I wish Mr. Pezzi were alive to receive the first copy of our newsletter. He would certainly have been an active and valuable contributor. His life as a bassoonist always revolved around other players and a desire to share his thoughts with many other musicians. Almost as valuable as his playing- heard by thousands over radio and phonograph-and expert teaching at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, are his several articles on the bassoon and reeds printed in the old "Woodwind" magazine and elsewhere, and his muchadmired collection of bassoon and contra reeds from players all over the world.
This artist-teacher who for 22 years was principal bassoon of the Rochester Philharmonic enjoyed a full and active career. He made tours, wrote articles and a set of Tschaikowsky orchestra studies, and recorded solos and many orchestral works with the Philharmonic and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra. He also found time to energetically prepare the careers of many of today's leading bassoonists. Among his noted pupils were: George Goslee principal of the Cleveland Orchestra; Willard Elliott, principal in Chicago; Manuel Zegler, principal New York Philharmonic; Kenneth Pasmanick, principal Washington National Symphony; Walter Green, principal San Francisco Symphony; and David van Hoesen, principal Rochester Philharmonic; and Norman Herzberg former principal in St. Louis - now an outstanding free-lance bassoonist in California.
From my own study with Mr. Pezzi, I recall his interest in the individuality of each student and his devotion to tone quality and expressive, vocal playing. His method included insistence on careful and clean performance, uncomplex fingerings, and some excellent advice on equipment which I continue to follow today: "If something is wrong, suspect yourself first, the reed second (and make the reed fit the individual bassoon), the bocal third, and the bassoon last!"
Pezzi's own playing style was most interesting. Having studied the French system in his native Italy, he changed to the Heckel bassoon when he came to America but retained some keywork and tonal memory from the French. Instead of a thumb whisper key, his Heckels were fitted with only the key for left little finger. To spare that finger extra shifting in the low register, he had a modified French lay of keys for the left thumb on the long joint. The only other difference from a standard Heckel was the substitution of a single key for high c and d, with the tone hole midway between the points for these two normal keys. Mr. Pezzi's tone appeared small beside him on stage, but his projection to the back of the concert hall was full, clear, and vibrant. He favored a fairly rapid vibrato (as did many singers of the time) and effected a slightly hollow tone coloration by squeezing the reed tube quite flat at the second wire point. He was a virtuoso technician and enjoyed showing off in the studio. But in performance he was devotion to music personified. His tone and style were particularly memorable in the works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
During the period 1919-1932, when Pezzi was solo bassoon of the Detroit Symphony, one of his pupils was Clarence Barrington whose family all played the french horn (his son, Wayne, was a member of the Chicago Symphony), and who was an excellent machinist. Working as a team, Pezzi and Barrington devised consistent and efficient reed-making tools including: power shaper, power profiler, and time-saving pliers, mandrels, etc. The result was many years' supply of "Barrington Blanks" - very consistently formed partly profiled reeds, made by Barrington. Mr. Pezzi and many other professionals used these reeds, and as late as 1956 and beyond, students at the Eastman School were enjoying them. Excellent cane was used and almost every blank produced a usable reed. (Although Mr. Barrington no longer makes reeds, he still does beautiful repair work on bassoons at his home - C.R. Barrington, 6 Winston Rd., Worchester, Mass. 01606).
Among the recordings made by Mr. Pezzi, two are especially worth mention: the American Dance or Concert Piece for Bassoon and Strings by Burrill Phillips, from an album titled "American Works for Solo Wind Instruments and String Orchestra". Eastman-Rochester Orchestra, Howard Hanson, Conductor. Victor M802 (78rpm) or Victor 18109 (single record); and "Through the Looking Glass" by Deems Taylor, a full orchestra work including a long and beautifully played cadenza for bassoon in the "Jabberwocky" section. This more recent record is an LP - same orchestra and conductor. Mercury 50081.
After Mr. Pezzi's retirement in 1954 he remained very active, teaching many new pupils, discussing reeds with colleagues, and attending every possible concert to the end of his life. The career of Vincenzo Pezzi was a rare gift to all of us fortunate to hear and work with him.