The Technique of Bassoon Playing: An Evaluative and Methodological Study, S. J. Jooste, 1984, Wetenskaplike Bydraes, Central Publications Department, Potchefstroom University for CHE, 2520 Potchefstroom, South Africa, 153 pages.
It was at the IDRS Congress at Graz, Austria, last summer that I had the pleasure of meeting S. J. (Fame) Jooste and becoming acquainted with his most valuable book. Fanie is a South African bassoon teacher and performer. He has studied bassoon both in South Africa and more recently with Helman Jung at the Nordwesteutsche Musikakademie in Detmold, West Germany. It is to Professor Jung that this book is dedicated.
The work is exactly what its title indicates, in that it methodically surveys the present literature on bassoon pedagogy, evaluates it, and presents the conclusions and techniques of the author, based upon his own training (especially from Jung) and his individual teaching experiences. One must applaud his computation of material from many sources into a single volume, and the book is especially valuable for this. While one might not always agree with the techniques that the author finds as most usable, nevertheless all the techniques and/or "schools of' thought" are carefully surveyed before the author presents his conclusions. There are a few exceptions to this - for example, the author gives little credence to the jaw vibrato, although it comprises the sole "stylistically acceptable" vibrato technique of the French bassoon style, and consequently merits fuller acknowledgment and understanding. But the omissions are the exception in this book - not the rule. Instead, one finds subjects tackled here that are not found anywhere else. For example, while discussing breathing in Chapter One, Jooste shows how Dyspnoea can generally be avoided in playing extensive passages by a consciously controlled processes of inhalation (marked with a checkmark) and exhalation without inhalation (combination checkmark and arrow) to rid the system of carbon dioxide before another full inhalation can occur. Applied to the first movement of the Besozzi sonata in B-flat it looks like this: (Note the signs in brackets are for breathing in the repeat of the section.)
Other subjects surveyed by the book are embouchure, intonation and tone quality, tonguing and articulation, finger technique, and vibrato both teaching it and its musical application.
In summary, I am very pleased to recommend this book to every bassoonist, both player and teacher. There is much of value here. It's practical, pragmatic, non-fantasy approach is concise, clear, and refreshing in its enthusiastic candor. Mr. Jooste is to be commended for his valuable contribution to bassoon pedagogy and research.
[Click for enlarged examples]