I have been asked by our Editor to write some thoughts about a bassoonist's life as lived with the Buffet French system bassoon, in my case a K. 39 model made by Buffet Crampon et Cie. of Paris.
I will start at the best possible starting point - at the beginning.
Mine was a musical family - my father, Wilfred James, and his eldest brother E.F. (Fred) James were both eminent bassoonists, and an elder brother, Leslie, a brilliant player. And to them the name "bassoon" meant just one thing: French system - and preferably "Buffet". In fact, in the James household the name "Heckel" at that time when I was being launched as a bassoon student, was almost a dirty word!!
Thus it was that in 1928 at the age of l5 years I began my studies with my father on a French system bassoon made by Boosey & Hawkes of London - a Symphony Model produced under the direction of my father who, at that time was in charge of the Boosey & Hawkes bassoon production.
One year later I won a scholarship at Trinity College of Music, still studying with my father who then was Professor at all three of London's Royal Music Schools.
After one year at Trinity, I won a three-year Open Scholarship to the Royal College of Music and after gaining my diploma, launched out into the tough world of London's musical profession. Now it was around this time, 1934, that the German System bassoon began to find favor in London. Visits by the Berlin Philharmonic and the superb Philadelphia Orchestra made it plain to acute ears of London's bassoonists that the Heckel had much to offer. And so decided the then first bassoon of the B.B.C. Symphony, Richard Newton, to discard his Buffet and take to the Heckel. Then the famous Archie Camden, playing the Adler bassoon, came to London from his first seat in Manchester's famous Halle Orchestra. Then John Alexander, a fine first bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra discarded his Buffet and got himself a Heckel - thus the big swing to the German System began in London, and indeed all over Great Britain.
In the meantime I was playing my French System bassoon in minor positions in various orchestras, pit orchestras, and in general doing what any young bassoonist does in London, which had, and still has, many activities for the free-lance player.
Around 1933, Sir Thomas Beecham formed his London Philharmonic Orchestra and took the entire London Symphony bassoon department to grace this fine new orchestra. A new section was needed for the London Symphony and I was asked to join as second bassoon - being fortunate to have as my first bassoon a great player, Paul Draper, son of the famous virtuoso clarinetist, Charles Draper. Paul Draper played the German System bassoon but was a lover of the sound produced by the French bassoon in the hands of a fine player.
Six happy years with the London Symphony Orchestra followed, during which time Paul Draper and myself were also the bassoon department of the Glyndebourne Orchestra under the great conductor and gentleman Fritz Busch.
Around this period my father retired and I acquired his Buffet bassoon, a "Stradivaris" of Buffets indeed: made especially for, and presented to him by Buffet-Crampon as a mark of their respect for him as a virtuoso bassoonist. I am still playing on that beautiful instrument 37 years later!!
In 1939 came 5% years of war service with the Royal Air Force, and bassoon playing took a back seat, although during that time I had the good fortune e to make my first visit to the U.S. - a coast-to-coast tour with the Royal Air Force Symphony Orchestra on a War Bond Tour. I have been first chairman of the Philharmonic Orchestra of London for ten years, its golden years, playing with such conductors as Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Cantelli, Herbert von Karajan, Furtwängler and many other eminent musicians. After the Philharmonia came a four-year spell with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Now I no longer play in symphony orchestras, but play with smaller more specialist groups - chamber music in fact and the rest of my time is spent in the more commercial field of film music recording!
Now nearly forty years of playing the French bassoon and many thousands of discarded reeds lie behind me, during which time the Gods have been kind enough to let me play my Buffet in some splendid orchestras, under the greatest conductors - but always in close association with German System playing colleagues, thus I have a great regard for it. It is obvious that the Heckel System has many advantages, but still I feel that it is a pity should the French bassoon be eclipsed. It has a beautiful voice and has an ease of production of high notes particularly, not always enjoyed by other systems. I am convinced that one can play the Buffet in any musical circle without reproach. To quote, "it's not what you do, but the way you do it."
Although no sort or system of bassoo"n is easy to play, as anyone knows who has trodden the stony path of bassoon playing, I sincerely feel that the Gods are a little kinder to those who play Heckel System. To play French System bassoon can be likened to riding a high-bred horse - when all goes well one enjoys a thrilling ride - but one can have an occasional fall!
Of the two systems, the German System with its wider bore and greater variety of alternative fingerings gives the beginner a distinct advantage, although this I feel evens out as time goes on. Although I have been a Buffet player for so long, I have nothing but admiration for the beautiful sounds produced by my German System colleagues throughout the world.
I was fortunate in having as my Professor my father, who produced the most beautiful sound on the Buffet bassoon, and later to sit next to another great player, Paul Draper, and to enjoy his superb sound produced on his Heckel System instrument. And I have tried, I hope with some success, to combine the best of both.
In conclusion may I send my fraternal greetings to players and lovers of that most difficult, temperamental, fascinating, sometimes most beautiful, often-under-appreciated instrument, the Bassoon, be it German or French!!!