Mordechai Rechtman has been principal bassoonist of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra since 1946. He is widely known and respected as an outstanding orchestral player, soloist, and teacher. I am sure that the 25 bassoonists and several other wind players who attended his recent series of Master Classes at McGill University in Montreal were left as I was, inspired by many new ideas for better playing and teaching. I was very impressed not only by his sensitive and artistic playing, but also by his meticulous teaching method. He never let a participant go before it had been adequately shown that he or she could both understand and execute what was being taught. Throughout the sessions, however, he stressed that while we were free to keep or discard whatever we learned from him, we had to give his concepts a fair chance during the three-day class.
In this article, I will briefly describe each of the six sessions and then summarize the basic technical advice that was given. It is difficult, however, to discuss Prof. Rechtman's ideas of musical style in writing, so I can only suggest that the reader listen to IPO recordings to hear his ideas in practice.
The first session began with the participants taking turns on first bassoon in quartets. Prof. Rechtman could thus form an idea of how to help each player. The remainder of this session and all of the second were used not only to hear each participant play, but also to introduce progressively good basic principles of posture, embouchure, control, etc. He also began to discuss the principles of his artistic style, using the first movement of the Mozart Concerto as an example. The ideal was to attain clean, well-articulated playing with a full understanding of the phrasing.
In sessions 3 and 4, Prof. Rechtman defined his concept of a good reed as "one which freely allows me to express myself musically" and expanded on his idea of how to achieve better overall control by using a relaxed embouchure with an efficient air stream. He suggested several exercises to help gain this control.
Session 5 began with an individual equipment checkup for each participant. If necessary, Prof. Rechtman adjusted one of the pupil's reeds to illustrate his ideas. The required orchestral excerpts were also covered with an emphasis on style and phrase structure. The basic idea was to know what one wished to express and then to do so as clearly and as beautifully as possible.
The final session started with group intonation exercises consisting of a series of four-voice chords in which the harmonic function of a note would change. If that note were not properly adjusted, the entire chord would be out of tune. Sometimes, the required adjustment was so large that Prof. Rechtman would call the exercise "the art of playing out of tune to be in tune with others." For example, major thirds had to be made smaller while minor thirds had to be larger. The essential lesson was the need to react quickly and efficiently. The rest of the session was devoted to summarizing what had gone before, to questions, and to hearing several participants demonstrate what they had learned.
Some of the basic ideas discussed were:
Posture: Use a chair with a straight back and seat, suited to your body. Keep your back and head straight while the bassoon comes to you. You should not have to move your head to reach the reed. The arms should be free to move, while wrists should be straight to reduce tension. The right arm should be farther away from the body than the left to achieve this.
Use of air: Use little air, but make the airstream relaxed and steady. Try for a full sound without a hard attack. Do not pinch in decrescendo passages. The lower lip should not restrict the air flow. Play as low as you can with a controlled sound, and if the degree of control is not adequate, adjust the reed.
Technique: Scales should be even and clean with good intonation and matching tone color. Work slowly and carefully so that each note is controlled and beautiful. Match tone in legato and staccato passages, and practice this by alternating the articulation for the same passage. To speed up technique, work on small groups of notes using varied rhythms. Do not use double-tonguing until embouchure, air control, and single tonguing are firmly established.
Reeds: a good test of a reed is a descending and diminuendo major scale. If the sound disappears or is difficult to maintain, adjust the reed. Another good test is to play first with lips on the wire. If these notes come out easily and in tune, the reed will be stable and allow relaxed playing without pinching. If not, further adjustment is needed.
In general: Plan ahead. Think of the sound pitch, attack, and of the meaning of the coming phrases. Remember how you want the phrases to sound and always try to express them with control and beauty.
Having tried to put these ideas into practice, I can assure the reader that the way to more artistic playing is through achieving the technical control that enables one to express best one's musical ideas.