Stradivarius of bassoons resurrected

[@saxbruce]

That small orchestral piece at the end of the clip sounded wonderful!

[@danielponder690]

I own an original Savary from 1829; it's a lovely bassoon and the Bassetto copy is quite good!

[@sosnowskitomasz7459]

Bravissimo Walter Basetto!!

[@brentbreault7606]

I love its timbre!

[@Cj12sings]

Wonderful...!!!! love this

[@ivanblokhin740]

Interesting Video!!!

[@sosnowskitomasz7459]

Bravissimo Walter Basetto,Liebe Grüsse.

[@joemcnicholas1165]

any oboists?

[@Rosa_moon_J]

Which concerto is being played here?

[@brokebassoon]

Johann Friedrich Fasch, concerto in c minor for bassoon and two oboes

[@danielwaitzman2118]

This is indeed a very worthwhile project; but to equate a centuries-old bassoon--or any other woodwind--with a Stradivarius violin is completely misleading and a gross oversimplification of a very complex issue. An 18th-century woodwind is not to its modern counterpart as an 18th-century fortepiano is to a modern Steinway. Woodwind technology relies heavily on post-18th-century advances in metal-working and acoustics. True, Boehm, Heckel, and others did not make their improved woodwind designs to play older music better than their historically authentic counterparts per se; but that is exactly what they wound up doing--with some qualifications: for, when one improves one aspect of a woodwind, one winds up compromising others, to a certain extent. That is simply the way it is: do not try to simplify what is in reality a very complex issue. Furthermore, the bassoon with which we are here presented is a French bassoon; and the distinction between French and German bassoons remains a vital one, even today, with the German bassoon generally considered the more flexible of the two designs, though there are certain virtues that the French bassoon offers, which its German counterpart lacks. Boehm, Heckel, Klose, and the rest of the 19th-century woodwind redesigners did not set out to ruin the instruments to the improvement of which they devoted themselves--on the contrary!--and it is given to us to appreciate their work, while at the same time being sensible of certain virtues of the older woodwind models that may have been compromised in the process. That is the unique advantage of the modern era of woodwind study, and of music-making in general.

[@richardgordon8110]

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BASSOON AND THE HECKELPHONE?

[@thejils1669]

The bassoon burns longer...

[@JiveDadson]

@@thejils1669 Made me snort.

[@siskaschmidt3609]

Heckelphone is either built as bass oboe or soprano bassoon and is a douboe reed instrument in between. The keywork is designed at the musicians wish either like that of an oboe or a bassoon

[@vilmarwessoloski8182]

Boa noite

[@JiveDadson]

Instrument makers worked 200 years improving the bassoon. Screw that. Let's start over.

[@richardgordon8110]

THE BASSOON IS VERY MUCH LIKE THE OPHICLEIDE. BOTH BEAUTIFUL.

[@vilmarwessoloski8182]

Vocês têm um fagote sistema francês pra vender

[@master____igor6810]

am I the only one that thought that the Chello player looked like Bill Nye The Science Guy

[@brentbreault7606]

Viewtube 101 It's spelled cello, bud.

[@richardgordon8110]

Master__ __Igor

[@richardgordon8110]

Master__ __Igor It is Cello. Not chello

[@comionpewrio]

It's spelt cello

[@TheRatchetmeister]

Something from Alien.

[@brian2090]

Cool video, but it's very misleading to call this the "Stradivarius of bassoons". Stradivarius string instruments are still among the best, but most modern bassoons are far better, mechanically and tonally, than one of these could ever be. No modern bassoonist could play on one of these instruments and win an audition with a major orchestra. The two really are not comparable.

[@kentayamanishi197]

Brian i actually have played one of these a little couple of years ago when i went to visit my Bassoon teacher's house and i believe he had a replica as well. Not only that i also had the experience to play his contrabassoon. Brilliant experience.

[@zak8953]

It's a complete myth that Stradivari violins are "superior" to modern day violins. I'm sure the people that can afford them FEEL better when they play them, but there have been quite a few blind playing and listening tests done and modern (relatively inexpensive by comparison) violins always come out on top. www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/05/million-dollar-strads-fall-modern-violins-blind-sound-check Stradivari instruments are a neat part of history and are excellent instruments but don't buy into the snake oil claims that come with the high price tags. The instruments themselves are rudimentary (as they should be) when compared to their modern counterparts.

[@Renshen1957]

Brian, The Stradivarius violin as originally made in the Baroque period, possible I know of only that one exists with it's original neck and the nail attachment undisturbed. In that form it was cutting edge technology, and completely apropos for the literature, gut strings, shorter fingerboard and all. The majority of Strads have been modified (some say butchered) to meet the ever changing requirements of orchestral venues over time. In fact, back in the Baroque Period, Jakob Stainer's instruments were held in higher opinion in a number of countries as superior to the Stradivarius. And I prefer to hear gut strings on violins playing Baroque music, rather than the steel used today. In the modern sense, the term "the Stradivarius of the (fill in the blank)" refers to any instrument manufacturer who in his day produced the nonpareil instrument. I could as easily say the Ruckers family produced the Stradivarius of the Harpsichord. And similar to the the Strads, the Ruckers were refashioned and expanded (due to their reputation) to play later music, in fact only a one or two instruments remain in unmodified condition. The surviving Baroque Guitar made by Stradivarius is an instrument in its own right. Compared to the modern guitar it's different, but that doesn't make the modern guitar superior. The modern violin and modern guitar are called upon to play a variety of eras music, similar to a Boehm Concert Flute, orchestral oboe or a modern Clarinet. As most individuals living today grew up hearing the contemporary versions (mid 20the century versions) of concert works on modern instruments, they believe these are the superior forms. The same can be said of the modern-cross strung piano or the (with all due reverence to the almighty, "god awful") revival harpsichord instruments (based on piano building practices and not the 18th century or earlier prototypes). The modern Bassoons are better for intonation compared to a baroque bassoon, the same way a C or Bb Trumpet has better intonation, than say a C pitch Natural Trumpet or the same instrument with a Bb crook. The F valve Trumpet from the turn of the 20th century isn't used anymore although the instrument is called for by Richard Strauss for Also Sprach Zarathustra opening trumpet notes. The F trumpet still retained the trumpets original bore for the most part of the F valveless Trumpet, whereas the Orchestral trumpet is more of a hybrid of the trumpet and the cornet, and thus easier to play. The piccolo trumpets (erroneously called "Bach Trumpets, for playing clarino parts, and not for a manufacturer that shares the same surname), are in fact high pitched cornets by the construction. Natural Horns survived along side valve Horns (Wagner wrote for both in one of his music dramas), and Beethoven sounds different when played as he wrote with half and fully stopped notes (to reach semitones) as had Mozart had written, which disappear when played on the modern valve horn or double horn. Tonally almost every modern instrument isn't same as their predecessors, a caricature , so significantly changed, and evolved into a form tonally different from the tonal palettes that composers wrote for, exploited their fine points, and for special effect exploited the "weak" points. Mozart's Musical Joke when played on modern instruments loses a great deal of humor, as compared to period instruments. It wasn't just the satire on contemporary composers writing skills, but also for the inappropriate writing for the instruments. I prefer to hear the works with instruments as the composers heard them, or wrote for them in their "mind's ear." The modern Bassoon has an advantage for large concert halls, and modern music written for said. However, for a HIP orchestra, playing on period instruments/original (copies) instruments, no modern bassoonists would win an audition or perform with say these "Niche" or specialty orchestras if they were to play only a modern bassoon for the ensemble. The Savary bassoon played by a competent bassoonists would win the day over a virtuoso modern bassoon player on a modern instrument, no contest. A Steinway or Bösendorfer piano as currently produced are fine for an artist that plays music from a variety of eras such as concertos in a concert hall or the solo repertoire, but the instrument isn't a Swiss Army Knife. And Emmanuel Ax will get concert dates and win rave revues, and so will Andras Schiff. However, their virtuosity compensates for the tonal inadequacy of the modern piano. Mozart or Beethoven on a Fortepiano, either antique or reproduction sounds different and reveals much in clarity with the straight strung instruments which can fully exploit the music as it was intended. The Pianoforte straight strung was the instrument of Chopin (you cannot use every one Chopin's students pedal indications on a modern piano, the pedal indications that Chopin used), Mendelssohn, of Schumann, Schubert. Beethoven's nickname for Muzio Clementi was "Father of the Piano," but Clementi's compositions with full chords deep in the bass of the piano cannot be rendered as anything but mud on a modern piano, ergo Clementi isn't in the concert literature (but his simple sonatinas are known and loved by almost every piano student, as the written range is more restricted). Brahms owned and composed on Straight strung pianos, and when played on such instruments don't sound "murky." Certain effects for the Baroque flute were exploited by Bach in the 5th Brandenburg concerto and have an emotional impact, while the same notes sound peculiar and contrived on a modern orchestral flute, and the substitution of a flute for the recorder as was the case many years back, or a piccolo for a Recorder in Vivaldi would be the same as changing one shade of a color in a Baroque Painting for another. Don't get me started on pieces written for the Harpsichord played on a piano, and yes that includes most of J S Bach and Couperin played on modern pianos. I am not against the practice whether it's a Viennese fortepiano, 19th century Pianoforte (straight strung), or modern piano. However, if I had a dime for every time I heard "J S Bach wrote for a future instrument (meaning modern piano), " "J S Bach would have preferred the piano," or "none of this no sustain pedal when playing Bach" I would have retired as a multi-millionaire. I play Bach on the Piano, and have played Bach on the harpsichord and organ, but having the music I so dearly treasure being smeared (Fugues especially) by the sustain pedal, or should I say "the crutch or poor technique), and know better as more than one piece by J S Bach needs an instrument other than the modern piano to come alive, it should almost be a law that every piano student at least play these works on either a clavichord or harpsichord, both for the experience, and to expose the shortfalls of not learning the pieces as J S Bach intended to improve their technique.

[@paulcaswell2813]

The overall balance of a Strad (the later 'Grand Model' from 1710 or so) is unrivalled. And the 'G' string tone, although not as full as a del Gesù, provides a 'peacock's tail' of sound which I have never heard elsewhere. The finest Strad I've heard, the 'Composelice', of 1710 (Josef Suk's fiddle). The greatest fiddle of all that I've heard being the 1734 'Gibson' Guarneri del Gesù (Ricci's old instrument - now in the hands of Midori in Japan), although the 1744 'de Beriot', for the few seconds only that I've heard it, could possibly surpass even the 'Gibson'. Just my twopence worth. I have NEVER heard a modern that reaches where these two makers go.

[@brokebassoon]

@@Renshen1957 Good points. As to Savary jeune bassoons, if I understand correctly, they also continued to be played throughout the 19th century with many more keys being added to suit the demands of the players and the rep.

[@Bassoonist09]

We all know I’m the best bassoonist guys I mean cmon just listen to me play Banana Boat by Ryan Nowlin and Bruce Pearson and mimic a professional while doing it.

[@happyreeds]

knowledge about reed making is still extremely poor, that goes for modern and ancient reeds, I personally cannot take any copy of a historical bassoon seriously as long as there is not a very good reed design accompanying the historical design. Talking about oiling the instrument after six months but not talking about reeds: that is just silly.....

[@paulwhite8714]

I wrote my whole doctorate on the history of bassoon reeds back at Oxford University when I was making and playing historical bassoons back in the 1980s. You are spot on about authenticity. The player here looks like he is playing on a modern Heckel design. Forward through the past. Paul White