The early chapters deal with the origins and historical development of the bassoon, with a wealth of detail, illustrations, and fingering charts. The work of Almenräder, the Heckels, Adler, Jancourt, and Triebert is emphasised for their part in the progress made during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with improvements in keywork and design. Full account is taken, too, of how the bassoon has been employed by various composers from 1600 until the present day. The sections on acoustics, materials, and reeds will enable the student to grasp the peculiar tone-quality and characteristics of the instrument; while the final chapters discuss technique and capabilities, with notes on celebrated players. --Jacket.

This welcome volume encompasses the entire history of the bassoon, from its origins five centuries ago to its place in twenty-first-century music. James Kopp draws on new archival research and many years' experience playing the instrument to provide an up-to-date and lively portrait of today's bassoon and its intriguing predecessors. He discusses the bassoon's makers, its players, its repertory, its myths, and its audiences, all in unprecedented detail. The bassoon was invented in Italy in response to the need for a bass-register double-reed woodwind suitable for processionals and marching. Composers were quick to exploit its agility and unique timbre. Later, during the reign of Louis XIV, the instrument underwent a major redesign, giving voice to its tenor register. In the early 1800s new scientific precepts propelled a wave of invention and design modifications. In the twentieth century, the multiplicity of competing bassoon designs narrowed to a German (or Heckel) type and a French type, the latter now nearly extinct. The author examines the acoustical consequences of these various redesigns. He also offers new coverage of the bassoon's social history, including its roles in the military and church and its global use during the European Colonial period. Separate historical chapters devoted to contrabassoons and smaller bassoons complete the volume [Publisher description].

Drawings and photographs complement step-by-step explanations of reedmaking techniques, making every procedure clear. Rather than present an onerous shopping list, the chapter on tools gives a thorough tour of Skinner's workbench, explaining the uses of various items and what can be used as substitutes. Throughout, instructions are given in clear language, not just outlining steps to follow but explaining he principles behind the practice. In addition to basic reed types, a number of variations are treated in detail, as is the making of contrabassoon reeds. Finally, every effort has been made to make this book practical for use at the workbench--in a secure binding that will allow the pages to stay open (without the use of clothespins) and in print large enough to permit easy consultation when the reader's hands are occupied with cane and knives and glue and wire.