In previous articles and research studies on the Boehm-system bassoons of the 19th and 20th centuries, very little has been written about the contributions by the famous Heckel firm. Most of the research has concentrated on the innovative instruments built by Ward of England, Haseneier and Kruspe of Germany, and Gautrot, Adolphe Sax, and Triebert-Marzoli of France. To be sure the Heckel firm has spent much less time on innovative Boehm-inspired projects simply because they had their own system of instrument -- the Almenrader/Heckel -- to develop.
There was period, however, in the 1930's when the Heckel firm did appear to be on the verge of moving closer to a Boehm-like system. This report will concentrate on that period, focusing particular attention on the contributions of the last member of the lineage bearing the Heckel family name, Wilhelm Heckel.
In 1931, the centennial year of the Heckel firm of Biebrich, Germany, the company published an elaborate fingering chart which also contained illustrations of the various models of Heckel bassoons and contrabassoons available at that time. Among these was an instrument with touches and mechanisms on the boot joint that was decidedly similar to that found on a Boehm system clarinet:
The right hand little finger could play the four tones of low E, F, F# and Ab. Also the traditional holes for the first two fingers of the right hand were replaced with touches so that Bb could be played 123/4 and B natural 123/5. There was no provision for the normal Bb thumb key. Except for these changes, the rest of the instrument was the normal Almenrader/Heckel system in the position and size of all the tone holes. It is doubtful whether such an instrument was ever built, but it is clear that the possibility for the use of these alterations existed at that time.
Shortly after this publication appeared, Wilhelm Heckel, in a letter to Percy W. Gatz of New York dated March 30, 1932, stated that: "I am ready to make you a Heckel-Bassoon . . . with lay of keys for the right fore-middle-and gild finger arranged as the Boehm-Clarinet has it." [1] His conception of a Heckel-Boehm bassoon had begun.
The project had been initiated earlier in the year by Gatz himself. Percy W. Gatz was a New York musician of versatile talent. Sol Schoenbach, who resided in New York during this time remembers him as a piano tuner, [2] and Gatz himself notes in a letter to Heckel that he " . . . several years ago worked for Steinway and Wanamaker as concert and outside piano tuner." [3] He appears, however, to have played a number of woodwind instruments including the Heckelphone and bass clarinet, as well as bassoon and contrabassoon. Heckel himself later described Gatz as an " . . . American who plays the Boehm-clarinet." [4] After living in New York City for a number of years, Gatz moved to White Plains where he died in the 1950's. His widow donated the bassoon and the papers and correspondence pertaining to it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1964, where they now reside.
Percy Gatz had originally written to Heckel with the intention of ordering both a bassoon and a contrabassoon built with Boehm-like mechanisms, but it is doubtful whether he ever did order the contrabassoon. However, the bassoon which resulted from their cumulative efforts, the Heckel-Boehm-Gatz bassoon, represents both a collaboration and a compromise of effort between these two men. For example, Gatz originally wanted the instrument in a new shape, with the bell turned down around the low B natural tone hole and made of metal like a contrabassoon, but Heckel talked him out of this by insisting that a straight bell of wood was best for tuning and tone quality. There is also a somewhat humorous debate over Gatz's insistence on "drop-forged steel keys" and Heckel's holding out for "forged or hammered keys but of German silver and silver plated. "
The final instrument, is a multitude of keywork and mechanism, but is still a basic Almenrader-Heckel instrument. It does have 4 more tone holes than usual. These are all on the wing joint -- for high E, for high D, for trilling D to Eb, and for C# so that it could be played with the left hand fourth finger as on the French-system bassoon. The greatest mechanical alterations occur on the boot joint.
The bassoon originally had the B tone hole standing closed and the Bb hole open which drastically altered the high F#, G, Ab and A fingering. In his recollection of this instrument W. Hans Moennig, the famous bassoon repairman, recalls that Gatz brought him the instrument in this condition, and that it threw off the pitches for middle D, E, and open F as well to have the Bb hole open and the B natural closed. (He suggested that one try playing these notes on a traditional bassoon with the Bb key held open to recreate the effect!) Moennig solved the problem by " . . . reversing the action of the Bb key, with the keys of the index and middle fingers so that it fingered like the Boehm system, but activated like the regular Heckel system." [5] It is truly amazing that Heckel hadn't discovered this problem and its obvious solution himself.
Prior to taking the instrument to Moennig, Gatz wrote to Heckel concerning these problems shortly after he received the instrument:
"With reference to the tuning, would you advise tuning the 'f' (open) flatter? The first 'e' is also wobbly though probably can be blown in." [6]
Gatz also mentions Moennig as a possible repairman to solve these problems later in the same letter.
The size and placement of the rest of the tone holes, however, is not changed from the basic German-system bassoon. The true innovation is in the keywork and mechanism, and here Heckel appears to have explored every possibility for alternate fingerings. As on the Boehm clarinet the same notes could be played with the little finger of either hand, in this case the notes are low E, F, and F# (adding low Ab to the right hand little finger and middle register C# to the left hand little finger). Moreover, low C, C#, D and Eb could be played with either thumb, low E could be played without the use of the right hand thumb entirely, and this assures smoothness and accuracy in fingering virtually all combinations of low notes down to C that one can imagine. Again Bb can be played 123/4 and B natural 123/5 as on the speculative bassoon of Illustration #l. (There are even redundant whisper key locks!) The only area overlooked is the old fashioned forked Eb fingering for the middle register.
The bassoon was finished and shipped via a Mr. Schier of Bremerhaven on October 7, 1932. For this extremely complex instrument Heckel charged Gatz $360.20 and $7.00 for a simple case for it. This compares to Heckel's price for a normal bassoon at that time of $146.00 less the professional discount of 15% or $124.10. [7] How the value of money has changed since the Depression!
Upon its arrival the instrument created quite a stir among the bassoon community of New York as Gatz reports:
"Having had several days to acquaint myself with the new system of fingering, I find the mechanism the acme of perfection. The tone is superb. It is powerful, mellow, flexible and majestic, the finest tone I ever heard and been able to produce on any bassoon. Nearly all the younger bassoon players of New York and immediate vicinity have been to my house to inspect this bassoon and it would do your heart good to hear all the compliments." [8]
The overall length is about 216 cm. with a bore taper from .939 cm. to 3.940 cm. or .0347 per 2.5 cm. of length. This compared to a normal Heckel which is 211.09 to 213.26 cm. with a bore taper from .889 to 3.477 cm. or .0355 per 2.5 cm. of length, [9] shows that the instrument is somewhat larger and longer than a normal Heckel but the overall bore taper is very close to standard Heckel procedure.
When the author photographed and measured this instrument in New York in May, 1980, the bassoon was in excellent playing condition. (It was necessary only to replace a single pad missing on the wing joint.) In all probability the instrument hadn't been played upon in over a decade. And yet the instrument spoke easily in all registers including (and especially) the lowest. It is extremely heavy because of all the mechanism and the silver plating, weighing about 8 pounds! It is played by supporting it against the leg with a large metal strap curved to fit over the leg. This enables one to balance the instrument easily while playing sitting down. Gatz probably added this strap later because it does not appear in Heckel's own pictures of the instrument.
The system of connecting rods between the joints is so complex that a holding together that swings out had to be designed between the tenor and long joints so that all the rods could be carefully assembled and disassembled. The serial number is 7372/2. It is doubtful whether the instrument was ever played much, for it shows no normal wear on the keys, wood, or tone holes. The German silver plating, bright and like new under the boot cup, has tarnished in the air. In summary it is an exceptional instrument in tone, quality and resistance -- a superior product of a master bassoon maker.
It is probably also the last flirtation by the Heckel firm with the Boehm principles, a beautiful, enigmatic, one-of-a- kind instrument. It fails because it has too many keys. But take away some of the redundant keys, keep the fingering of 123/5 for Bb and 123/4, design a similar mechanism to remove forked Eb for the left hand, and perhaps the bassoon could have been on its way out of the dark ages back in 1932.
It was a noble experiment by Wilhelm Heckel and his company. One would hope that there might be another experimenter in the future, perhaps the Heckel firm itself, willing to take up the strand where this instrument leaves off and create a mechanically superior bassoon for the performers of the Twenty-first Century.
1. Heckel, Wilhelm; letter to P.W. Gatz dated March 30, 1932; Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. [return]
2. Schoenbach, Sol; letter to the author dated November 4, 1976. [return]
3. Gatz, Percy; letter to W. Heckel dated September 8, 1932; Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. [return]
4. Heckel, Wilhelm Co; photo postcard of the Heckel-Boehm-Gatz bassoon, (no date). [return]
5. Moennig, W. Hans; letter to the author dated February 8, 1980. [return]
6. Gatz, Percy; letter to W. Heckel dated October 25, 1932; Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. [return]
7. Heckel, Wilhelm Co; invoice to P.W. Gatz dated October 7, 1932; Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. [return]
8. Gatz, Percy; letter to W. Heckel dated October 25, 1932; Metropolitan Museum of Art Archives, New York. [return]
9. See Burton, James, Bassoon Bore Dimensions, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI 1975. [return]