The recent choice of the Rhapsody for Bassoon by Willson Osborne for the Gillet competition and the inclusion of this piece into the bassoon repertoire has given me the desire to tell the story of its origin. If memory keeps me company, Osborne, a harmony and theory teacher at the New School of Music in Philadelphia, approached me and asked if he could enlist my services to tape a piece of music that he would compose for the occasion. It was in the fall of 1952, and he had learned that WNYC, the New York City owned and operated radio station, would devote the period between Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday in February for the broadcast of contemporary American music. I readily agreed as I have always been anxious to expand the meager repertoire of the bassoon.
In a few weeks he appeared with a Study for Bassoon which I started to learn. Gilbert Eney, a bass player in the Philadelphia Orchestra, offered to tape the piece for broadcast, and one fine evening we gathered at Eney's basement in Logan for the session. Eney was one of the pioneers in technical procedures, and he was famous in that neighborhood for his ham radio activities, principally because when he went on the air, all the lights in the neighborhood would dim. Several neighbors thought they were losing their eyesight and bought stronger glasses. Eney was the first to have a tape machine and he even had a record cutter. He was the logical engineer for the project although his basement wasn't the best of studios.
We began about 8 p.m. and tried to satisfy Osborne. He was a rather withdrawn and silent individual but became quite insistent and demanding as the taping went along. There was no effort to cut and patch -- it was all or nothing. Even the final bar slurred E- flat had to be there, and when midnight arrived and all was to his liking we heaved a sigh of relief. Then catastrophe struck! Eney in rewinding inadvertently erased the entire tape! Nothing left to do but do it again!
It was broadcast over WNYC, and I received many letters pro and con. One famous bassoon player sent a post card in which he complained at the lack of staccato passages. Others felt it had great Oriental roots (Osborne had studied at Yale with Hindemith). Some colleagues asked if I would send a copy. Then it was published with many changes, and Osborne disappeared from Philadelphia. It should be of great interest to see the original and how the changes were made. As a post script I have word from that most observant bassoonist, Chris Weait, who writes that on tour with the TSO he saw a framed program in a restaurant (not a pub) in Birmingham, England. The date was December, 1948 and the program included a Sarabande for Strings by "Willison Osborne". Anyone know where he is now?
(Editor's Note: The following is a reprint of the original score for the Rhapsody or Solo Bassoon (then called the Study for Bassoon) in Willson Osborne's own hand. It may be compared with interesting conclusions to the final printed copy by C. F. Peters, Edition 6005, Copyright 1958. Notice in particular 1) the changed rhythm in bar 18 [3/2 from 2/4] and 2) the widely expanded ending after bar 34. It is fascinating to note how both changes strengthen the composition dramatically.)