1. Introduction...
2. Historical Summary...
3. Methods of Producing Low A...
4. The Occurrence of Low A in Orchestra Music...
5. Performance Problems Involving Low A...
6. Low A for Contrabassoon...
7. Why Construct a Low-A Bassoon?
8. Suggestions for Further Research...
Biographical Note...

1. Introduction...

The compass of woodwind instruments has increased considerably over the last century. Mechanisation and improved playing techniques have resulted in an upward extension of wind instruments' playing ranges. The playable compass has also been extended in a downward direction.

One hundred years ago, the standard lowest notes of the four woodwind families were: flute, middle C; oboe, B natural; clarinet, tenor E (written); bassoon, 9-foot Bb. Nowadays, however, things are different. Flutes with B foot joints are commonplace and the Bb foot is occasionally seen. Oboes and some cors anglais descend to Bb. Full-Boehm clarinets reach tenor Eb and larger clarinets extend to C. And the bassoon?

Ask almost any bassoonist - or book of reference - to name the lowest note of the bassoon, and the answer will be Bb. The existence of a further semitone, low A, will either not be mentioned, or will be glossed over as a curiosity - a note that occurs in the scores of Wagner and Mahler as a sort of musical anomaly, and which is either played "up the octave" or played using a roll of paper to extend the bell joint. The situation would seem to bear out Walter Piston's statement[1] that "Low A cannot be considered within the normal range of the instrument."

In this article I attempt to show that low A is worthy of better treatment. Although the vast majority of bassoonists have probably never seen a low-A instrument, the note in fact occurs with considerable frequency in works which are now part of the standard repertoire. Some - admittedly not many - low A's are sufficiently exposed that playing them an octave higher, or omitting them altogether, makes musical nonsense. Finally, low A is not exclusively the province of the 3rd (or 4th) bassoonist.

2. Historical Summary...

Low A appeared in orchestral music before any instruments existed which were capable of playing the note. Its first appearance was in Wagner's Tristan (1865) -

Wagner subsequently encouraged Heckel to construct an instrument with an extended belljoint and extra key to reach low A.[2] Wagner also wrote low-A parts - for 3rd bassoon only - in The Ring, prefacing his score with a note to the conductor signifying that in default of a low-A instrument being available the note should be played on the contrabassoon.

German-system contrabassoons have also been constructed with a low-A compass.

The subsequent occurrence of low A in bassoon parts seems to parallel the rise and fall in popular musical taste of the neo- Wagnerian orchestra, with its large forces and massive instrumental effects. As explained in Section 4 of this article, Wagner's pioneering use of low A was followed by its employment mainly by composers of the German Romantic school. It reached its zenith in the scores of Mahler, where in places four bassoonists with low-A instruments are required.

Low A becomes more infrequent in works written after the Great War, in a manner perhaps reflecting a swing of musical taste away from the extravagantly-sized Romantic orchestra. Although it occurs in one work written as late as 1948, the note appears effectively to have disappeared from the repertoire by the late 1920's.

3. Methods of Producing Low A...

In the absence of an instrument capable of producing low A, the note is either omitted in performance or played an octave higher. However, an authentic low A can be produced on the bassoon using various more or less satisfactory methods.

The first method is to finger low Bb and use a flat-sounding reed and a slack embouchure. This method is highly unreliable and can only be used for isolated sustained notes.

The second method is to extend the speaking length of the instrument. Low A is the fundamental note of an open tube approximately 9 feet 9 inches long - i.e. about 7 inches longer than the standard bassoon. The necessary extension of the instrument can be achieved in one of three ways.

(a) The "Delsey" method (after a well-known brand of toilet paper). A cardboard tube - commonly a toilet paper inner - is inserted into the top of the bell joint so as to leave about 7 inches of tube projecting. Fingering low Bb then produces low A (see Pictures 1 and 2).

This is the method most frequently used. It has, however, one serious disadvantage (in addition to the minor problem that it looks extremely odd on the concert platform) - with the cardboard tube inserted, low A sounds instead of Bb and the latter note becomes impossible. Passages involving both A and Bb cannot therefore be played using this method, and even passages with A and B natural become risky as the tonal stability of the B natural is adversely affected.

An extra-long bell joint, with one key operated by the left thumb Bb key, achieves a similar result. However, it has the same disadvantage - that if low A is playable, Bb is not - and is also awkward to attach and remove under concert conditions.

(b) An extension to the long (bass) joint, containing one extra tonehole and associated keywork.

With this method, the extra tonehole on the extension becomes the Bb tonehole (i.e. that hole which, when closed, causes low Bb to sound). The bell joint, which fits on top of the extension tube, then serves to extend the bassoon to low- A length, and the key on the bell joint (which normally produces low Bb) then produces low A when closed.

Such an extension joint is used by John Burness of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The left thumb Bb key operates the tonehole on the extension tube to produce Bb in the normal way. The key on the bell joint is operated by a key on a detachable metal strap; this key lies, when in operation, beside the Bb key so that the left thumb can close both keys simultaneously.

Similar extension tubes, for insertion between long joint and bell, have been made by Ron Follas (USA) and Frank Marcus (Canada).[3]

This is an ingenious and largely satisfactory way of solving the low-A problem. Both A and Bb are playable, so passages containing both notes can satisfactorily rendered, in contrast to the "Delsey" method. The extension bell includes its own keywork. There is one inherent problem, that low A will be slightly sharp (as the additional tube-length controlled by the key on the bell joint - in normal circumstances giving the B natural/Bb semitone - is not quite enough to lower Bb to A), but this can be largely overcome by lippressure adjustment. However, the only significant objections to this device are, firstly, the difficulty of designing keywork which will work accurately while not being permanently attached to the body of the instrument, and secondly the effect on the instrument's acoustics in other registers. The latter is an important problem common to all methods of producing low A and is discussed in length in Section 7.

(c) To the purist, the most satisfactory method of producing low A is by using a replacement bell joint containing both Bb and A toneholes. The advantage of this method, in addition to the fact that the basic appearance of the instrument is scarcely altered, is that the conical bore of the instrument can be preserved. This is in contrast to the long-joint extension [see (b) above] which must necessarily have a parallel bore to accommodate the long joint at one end and the bell joint at the other. In addition, the tonehole for low A can be made larger than that for Bb, thereby improving the venting of Bb and B natural, and can be placed in its exactly correct position to give precise tuning. The problem with such a bell joint is that additional keywork must be fitted to the instrument.

The German firms of Heckel and Hüller have constructed low-A instruments with such bell joints, the Heckel being illustrated in Baines[4] and the Hüller in Jansen.[5] The open low A tonehole is placed on the front of the bell joint above that for Bb, the A key being operated by the left little finger (LH4) with an additional touch for the left thumb (to the right of the Bb key). Low-A instruments have also been constructed by the U.S. firm of Linton[6] and by French firms such as Buffet and Mahillon.[7]

The Heckel and Hüller instruments display what is effectively the standard keywork configuration for low A. In the author's opinion this layout is unnecessarily cumbersome. Pictures 3, 4 and 5 show a low-A instrument constructed to the author's specification. On this instrument the low-A key is operated by LH4 alone (which is in any case the standard system on the contra: see Section 6) via an axle running up the back of the instrument; the A tonehole also being on the back of the bell joint. Such keywork can be fitted to any existing instrument without further modifications being necessary.

The above methods of producing low A all succeed, to greater or lesser extent. There remains one very important consideration, and that is the effect that an extended long or bell joint has on the acoustics of the rest of the instrument. By most players this effect (discussed in Section 7) is considered to be detrimental, and any decision to use a low-A device must take this into account.

4. The Occurrence of Low A in Orchestra Music...

The following listing of works in which low A is written for the bassoon is arranged in roughly chronological order, beginning with the note's first appearance in Tristan. The list is probably not totally exhaustive. It was compiled from orchestral scores available from two major U.K. music libraries (Bodleian, Oxford and BBC Yalding House, London). Low A is a phenomenon mainly of German orchestral writing and it may be that music archives located in Germany contain additional low-A works. However, the following listing gives, in the author's opinion, a fairly adequate survey.

WAGNER (1813-1883) - is responsible for the existence of low-A bassoons. The note first appeared in Tristan (1865), before any low-A instruments existed (see Example 1), and it was at Wagner's instigation that the first Heckel low-A bassoon was constructed. Later, low A is specified in The Ring (1869-76), Wagner indicating that contra should be used where no lowA instrument is available.

LISZT (1811-1886) - enjoyed an intimate artistic and personal friendship with Wagner for many years.[8] His only substantial work, with orchestra, to post-date the development of the low-A bassoon is From the Cradle to the Grave (1882) and this includes low A for second bassoon.

R. STRAUSS (1864-1949) - although notorious for his disregard of orchestral instruments' official limits of range[9] did not write many lowA parts, although the note does occur in Burleske (1885), Til Eulenspiegel (1895), Salome (1905) and Elektra (1908). The latter two works, however, furnish two rare instances of low A for the contrabassoon (see Section 6).

MAX VON SCHILLINGS (1868-1933) although better known as a conductor, composed many operatic and orchestral works with a Wagnerian flavour. Two of his works to include low A are the opera Ingwelde (1896) and the melodrama Das Hexenlied (1903).

DELIUS (1862-1934) - enjoyed considerable popularity in Germany before the first World War. Several of his works - Pari's (1903), A Mass of Life (1905), North Country Sketches (1914), Eventyr (1917) and Double Concerto (1917) - include low A, although it is absent from his later works. The score of Paris requires low A's from both 2nd and 3rd bassoonists.

ELGAR (1857-1934) - includes an isolated low A in his Apostles (1903). The note is cued by him into the contra part.

The works of MAHLER (1860-1911) amount to an apotheosis for the low A bassoon. The first occurrence of low A is in Symphony No. 2 (1895) where it is written (for 2nd bassoon) as G double-sharp. Thereafter, practically every work of Mahler includes low A, the note often occurring with considerable frequency. The full list of low-A work is -

Symphony No. 2 (1895) 2nd bsn
Seven Last Songs (1899-1903) Ist & 2nd
Symphony No. 3 (1902-6) 3rd
Symphony No. 4 (1900) 2nd & 3rd
Das Klagende Lied (190 1) 2nd
Symphony No. 5 (1902) lst, 2nd, 3rd
Symphony No. 6 (1906) lst, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Symphony No. 7 (1908) lst, 2nd, 3rd
Symphony No. 8 (19 10) 3rd & 4th
Das Lied von der Erde (1908) Ist, 2nd, 3rd
Symphony No. 9 (1910) lst, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Symphonies No. 9 (see Example 9 in Section 5) and 6 offer the Nirvana-like prospect of unison low A for all four bassoons simultaneously .

Before Mahler's works achieved mass popularity (i.e. before about 1960), low A was encountered by orchestral players primarily as an almost inaudible adjunct to Tristan and The Ring. Nowadays, however, the frequent performances of Mahler give many players the opportunity of encountering an audible low A (see Example 5). This fact makes it desirable that low- A instruments should be more widely available.

Curiously, Mahler's scores do not include low A for contra, in spite of his predilection for the lowest notes of other woodwind instruments (e.g. low Bb for flute and cor anglais).

FELIX VON WEINGARTNER (1863-1942) - Mahler's successor as conductor of the Vienna Court Opera, adopts Mahlerian techniques in his Genesis (1892) and Third Symphony (1911) where low A is stipulated for 3rd and 2nd bassoon respectively.

PFITZNER (1869-1949) - Another composer with Wagnerian leanings, writes low A in his operas Christ-Elflein (1906), and Palestrina (1917), also in Wilkommen und Abschied (1922) and Cello Concerto No. 1 (1935).

NIELSEN (1865-1931) - has written what is probably the most audible low A of all - the last note of his Wind Quintet (1922). It is easily playable using the "Delsey" method (see Example 8). Low A also occurs in Symphony No. 4(1916).

PROKOFIEV (1893-1953) - writes low A for both Ist and 2nd bassoons in his Third Piano Concerto (1921).

SHOSTAKOVICH (1906-1975) - includes low Ab and low G (!) in his Symphony No. 3 (1929). These notes can probably be attributed to careless proofreading, as can the low A in the same work.

FRANZ SCHREKER (1878-1934) - requires all three players to produce low A in 4 Kleine Stücke (1930).

ALEXANDER VON ZEMLINSKY (1871-1942) - has low A in his Lyric Symphony (1925) and his Sinfonietta (1935). In both works the note is written in brackets, indicating that Zemlinsky (an experienced conductor) was aware that lowA instruments were infrequently available.

SCHONBERG (1874-1951) - writes low A for all three bassoons at bar 81 of Variations for Orchestra (1929). It is doubled at the unison by contra.

STRAVINSKY (1882-1971) - asks 2nd bassoon to play low A in his Mass (1948). Gardner Read[10] cites a low G in the Symphony in C (1940), but this is clearly a proofreading error and is corrected to Bb in the latest Schott score.

FURTWANGLER (1866-1954) - includes low A (or double B flat) at several points in his Symphony No. 2 (1948). This effectively marks the last appearance of low A in orchestral music.

Low A is occasionally stipulated by contemporary composers, with the cardboard tube recommended as the method of producing the note. See the work by Paul Chihara quoted in Gardner Read,[11] although it is doubtful whether the presence of low A is essential to the melodic structure of the piece.

In summary, therefore, low A was initiated by Wagner, adopted mainly by composers of the German school, never gained universal acceptance, and disappeared from orchestral scores by 1948. However, the popularity of the works by Wagner, Mahler, Delius and R. Strauss indicates a necessity for low-A instruments to be available at the present time.

5. Performance Problems Involving Low A...

It is a commonly held view that such low A's as appear in the orchestral repertoire are almost inaudible, and can therefore be safely omitted in performance or played an octave higher. Alternatively, the "Delsey" method is held to be perfectly satisfactory. Both these views are erroneous.

Regarding inaudibility, it must be admitted that some low A's will never be heard through the accompanying orchestral tutti, and can be omitted or transposed with impunity -

However, it is doubtful whether musical sense would be completely preserved by playing the following low A up the octave, even though it occurs in tutti -

Moreover, the following low-A passages are effectively solos, are easily audible, and their musical sense would be damaged considerably by the omission or transposition of the bottom note -

The "Delsey" method produces a satisfactory low A but has the disadvantage that low Bb is rendered impossible and B natural dangerous. Passages such as the following would therefore not be playable using the cardboard tube -

while that in example 5 (above) might prove difficult if the B naturals refused to speak. "Delsey" is, however, perfectly appropriate for passages such as the following, where no low Bb occurs and there is ample time during the preceding two- bar rest to insert the cardboard tube -

It is also popularly believed that low A is confined to last-desk parts (3rd or 4th bassoon). While this is generally the case, some of Mahler's works require three or four low-A instruments (see also example 3) -

Certain orchestra] passages also exist where the musical sense could even be improved by the availability of a low-A bassoon. Generally, this occurs where one note in a passage of sharp-key tonality would logically be low A, but is transposed an octave higher by the composer (in Example 10, a major third higher). Examples of such passages are remarkably common -

6. Low A for Contrabassoon...

It is curious that, while it is virtually impossible to purchase a low-A bassoon, most woodwind instrument suppliers hold stocks of at least one make of low-A contra - and this in spite of the fact that the note is virtually non-existent in orchestral music.

Low A was first added to the contrabassoon in and about 1900[12] and its first appearances were in the R. Strauss operas Salome (1905) and Elektra (1908). In the latter work the contra descends to low A an octave below a quintet of pianissimo tubas, with remarkably sinister effect.

Other low A'-s for contra are -

DELIUS: One occurrence in Eventyr (1917) - this score actually stipulates sarrusophone rather than contra.

MAX TRAPP (1887-1971) in his Symphony No. 4 (1937).

VIKTOR BRUNS (b. 1904) in his Etude Quasi Adagio published in Seltmann & Angerhofer Das Fagott (Vol. VI) and in his Kleine Suite Op. 55 for 3 bassoons and contra (1974).

LEON KIRCHNER (b. 1919) - in his Double Concerto (1960).

GYORGY LIGETI (b. 1923) - in his Requiem (1965), where he recommends a cardboard tube as the means of obtaining the note.

Low-A contrabassoons are currently manufactured by Heckel, Schreiber, Mollenhauer, Adler and Mönnig (formerly also by Püchner[13]) . The West German firm of Kreul & Moosmann has constructed a contra to low Ab to the specification of Werner Schulze (see The Double Reed Vol. 9 No. 3, p. 21) which is shown in Picture 7; this instrument is, at the time of writing, unique. Works incorporating low Ab have been written by Helmut Neumann and Jeno Takacs and Schulze himself.[14]

Pictures 3, 4 and 6 illustrate the author's Adler-Sonora low-A contrabassoon. The low-A tonehole is situated on the back of the instrument on the descending portion of the bell, the key being situated next to the Eb and C# keys and operated by LH4 (see Picture 6). This is the standard configuration for all low-A contras, there being no left thumb key, although Schulze's instrument has low A played with the left thumb and low Ab with LH4. Langwill[15] has illustrations of both Bb and A contras (Heckel).

Low A on the contrabassoon gives the standard symphony orchestra a range exactly corresponding with that of the piano (the piccolo giving top C) and would therefore seem a useful and appropriate bottom note for the orchestra's lowest instrument. Unlike the bassoon, the contrabassoon's acoustics are not significantly affected by the low-A bell, presumably because the contra's larger toneholes give better overall venting for the other notes. There would therefore appear to be little reason why low A should not be universally adopted as the contra's lowest note by contemporary composers. The only apparent reason is the muscular limitations of its players - a non-collapsible low-A contra, in its case, is excessively awkward and heavy to carry (the author has carried one through rushhour crowds on London's Underground railway - an awful experience!). For this reason, players often purchase a low-A contra and later have it converted to a Bb model.

7. Why Construct a Low-A Bassoon?

Arguments For and Against...

The arguments in favour of a low-A bassoon have been set out above. The note is encountered in the regular orchestral repertoire, and it would seem logical - especially in these days of woodwind standardization - that instruments capable of playing this note should be made available.

Three objections are customarily raised against the provision of low A. The first two are purely mechanical: firstly, that the extra keywork increases the instrument's weight and can interfere with fingering, and secondly that the longer and heavier bell makes the instrument top-heavy. The third objection concerns the effect of the lengthened bell upon the instrument's acoustics.

In the author's opinion the first two objections are unfounded. The extra weight of the low-A keywork is negligible compared with the total weight of the instrument. Whether the keywork interferes with other fingering, particularly that of the left hand, depends on its design, but the author's own keywork design (see Picture 5) does not interfere in any way with left-hand fingering or playing position. Regarding the balance of the instrument, the A bell is undoubtedly heavier than the Bb (on the author's instrument, 401 grams and 282 grams respectively) but this difference is very small overall and is not noticeable if the instrument is played with a floor spike.

Opinions differ as to the tonal effect of a lowA bell. Jansen[6] quotes the U.S. maker Jack Linton as maintaining that the low-A bell produces a superior sound to the Bb, while Heckel's[16] indicate that it does not have a negative effect on tone-quality. These assertions differ markedly, however, from the following: "A brutal lie and a ruthless commercial stunt" (the late Franz Groffy dismissing Jack Linton's claim[17]), "I found that it completely messed up the middle and tenor registers; adding this much to the extension bore is bound to affect many things - most of them adversely, I'd guess" (William Waterhouse[18]), "It gives a dead sound" (Graham Sheen, BBCSO[19]), "The instruments played in an uncharacteristic way; the general results varied from satisfactory to terrible" (Thomas G. Owen[3]). On balance, therefore, a low-A device fitted to an instrument voiced for a Bb bell appears to have a significant acoustic effect - perhaps not wholly detrimental, but certainly sufficient to affect playing characteristics markedly. The author's experience on his own instrument (which is a normal bassoon voiced for a Bb bell, but with an additional A bell and extra keywork) is as follows -

(a) Using the A bell results in there being slightly greater resistance throughout the compass, and a slightly muffled tone quality,

(b) The tonal balance of certain notes in the tenor register is altered. In particular, tenor A (A = 220) is over-resonant compared with the adjacent Ab and Bb,

(c) There is no significant effect on intonation,

(d) The tone-quality of the bass notes is altered. Low Bb acquires some of the snarling quality characteristic of low B natural on a normal instrument. Low B natural acquires a smooth quality similar to low C. Low D is slightly muffled. The timbre of low A itself is similar to that of the "normal" Bb.

One conclusion is immediately obvious. The addition of a low-A device to a bassoon voiced for low Bb unbalances the instrument tonally to some degree. Therefore it would be highly undesirable to attempt to supply a low-A bell as a standard feature (i.e. as the only bell supplied with the instrument). It should only be considered as an optional extra, offered in addition to the standard Bb bell.

The next question is whether the tonal performance of the low-A bell could be improved so as to minimise the effects outlined above. In the author's view there is considerable scope for experimentation in this area.

The low-A bell has an effect on the instrument's performance because of the reduction in venting efficiency imposed by the extra 7 inches of windway. The bassoon has a very long windway and very small toneholes, and consequently and venting effect of the bell-joint mouth is far greater, by comparison with the venting afforded by individual toneholes, than on any other woodwind instrument (contrabassoon included). Obviously, the longer the bell joint, the less efficient the venting. This can be demonstrated by inserting a "Delsey" tube and playing low B natural. The venting afforded to low B natural by the lengthened tube is so inefficient as to render the note almost unplayable. Increasing the low-A bell's venting properties should therefore reduce its detrimental effect on tone-quality, and this in practice means increasing the size of the low-A tonehole as much as possible. On the author's instrument the A tonehole is almost 50% greater in crosssectional area than that for Bb, and this could possibly be improved still further by use of a double tonehole, with holes on front and back of the instrument simultaneously closed by the A key.

Two other factors will have some effect on the performance of the A bell. Firstly, the bell should continue the conical bore of the instrument at a gradient at least equal to that of the Bb bell: hence the diameter of the mouth of the low-A bell will be greater than that of the Bb bell. Secondly, the woodwork of the low-A bell should not be too thick: a thin-walled bell will improve the resonance characteristics of the instrument and compensate to some extent for the deadening effect of the low-A extension.

In conclusion, therefore, the following recommendations can be made as regards the construction of low-A instruments.

(a) The low-A bell should be supplied only as an optional extra to a standard Bb instrument, not as a standard feature with no Bb bell supplied,

(b) It should be constructed with as large a low-A tonehole as possible, with a conical bore, and with fairly thin walls,

(c) As a bassoonist's left thumb is already hopelessly overworked, the low-A key should be operated by LH4 alone, and should be situated next to the low C# key in a manner similar to that on low-A contrabassoons,

(d) The keywork should be designed, if possible, so that it can be fitted to existing instruments without the need to modify any other keywork. The key work design illustrated in Picture 5 meets this requirement.

8. Suggestions for Further Research...

Bassoonists with research time (and funds!) at their disposal may wish to pursue the subject of low A further, in the following areas -

(a) A complete listing of all works containing low A. As outlined in Section 4, the note seems to be a phenomenon of the Wagnerian orchestral style. Examination of the contents of music libraries in Germany, with particular reference to orchestral works composed between 1880 and 1935 (approximately) could be fruitful.

(b) Correlation of low-A instruments and their known recipients with particular low-A works. For example, can the A's in Nielsen's Wind Quintet and Symphony No. 4 be correlated with the delivery of a low-A instrument to a Danish player around 1914? It would also be interesting to ascertain whether all four bassoonists in the 1912 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra possessed low-A instruments and were thus able to give a completely faithful performance at the premiere of Mahler 9!

(c) A listing of all bassoon makers who have constructed low-A instruments, particularly French-system models (which appear to be completely undocumented).

(d) A thorough critical evaluation of the acoustic effect of a low-A bell when applied to a Bb instrument. The author believes that it would not be impossible, given sufficient research facilities, to design a low-A instrument that is completely tonally satisfactory, in which case the low-A bell would become a standard fitting.

The author would be most grateful for any further information, discussion or photographic material relating to low-A bassoons or contras, which can be supplied by I.D.R.S. members. This article does not pretend to be the last word on the subject and further material could be published in a follow-up article at a later date.

Biographical Note...

Robert Kay (b. 1951) lives near Ledbury, England. A self-taught player, he plays bassoon and contra in various orchestras in the "Three Choirs" (Hereford, Gloucester, Worcester) area. He has recently collaborated with Werner Schulze in the preparation of an index of solo literature for the contrabassoon.

ENDNOTES

1. Walter Piston Orchestration: Gollancz (London) 1969: p. 193.

2. L.G. Langwill The Bassoon and Contrabassoon: E. Benn (London) 1965: p. 96.

3. Letter to author from Thomas G. Owen, February 6th, 1987.

4. A. Baines Woodwind Instruments and their History: Faber (London) 1967: Plate XV.

5. W. Jansen Das Fagott: Knuf (Netherlands) 1978 (English version 1984): Fig. 84.

This book contains many interesting photographs of bassoons, but the captions of many plates are inaccurate. Figure 246 purports to illustrate a low-A instrument, but in fact shows a Bb bassoon with shortened long joint (the long joint contains toneholes down to low C and the bell joint carries toneholes for B and Bb - with such a shortened long joint the instrument fits into a more compact case). Figure 84 shows a Hüller low-A bassoon, showing clearly the left thumb touch. The contrabassoon illustrations are also incorrect - Figure 278, described as being of a low-Bb contra, in fact shows a low-A instrument.

6. Jansen, op. cit., p. 188.

7. Information to author from William Waterhouse (February 1987) and Anthony Baines (January 31st 1987).

8. Alan Walker (ed.) Franz Liszt: Barrie & Jenkins (London) 1970: pp. 67-76.

9. N. del Mar Richard Strauss: Barrie & Jenkins (London) 1978: p. 254 (footnote).

10. Gardner Read Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices: Pitman (London) 1953: p. 54. This book is a good starting-point for low-A researchers, but does not mention works by Strauss or Delius.

11. Gardner Read Contemporary Instrumental Technique: New York 1976: p. 8.

12. Langwill, op. cit., p. 133.

13. Letter to author from Walter Püchner, January 26th 1987.

14. Information supplied to author by Werner Schulze, January 1987.

15. Langwill, op. cit., Plate 21.

16. Letter to author from A. Gebhard, February 2nd 1987.

17. Jansen, op. cit., p. 553.

18. Letter to author, December 12th 1986.

19. Letter to author, January 21st 1987.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Copyright musical material is as follows: Bartok: Dance Suite (Universal), Roberto Gerhard: Dances from Don Quixote (Boosey & Hawkes), R. Strauss: Burleske (Steingraber), R. Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel (Hinrichsen).

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