Boston audition. Both had earlier contemplated applying for the job should a vacancy occur. Skinner had made reeds for Boaz Pillar, my predecessor in Boston.

2. What is your performing experience with the contrabassoon?

Juilliard Orchestra (conductor Jean Paul Morel) 1948 - '52 (rotating in all bassoon and contrabassoon assignments with Arthur Weisberg, Bert Bial, Jerome Rabinowitz, and Arthur Kurz), and Boston Symphony and Pops 1952-'92 (bassoon and contrabassoon). See #17, discography.

3. Do you own your own contrabassoon?

I have owned my own contrabassoon since sophomore year of college, 19482

a. If so, what make and model is it?

Yes, Heckel model 43 with options, #754, bought in 1956. 1 have owned two Heckels, three or four Foxes, and two Mollenhauers. My wife has a Fox. The Heckel 43 (the pattern for all the other instruments) with options described below, #754, is my favorite, heard on all recordings since fall of 1956 ...

b. What make and model do you recommend?

I recommend [with caveats] the instruments made by the above listed manufacturers in the last ten to thirty years and which have not been altered by players and repairmen.

c. Why do you recommend them?

The recent instruments are recommended because they are more likely to be at A440 pitch with Bb bell and have the keys bassoonist take for granted, water key tuning slide, and floor peg. An eastern zone manufacturer sold some contras of the type designed for C bell but with A bells attached, probably at some distributor's request. They were painfully and unusually flat. Their key metal was much too soft-contra keys are long and easily bent, even with harder metal.

Why not just recommend my favorite? Prices, availability, quality/condition, money available, and intended use vary greatly and all have to be taken into account in deciding what to get. There is an important convenience advantage in playing an American instrument. Compare phone calls and English conversation, UPS delivery door to door in four or five days, and/or trips to South Whitley, to phone calls to Biebrich or Kassel, English possible but not binding, air freight in expensive crate with import duty, risk of customs collusion with freight forwarding and storage rackets [extortion] with delays of weeks to a month and probable trips to the airport and/or customs house, currency fluctuation risk on advance deposits for unspecified waiting periods of a year or more, and exchange commissions, and all these problems and expenses repeat if for any reason the instrument goes back to the factory for work. This gives a big advantage to the American maker, and it can translate into quality if whoever does the final adjustments (acoustical and mechanical) and testing uses his advantage to please the customers. All the makers are equally dependent on the satisfaction of their customers. When Heckel can keep his American customers in spite of the disadvantages he has, it says something about his products.

All Heckels are made to order, and there is no wholesaler or distributor. Customers order all kinds of different things from the catalog. If there is a Heckel instrument that one likes, one tells the serial number, because there is a record of that instrument that helps in imitating it. Chances are that a sample of its type sits in the factory for reference. The tools and the maker may be long gone, though. That reminds me to urge buyers to deal directly with Heckel [and Fox, for professional models]. Mollenhauer has at times made exclusive distributor contracts which work against the players in price and communication, and Fox has lines of instruments that are stock or commercial, but these can have optional improvement at stated prices.

When the customer is available at the factory he plays his bassoon for the boss, who accommodates any reasonable requests at that time. If a significant amount of time and risk is involved, he may do it after the instrument is paid for, for extra money, and at the owner's risk. That means that there are old instruments that are unusually good because they were made for good players who contributed their time, playing skill, knowledge, perhaps a fine instrument as a standard, and taste, to the finishing process, and because the boss was discerning enough and enthusiastic enough to cooperate to make his instrument sound its best.

About the trademarks and vintages ... Caveat: Personnel (knowledge and character) and tools (dimensions) are constantly changing at the manufacturers, affecting the quality of the instruments. The contras made since about 1960 and not altered by players and repairmen are preferred generally, to earlier ones, but they vary and always have.

An important evolution from a=435 and 438 to a=440 came very slowly in the contrabassoon, taking from 1918 until around 1980 as will now be described and explained. It is important in the present context because old instruments made for a lower pitch should not be chosen for use in today's American orchestras. The older instruments were consciously or not made for A438 or 435 with C bell, Bb bells being sold as optional accessories. The StroboConn tuner did not exist before the 1930's, and Heckel probably didn't have one until after the war.

Institutions were the principal purchasers of contrabassoons, and the instruments were played by players who had no communication or influence with the manufacturers. Their feelings about the instruments and the institutions were very similar to those of students towards their schools and school instruments. The Bb bell was considered a nuisance to be avoided, because the whole heavy contra[ption] was hung around one's neck and because it was not tuned with the Bb bell.

Manufacturers dealt with managers who knew little and cared less about contrabassoon, and were concerned mostly with keeping cost down (keys are expensive). The players had and wanted as little as possible to do with managers, manufacturers, and especially contrabassoons.

So, contras continued to be made flat (for our purposes) with the C bell, and putting the longer accessory bell on made them still flatter, with other acoustical upsets. Only since the mid-1950's have contras been made with 440 and Bb bells as normal or standard, but even then there had to be a period of evolution and adjustment.

Heckel's first permanent Bb bell with 440+ tuning, little finger F#, and F-F# connection may have been made by Herr Groffy when I specified them for #754 in 1955-'56. [BSO pitch then was 446, which was outrageous]. Herr Groffy said "from whom do you know I [will] make this?!! You will have it." [Mollenhauer already made the keys but not the tuning.]

In August, 1956 #754 became a prototype which had to be reworked after testing with his stroboscope. There was a week or so of cut-and-try, with delivery delayed while the BSO toured about a month from Dublin to Moscow and back to Munich. Munich still looked bombed out then. #754 awaited us there in a crate in the basement of the Three Lions Hotel, a small new building in the ruins of the railroad station neighborhood.

About altered instruments: Talking that August with Herr Groffy about the finishing of my 1955 bassoon #9888 1 asked whether he could
raise it by grinding or filing holes as repairmen do [The BSO was playing a=446 then]. He said "I know a lot of repairmen who can make a lamp out of a bassoon, but none who can make a bassoon out of a lamp." As he turned toward the desk he mumbled "and I have made a few lamps myself."

What I warn against is instruments "Tuned" by repairmen and players. They are usually raised [or razed] by people who don't know the compromises of tone, pitch (relative and absolute, stability/flexibility), response; strong and stable internal resonance vs. resistance, balking, and kicking; volume; and range. They don't know the physics, locations, and procedures for the adjustments, and they lack a physical, objective, and stable, standard of comparison, such as a similar instrument that is being copied, to know whether they are gaining or losing or when to stop. [Sounds like making reeds, doesn't it?]

4. What specific tools do you use for reed making?

[Hold the specific because it is unavailable and non-essential]. All the same types as for bassoon, but some have to be bigger: for instance, the mandrel, reamer, cane, shaper [not essential], and wire [#21 or #20, although an extra turn makes #22 sufficient]. No problem, though-a thirty penny and a forty penny nail (points dulled) can substitute for a mandrel, a round file of the right size for a reamer, large bassoon cane (two pieces if it is too short) for contra cane, a reed to copy, (if you have two model reeds, disassemble one and flatten the two pieces in hot water), and traditional freehand shaping techniques make it possible for any student who has made a bassoon reed to make a contra reed right now. The principles and types of tools are the same as for making bassoon reeds.

That answer is meant to encourage players to start making the reeds with tools and materials at hand and not feel they need much money or specific tools before they can get started.

A more specific answer would include a Stanley punch awl #7 with the point broken off at the right place to make either a long or short contra mandrel, a set of nails up to 40 penny that can be carried in a bassoon case without being too bulky or too valuable to risk losing them, noname end nippers for cutting off folds of blanks, no-name small wire cutting pliers, injector blades in small exacto handle for shaping, Case 3-blade wood carving pocket knife ca. 1942, with different edges for scraping, shaping, and cut-off, Bhosys bassoon gouging machine ca. 1950, Pfeiffer bassoon profilers ca. 1955 and 1970. fluted hand gouge, round inside scraper (for hand gouging and/or correcting bad machine gouging, home-made wooden bed for hand gouging, assorted files: knife, Nicholson or Heller pillar files 0 and 00 1/4 or 5/16" wide, small rattail files, rough and medium flat files and half round files, small triangular file, medium and very fine wet'n dry sandpaper used wet in tiny strips that last forever and are carried with a plaque always in one's billfold for minute but necessary adjustments any time and any place, taper-pin reamers adapted for fitting reeds on crooks, Popkin reamer with adjustable stop, dial indicator, arrow head plaques, spade plaques, triangular plaques, flat plaques, Duco cement, string or thread, kiddie scissors for cutting tiny sandpaper strips-nothing there is exciting or essential. What is more useful than any of those is understanding what the reed needs to do and how to get it to do that. That needs both experience and coaching.

5. What cane do you use?

I use all of the kinds of cane that aren't too thin, too small, cracked, rotten, wormy, very crooked, or twisted. Cracks and worm holes are the hardest defects to detect by quick inspection. A bad crack can sometimes be heard when the tube or split cane is bounced on a table, but one doesn't always have the opportunity to test every piece before buying.

In that connection, in 1956 while playing in Paris I bought a kilo or two of cane from a, well known local reed maker. In a day or two Mr. Hamelin, a former first clarinetist of our orchestra,. came backstage to see his old friends. He was introduced to me by our mutual friend, Louis Speyer, our English horn player. They handed me a bag of cane and took back the bag I had bought. I thanked both of them, of course. I am still playing some of it. Knowing the maker I still don't know whether the cane in one bag was any different from that in the other.

A common problem is commercially gouged cane that has big, porous fibers with soft pith in between, and/or is too thick along the middle. Often it is caused or aggravated by a worn gouging machine blade-the center wears down faster than the sides, leaving the middle of the cane too thick or the edges too thin, or both. Before rejecting or discarding the cane measure the thickness and make the center thinner with a round scraper [the wooden bed helps] and or sandpaper until the thickness, texture, and radius are better.

6. What shaper do you use or recommend?

I use a shaper tip Waldemar Bhosys made for me around 1949. Its outline was printed in Double Reed in a 1970's article from me on contra. I make varying shapes by placing the cane differently on the shape and/or by tracing outlines of drawn patterns or sample reeds that have been disassembled and flattened with hot water for copying. The New York students of the early forties used cardboard, sheet brass, or copper patterns when shapers were not available, and Louis Skinner showed me his use of such patterns.

Patterns and shapers are not absolutely necessary, though. Some European players I have known in New York and Boston made their blanks by trimming the sides of either the straight cane on the easel or the folded cane to approximate size with a thin, sharp, knife, then finishing the sides of the folded blank with a file or with sandpaper lying on the edge of the table until the tip and the waist fit inside notches cut in a piece of scrap cane for measuring. The rest of the shape is "measured" by eye and by comparison with the sample being copied. With practice this doesn't take much longer for one or two reeds than using a shaper. The shaper might not pay unless a large number of reeds are to be made with it. There was less uniformity without a shaper, but since they sold the reeds there would always be some customers who wanted the larger ones, some who wanted the smaller ones. That was true of the "Genuine Heckel" Ludwig? bassoon reeds during the thirties and forties, Mechler during the thirties, Klopfer in the '40's, Panenka 1925-'90, and others. The Almenraeder book describes the methods.

7. Are there reliable sources from whom contrabassoonists can purchase finished reeds?

There are reliable sources, but as with the instruments, close communication between the maker and the player is necessary. One size doesn't fit all. Even if the maker makes the reeds for a particular instrument the reed doesn't stay "finished".

The needed adjustments during the life of the reed may be very slight, made with bits of the finest wet'n dry sandpaper or finger pressure on the middle and top wires. Although very slight, these adjustments are necessary and must be done right. One's knowledge of what to do and not to do to the "finished" reed comes from all one has learned about reeds, instruments, and the music being played. Making and understanding reeds are integral parts of one's musical knowledge, resources, effectiveness, self-reliance, confidence, and staying humble.

Considering that contra reeds last three or four months in regular professional use and ten or more years for freelance and occasional users, one is well repaid for the time and effort used to make them. I think the best way to learn about reeds is by copying good models and copying the procedure of good makers and players. The sooner one learns to depend on one's own reeds, the better.

8. Do/did you teach contrabassoon and/or bassoon?

I am on the faculty at Boston University and also teach at home. In the past I have taught also at Boston Conservatory and New England Conservatory. The teaching at schools is arranged by the schools when students request it. If one wants a certain teacher one should communicate with the teacher before talking to a school administration. One should know what teacher one wants and whether the teacher is available before committing to a school.8

9. How do you introduce the contrabassoon to a student who is willing to learn and knows nothing about the instrument?

I take the instrument out of the case, checking for bent keys, loose screws and joints, and damaged or loose crook or U bends. I explain how to avoid bending the crook, denting the lower-U bend-they are both very soft in some makes and very important acoustically. I show the adjustment of the peg length so that the reed comes to the player's mouth naturally, show hand positions, balance of the instrument, the angle of the crook, and relation of the instrument to the music stand and conductor. Then I have the student take the instrument and watch closely for indications about whether the student handles the instrument safely or not. When I am satisfied that the instrument is safe we proceed as with a bassoon beginner. Afterwards I supervise the placing of the contra in the case and the closing of the case. I notice whether the player is bumping into things on the way out.

My experience in schools, orchestras, and a brief period when I rented contras, is that players who have not owned their own contras usually damage the instruments. Strong and stable stands are needed, which surround the instrument enough that it is not easily knocked
out of the stand by a passer-by. The institution should provide that. The crook should be taken out of the socket while the instrument is left on the stand with the player away from it. Due to its size and weight the instrument is surprisingly fragile, and it is often damaged by baggage men and stage crews. The touring trunk into which the contra case fits should belong to the institution, which hires and controls the stage and baggage crews-the player himself hasn't the clout to protect the contra, but the institution has.

10. After the introductory phase, what etudes, scale studies, etc., do you recommend?

I start using the same methods and materials as for bassoon, except for the fingering chart, orchestral excerpts, and possibly solos specifically for contrabassoon, if there are some you like. The bassoon passages that go above high C can be played, altered, or omitted at the contra student's discretion, as far as I am concerned. Our second bassoonist, Panenka, used to play down to low G on the bassoon, at his discretion.

Specifically about excerpts, there are the Piard Method of Leduc, and the Fagott Schule vol. 6 of Schott, but a collection of printed parts and manuscript excerpts from scores should be started based on availability, appearance on audition lists, frequency of programming, appeal to the player, and the need for long term effort, in that order of priority.

11. For self-teaching, is there

a. A fingering chart you recommend?

There are three main charts that I know of: Heckel, Fox, and the one in Fagott Schule [for East German and Czech instruments]. [French contras Buffet Evette and Schaefer have a fourth chart which has less use for fagottists] Mollenhauer might have one, but I haven't seen it. [Incidentally, when I last dealt with them they spoke only German.] Try the one that goes with your instrument first, then compare fingerings from the other charts. The "other" charts will furnish auxiliary fingerings of varying usefulness, some of which you might prefer to the ones considered normal for your instrument.

b. A text/method book you recommend?

German-Vol. VI of Fagott-Schule by Seltman and Angerhofer, published by Schott. This has the East German chart of fingering.

French-Marius Piard's Contrabassoon Method published by Leduc. [A student took mine and I can't check the details.]

Simon Kovar's Daily Exercises [The last person I heard of who was selling these was Ray Ojeda's wife near San Francisco.]

Fingerings and reeds are inter-dependent, so there may be a period of adjusting one and then the other back and forth for up to a year after getting a new instrument. This requires relearning passages that have already been learned once, so changing instruments is not to be taken lightly. Kovar's slurred intervals in half notes forte and piano are very useful for learning and testing new fingerings and reeds. An electronic tuner or keyboard is helpful to check the pitches of the reeds and fingerings. [Not all tuners pick up the low octave-my Boss tuner does.].

12. Is it an advantage to be able to play contrabassoon in addition to bassoon?

Artistically all new knowledge is advantageous when tested, compared, reconciled and integrated with all one already knows. [Conflicts may have to be resolved, depending on how much one "knows" which isn't completely true.] Professionally the advantage can be quantified; substantially all of the jobs require playing bassoon. Of those, substantially all require (explicitly or implicitly) playing contra if ordered by the conductor. About a third of the jobs are for a person to play contrabassoon, and substantially all of them require playing bassoon if ordered by the conductor-my experience is that bassoon playing is always required and expected to be good.

a. What fundamental changes in embouchure etc. must be made [when switching between bassoon and contrabassoon, I take it.]?

When one has practiced both instruments one does not think about "changes"-one just plays the instrument. If one has not practiced both instruments, thinking about fundamental changes is not enough. [See 9., 10., and 11 about what to practice.]. Given practice and training on both instruments, doubling is comparable to switching between two different bassoons and reeds-there are problems, but it is done. The difference in fingering and the octave lower pitch range [the "etc." above?] are more significant than the difference in embouchure.

13. What excerpts are most frequently asked at orchestra auditions and should be basic repertoire of contrabassoonists?

See A. F. of M. list. Ravel Mother Goose, Concerto for Piano Left Hand, Strauss Salome, Elektra, Beethoven Symphony V and IX, Missa Solemnis; Mahler Symphonies, Brahms Symphonies I and III and the St. Anton Variations might turn up. The choice is always influenced by the repertoire of the particular institution and conductor; the Met would have excerpts from operas the American symphony players don't know. Incidentally, regarding the Brahms and Mahler-these are chosen not because they are "hard", but because they show the presence or absence of sensitivity to emotional content, and whether one communicates it. Many candidates, usually young, do not perceive what the music is about. This "easy" music then eliminates them even more embarrassingly than missed notes would.

Flabbergasted juries at both Boston University and Boston Conservatory have decided that no one under twenty-five years old shall be allowed to play a Brahms Clarinet Sonata for examination.

14. At contrabassoon auditions how well must the candidate play bassoon?

The bassoon playing in auditions is often more extensive and more important than the contra playing, particularly if the candidate has not had a contra job. This was true in my case. This is to establish how much potential he has if his contra playing or resume is deficient. It is also to make sure the contrabassoonist can substitute and alternate with the other bassoonists.

The conductors are often violinists or pianists who do not think of the contra as a musical instrument, and therefore want to hear the candidate play a well-known concerto [Mozart is the only one] on the bassoon to test whether he or she is a musician or not. Here the sensitivity discussed above is crucial-a fine bassoon virtuoso I know and like blew an audition by playing the beginning of the slow movement of the Mozart Concerto twice [by conductor's request] with no apparent comprehension or appreciation. He was insulted by its simplicity and missed the point twice. The conductor picked that up and would hear no more.

The contrabassoonist is often needed to relieve or replace one of the bassoonists, sometimes on a few seconds notice, and there are lots of exposed fourth bassoon parts.

15. Are most contrabassoonists primarily self-taught after becoming accomplished bassoonists?

Yes and no-there is a lot of transfer of bassoon technique to contrabassoon, but only so much. Even the lowly contrabassoon has more to it than one can re-invent in one

lifetime. To understand what it is meant to do means to understand music as a whole. Nobody does that by himself. Practice and thought are essential, but the best players have generally had the best teachers-not just contrabassoon teachers, but exemplars and mentors from many parts of the music world, past and present. It is necessary to learn as much as possible by watching, hearing, and talking with players, manufacturers, and anyone else who knows about contrabassoons and anything else in music-old, new, national, church, vocal, keyboard, string, brass, composition, everything in music. One's contrabassoon playing comes out of everything one knows.

16. Do you know solo pieces for contrabassoon to be included in my list?

No-I have not developed a recital or concerto repertoire. I have had both great satisfaction in the orchestral repertoire and a full schedule of orchestral performances, leaving me with no perceived need to explore the solo repertoire for musical satisfaction, career advancement, or greater notoriety. There are published lists of contrabassoon solos-try the Double Reed Magazine index, probably 1990 or '91. Susan Nigro in Quincy, Illinois, could add to those lists some good pieces from her frequent and delightful recitals.

17. Do you know of records to be included in a discography of contrabassoon?

A discography of orchestral contrabassoon parts and players might mention that I played all the hundreds of records, and thousands of broadcast tapes and videos of the BSO and Pops containing contrabassoon (and many using bassoon) from October, 1952, through September, 1992-the twenty-five or so labels include RCA Victor Red Seal, Deutsche Gramophone, Polydor, Phillips, Sony, and Columbia. Included are several recordings of "audition material" [listed at #13]Ravel's "Mother Goose", "Left Hand" Concerto (including one on Boston Records with Witgenstein), the one-armed pianist for whom it was originally written), Robert Casadesus, and others), Strauss's "Elektra" and "Salome" and the tone poems and Wind Serenades (Boston Records), and all Mahler Symphonies, some more than once with conductors Leinsdorf, Steinberg, and most recently with Ozawa on Phillips. From October, 1952 back to 1918 the contrabassoonist was Boaz Piller.

2. The main reason for owning one's instrument is that one might always have an instrument available to practice, make reeds, and/or use on jobs, which often come without advance notice. Also, different fingering and reeds required by various contras rule out picking up instruments and buying or borrowing reeds at the last minute for any but the least exposed parts and least difficult parts. Conductors don't hire contra players unless the part is both exposed and beyond the ability of whoever will play gratis.

One needs an instrument, a set of fingerings that work with that instrument and set of fingerings. One acquires an instrument, then over time discovers the fingerings and reeds that work best with it. See questions 10 and 11 above.

8. There are still very few contra students. Even the local bassoon students do not take contra lessons. I can remember only two who took lessons as long as one semester and only one for two semesters --he was at New England Conservatory. He played professionally for a while but went into computer programming; so did one of the others. Others have come from the farthest parts of the country and the world, South America, Europe, Canada. Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Alaska to drop in and play for me and with me and get whatever help I could give in an afternoon or two. That is good as far as it goes, but what they are able to do after that with whatever they picked up here is the important thing. Learning contrabassoon and making a career can be long and demanding, even compared to a flight from Hong Kong, but that is all right if one enjoys the journey as I have.

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