(An introduction to Qi Liu, a bassoon performer of the Central
Philharmonic Society.)
From: People's Music No. 1, 1986
Author: Xiao-fung, Jiang
Translated by: Juan Han and Ka-Kam Chui with Lowry Riggins
TRANSLA TORS' NOTE: Qi Liu is a long-time member of our Society and is Principal Bassoonist with the Central Philharmonic Orchestra of the People's Republic of China, conducted by De-Lun Li. Our apologies in advance for any mistakes in translation, particularly as to names which are translations of "sounds ".
Qi Liu, principal bassoonist of the Chinese Central Philharmonic Orchestra, performed Mozart's Concerto for Bassoon in March of 1983 with great success. During the applause he recalled the following story of the first time that he had seen the score 32 years previously.
In 1951 when Qi Liu was only 14 years old, he was selected as one of the representatives to attend the third universal youth festival in Berlin. After the festival, the troupe performed and toured around Eastern Europe. While they were in Hungary an Hungarian bassoonist sent Qi Liu a score of Mozart's famous bassoon concerto for friendship between the Chinese and Hungarians. With only two years study on the bassoon, Qi had never heard of this piece of music. He was so happy to get the score that he immediately began the study of this concerto. He practiced whenever he had time; in the hotel room, backstage, or even on the train while traveling.
Qi Liu was born in February 1936 into a musical family in Bai Quan, He Nan. His father Liu Chen Pu, taught in colleges in He Nan for several generations as a music educator, and edited several music books including the first music dictionary in China. Under his guidance and influence eight of his nine children became professional musicians.
Qi Liu was admitted to the junior class of the National Conservatory at the age of eleven. He studied piano under Mr. Mei Pan and violin under Mr. Zue Sheng. After 1949, the Junior Class became a part of the high school division in the newly established Central Conservatory. Qi Liu then had to choose a major instrument. He chose the bassoon because this interestingly shaped and richly colored instrument aroused his curiosity, and has since committed himself to its study.
Qi Liu had a technical breakthrough in the highest range of the bassoon. There are differing opinions about the highest range of the bassoon in the books on instrumentation and orchestration. Rimsky-Korsakov and Widor said that playing any pitch above d2 is "almost impossible ". In the Rite of Spring Stravinsky, student of Rimsky-Korsakov, used this highest pitch in the theme of a bassoon solo which was borrowed from a Russian folk song. The story is that Saint-Saens heard the premiere of this ballet and was so disappointed by the tuning of these high notes that he left after saying, "This instrument is really terrible. "
In fact, Wagner had written e 2 for the bassoon in his opera Tannhauser in 1845. Ravel had also written e 2 in his piano concerto in 1931. From the 1930s, music theorists had extended the limit of this instrument in their range charts. Roger Levinzky changed the highest pitch of the bassoon to e 2 when he translated Widor's "Contemporary Instrumentation". "The Pictorial Guide to Western Music Instruments" by Japanese theorists also marked e 2 as the highest tone of the bassoon. Later Cheraky and Vassilenko of Russia raised it to F. However, Qi Liu could play g2 as early as 1952. Today, he can easily play g2 with the remodeled bassoon made by himself and Yuri Hao, an instrument manufacturing worker. Liu has said, "I can play c3 if a harder reed is used."
In 1953 Liu acquired a second breakthrough in his performance technique which was double and triple tonguing. In the same year, a National Festival of Music and Dance was held in Beijing. A well-known folk musician, Chun-Ting Zhao, from He Bel province, performed the popular Chinese folk-tune, "Little Shepherd" on the Suona Horn with an excellent doubletonguing technique. Qi wondered if the doubletonguing technique could be used on a bassoon? Traditionally, double tonguing is not used on the bassoon, nor is it found in standard texts. In his "Contemporary Instrumentation" Widor says, "Bassoon, just like the oboe and clarinet, can only be played with single-tonguing. " The Japanese theorists said, "On both the bassoon and the oboe it is impossible to use the doubletonguing technique. "
Liu decided to try to learn double-tonguing from Zhao. At first he found that the muscles under his tongue seemed too "thick" for double -tonguing, but with perseverance he was finally able to double and even to triple tongue. It may not be exaggerating to say that Qi Liu is one of the first professional bassoonists to use these techniques. Other bassoonists did not develop these techniques until at least ten years after Liu. The development of the double and triple tonguing is not only a new issue to instrumentation, but also has had a large impact on the composers.
While Liu studied under Zhao, he had his third breakthrough, the circular breathing technique. Breathing is an important technique. Victoo, [sic] quoting the excellent bassoon professor, Letellier [?sic], of the Paris Conservatory, pointed out the limit of the lung's ability on each sustaining pitch in different registers. Liu had been breaking these limits by the circulating breathing technique for more than 30 years. However, there are very few bassoonists in the world who are competent in this technique. His success with the technique shows the authenticity of the folk music techniques.
During the previously mentioned Chinese Youth Culture Performance Troupe visit to Hungary, the principal bassoonist, Liu's teacher, was called home and Qi Liu became the principal bassoonist in the orchestra. Whenever he had to play a solo part he was troubled by the pitch of Bb, G, D, and C# which tend to go sharp. Back home he heard an exceptional orchestra from Russia wherein the bassoonist also had problems with terribly out-of-pitch notes in a Khachaturian work. Liu decided to try to eliminate the pitch problem by improving the instrument, no easy task! Since Chenitsvdi [sic] made the whisper key at the end of the 16th century, the bassoon is the only instrument which has gone through so many renovations. Roger Levinsky said, "Since the beginning of the 19th century, the development and renovation of the bassoon has gone by fast as thunder."
On the other hand, the pitch problems of the bassoon has been a source of irritation for more than 300 years. This is due to its structure. The body is long because it is a bass instrument, and this causes the key holes to be cut obliquely to accommodate the performers hands. Any inaccuracies of this cut and the pitch will be untrue. Secondly, the size of the key holes affects the pitch. Thirdly, the position of the key holes other than the fundamentals is an important factor.
Qi worked with the size of the holes first. Recalling the difficulties met, he says, "We didn't have adequate information on the manufacture of the bassoon, nor did we have the necessary tools. We could only keep trying, learning by experimentation. " When he felt a particular hole was too large and causing a note to be outof-tune, he would experiment with different materials such as sandpaper or film, trying to correct the problem. Once corrected, the model would then be used to make a more permanent modification. They worked by trial and error on each pitch one by one.
In the past there were many restrictions in the trill technique which were related to the design of the key mechanism. Actually, quite a number of bassoonists had done a lot of improvement of the key mechanism. However, even the principles of reconstruction of the keys invented by
Boehm did not successfully apply to the bassoon. Many authors of instrumentation had spent many pages attempting to answer questions about trills. Liu had long considered the possibility of trying to solve this problem area.
In 1974, the Central Philharmonic Orchestra was invited to perform in Japan. Liu determined to bring with him the newly remodeled bassoon that he and Yun-Zhao had just finished. There were no more out-of-tune pitches nor any technical limitations. Chinese composers have no need to look at the trill chart frequently. Audiences no longer have the uneasy feeling of hearing the out-of-tune pitches of the bassoon.
His biggest discovery was that chords could be played on the bassoon. This discovery is such a mystery that it signals a new step forward in the history of the bassoon. I asked Liu "How did you think of playing chords?" Humourously, he replied, "The bassoons in our orchestra would play a quaint sound with each other while waiting backstage. " The quaint sound is produced by an abnormal fingering and embouchure. "At first, we were doing it for fun. Not until June, 1982, did I apply these abnormal techniques in my newly remodeled bassoon - and then, by chance. " I found that they are not just quaint, but are harmonious chords. Now Liu can play four kinds of chords on the bassoon. They are:
The first chord is played by using the fingering for a' and using a more relaxed embouchure. The second chord is produced by the left hand playing the a' fingering while the right hand plays the Ab fingering. The 3rd chord uses the a' fingering in the left hand and an additional key normally used for C # in the right hand. The fourth chord uses the a' fingering in the left hand and the right hand should be on the B key and the F key.
We may use the acoustical properties of the overtone series to analyze the chords. The first chord is composed of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th overtones of the fundamental F. The second chord is made up of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th overtones of Gb. The 3rd chord is the 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 27th (inverted) overtones of Bb. The 4th chord is made up of the 3rd, 7th, and 9th overtones of A.
Lately Liu and the author have been using the acoustical theory to explore and to explain the fingerings which produce the chords. We all look forward to Liu's further innovation and the discovery of new chords.