On a recent visit to East Berlin I had the pleasure of meeting the composer and bassoonist Victor Bruns, at 81 one of the distinguished "elder statesmen" of our fraternity.
While there have been a number of bassoonists who have composed a solo repertory for themselves (Ozi, Jacobi, Jancourt for example), Bruns' achievement in having combined a busy career of professional playing with the composition of a large number of major works of all kinds, as well as an impressive number of works for his own instrument, is surely unique. As his name, although well known to players in Europe, is not to be found in reference books, the following details may be of interest.
He was born the son of German parents on 15th August 1904 in Ollila, a small town in southeast Finland. A pianist who switched late to bassoon, he trained from 1924 to 1927 at the Petrograd (later Leningrad) State Conservatory under A. Vasiliev for bassoon and V. Shcherbachov for composition. He then joined the orchestra there of the State Theatre for Opera and Ballet, keeping up his composition studies until 1931. A German citizen, he left Leningrad for Berlin in 1938, where he has since made his home. After playing in the orchestra of the Volksoper from 1940 to 1944, he joined the Staatskapelle in 1946, becoming Kammervirtuos in 1959. After 23 years service there as bassoonist and contrabassoonist, he retired in 1969, being made Ehrenmitglied of the orchestra in the following year. Meanwhile as composer he had finally completed his studies in 1949 after three years with Boris Blacher; his three ballet scores, which have been the most widely performed of his works, date from 1953, 1955 and 1957; in 1960 he was awarded the Kunstpreis der DDR. Since his retirement he has been able to devote himself entirely to composition. His large output includes the opera Minna von Barnhelm, 4 ballets, 4 symphonies, a total of 20 concertos for various instruments (including violin, cello, flute, clarinet and trumpet), as well as a quantity of chamber music, which of it with wind instruments. On the occasion of his recent eightieth birthday, he was the guest of honour at a banquet organized for him by his colleagues.
As a composer, his style shows predominantly the influence of Prokofiev and Stravinsky. As might be expected his writing for bassoon is idiomatic and imaginative, rewarding both to play and to listen to. Among other works for his instrument, he has composed no fewer than three concertos, of which the third has recently been issued on a record made by Herbert Hellmann, the solo bassoonist of the Staatskapelle (NOVA - VEB Deutsche Schallplatten Berlin DDR -885185).
His compositions for double reed include
the following works:
Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon and Strings, Op. 66, Breitkopf.
Bassoon:
Concerto No. 1 (1933), 5 Leeds Music (NYC 1948).
Concerto No. 2 (1946), 15 Hofmeister, H 1404.
Concerto No. 3 (1966), 41 Breitkopf, EB 7516.
Sonate, bn + pf, 20 Pro Musica Leipzig, 95.
Sonate, No. 2, bn + pf, 45 Breitkopf, EB 7519.
5 Stucke, bn + pf, 40 Breitkopf, EB 7502.
2 Stucke, cbn + pf, 57 unpublished.
Fagottstudien fir Fortgeschrittene, 32 Hofmeister, 7194.
2 Kleine Suiten, 3 bn + cbn, 55 Breitkopf.
Konzertante Musik, bn, vn, va, vc, 58 Breitkopf, EB 3943.
Oboe: Concerto for oboe, 28 Hofmeister, 7136.
Concerto for English Horn, 61 Breitkopf, EB 7529. Concerto
for flute + English Horn, 74 Breitkopf. Sonate, ob
+ pf, 25 Hofmeister, H 1420.
Chamber Music: Trio, ob, clar, bn, 49 Breitkopf,
EB 7519. Woodwind quintet, 16 Hofmeister, 1535. Sextet,
wind + pf, unpublished. Octet, unpublished.