A new high note bocal for German bassoon is being produced in England and deserves our highest praise and interest at its recent introduction to North America by William Allgood of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Wedgewood/Mortimer bocals, Allgood model are of the same shape and general appearance as the Heckel bocal. (In England, the preferred shape is a straighter type for the many players who use a spike to support the bassoon rather than a seat strap or neck strap.) The bocals are available in 3 different bore tapers (large, medium, and small) and in two different lengths (No. 1 and No. 2)
The best way for me to describe the playing experience with one of these unusual bocals is as follows:
1. Any high note passage in the bassoon repertoire becomes easier to play (and I have used a cadenza for the Mozart Concerto--with a Heckel 2 cc (pre-war and shortened) bocal - ascending twice to high f" with little trouble.)
2. It is much easier to articulate any super high note without preparation of other notes. The notes pop out clearly, with great stability, and in tune. And the tone quality is very warm and compatible with a Heckel bassoon.
3. Other registers are not spoiled by this bocal. I would not want to play "Peter and the Wolf" with one, but there is no great increase in hardness of tone, no shallow/sharp feeling in the lower register of the instrument.
Here is a bocal for the Ravel G Major Piano Concerto, obviously. But it is one also ideal for playing the scherzo movement of Saint-Saens' Sonata with a real diminuendo to the last note: e''. The fortissimo high e'' (articulated) in the final movement of Schoenberg's 2nd Chamber Symphony becomes (at last) secure.
I would be the last player to encourage composers to write higher and higher notes for the bassoon. But it seems to me now, that if bassoonists can rely on a stable bocal of the type of these Wedgwood/Mortimer ones, we can assure composers of new works that the German bassoon can now produce high e"-flats, high e"-s and even high f"-s with much more absolute assurance than ever before.
The list price of these bocals is just over $100 US., and they may be ordered in the USA and Canada from:
Dulcian Music
3026 Hylle Street
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007