atively new being made in 1574. It was originally designed as a straight instrument that was played by standing on a ladder! The bassoon has been used in the orchestra since the Baroque period. The early composers used the bassoon mainly as a bass doubling instrument, supporting the cello line. Gradually composers began to hear players that were capable doing more with the instrument, and, began to write much more interesting parts for the bassoon. The bassoon was often given the “buffo” role, like the bass singing a rapid patter in comic opera. A modern day bassoon player is Leonard Hindell who plays in the New York Philharmonic. The Contrabassoon is a double reed woodwind instrument. It has a range of B flat in bass clef 3 octaves lower than middle C to an E flat bellow middle C. The Contrabassoon is built in the key of C, an octave bellow the bassoon. In 1879 Wihelm Heckel designed a Contrabassoon that was able to fulfill all orchestral requirements. Before this the instrument had many imperfections. The major problem in the construction of the Contrabassoon was the large distances between the tone holes. These distances, though, had to be compensated for through the use of rods and keys. The Contrabassoon descends a third bellow the lowest note of the string bass. A modern day Contrabassoon player is Arlen Fast who plays in the New York Philharmonic. ...
