# Is there any bassoon chamber music?



## plaguebearer

I would imagine some composer having already explored this. Do you know of any pieces? The instrument's darker tones preferred best.


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## Joe B

Vivaldi wrote almost 40 bassoon concerto's.
The chamber group Sundance Trio is made up of bassoon, oboe, and piano.
Michael Daugherty wrote a piece for the Chicago Symphonies bassoon section called "Hell's Angles"

There is a lot of bassoon music out there.


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## Pugg

plaguebearer said:


> I would imagine some composer having already explored this. Do you know of any pieces? The instrument's darker tones preferred best.


A bit of browsing does wonders.............
https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/classical/search?search_query=bassoon+chamber+music


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## KenOC

Check out Beethoven's pal Anton Reicha! "It has been said that Reicha is to the wind quintet what Haydn is to the string quartet - he almost single-handedly established the combination of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and *bassoon *as an important form."

Great stuff, Lots on YouTube. Many recordings available.


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## Art Rock

Both Hindemith and Saint-Saens wrote a sonata for bassoon and piano that are worth hearing.


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## jegreenwood

Poulenc has a trio and a sextet that include bassoons. I've had the below disc for decades.









Also the Mozart and Beethoven quintets for piano and winds.


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## elgar's ghost

Poulenc also composed a sonata for clarinet and bassoon in 1922 - it's a slender work weighing in at less than ten minutes but a pleasant example of Poulenc's early style.


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## insomniclassicac




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## fluteman

plaguebearer said:


> I would imagine some composer having already explored this. Do you know of any pieces? The instrument's darker tones preferred best.


All kinds of excellent suggestions here already. If 20th-century modern is your cup of tea, as it is mine, the Hindemith and Poulenc mentioned above are both musts. In the traditional classical vein, the Beethoven Septet and Schubert Octet are among the greatest chamber music pieces for ensembles that include a bassoon.


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## Heck148

Lots of bassoon chamber music...in addition to the excellent ones already mentioned, there are some excellent works from classical era.....bassoon with string ensembles, by Danzi, Gebauer , Dotzauer, Devienne.. also the Rossini 4tets for WW 4tet are lots of fun...


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## Olias

Here is the wind quintet I play with playing a bassoon heavy work.


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## Dan Ante

One CD that I have is “The golden age of harp and French bassoon” with works by: Dauprat, Boieldien, Naderman, Saint Saens, Labarre and Debussy it was recorded in 1991, Rachel Talitman harp, Luc Loubry Basoon. If you can find a copy I fully recommend it.


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## Vasks

There are many quartets for four bassoons. Do an image google search, then Google the various ensembles to see what pieces they play.


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## Heck148

Vasks said:


> There are many quartets for four bassoons. Do an image google search, then Google the various ensembles to see what pieces they play.


Yup - Prokofieff "Humorous Scherzo" is probably best known - Peter Schickele [a bassoonist] wrote some very clever ones, as well - "Lip My Reeds" [for GHW Bush] and "Last Tango in Bayreuth"


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## fluteman

Heck148 said:


> Yup - Prokofieff "Humorous Scherzo" is probably best known - Peter Schickele [a bassoonist] wrote some very clever ones, as well - "Lip My Reeds" [for GHW Bush] and "Last Tango in Bayreuth"


Classic! I once heard the NY Philharmonic bassoon section do an all-bassoon version of I Feel Pretty from West Side Story. I also heard the late Les Cantor (what a wonderful guy) lead an all-bassoon ensemble in Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. Two more bassoon classics.


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## Nonchalant

Boismortier if you’re into late baroque. He wrote a concerto for it and some sonatas I’ve heard performed on bassoon (probably intended for any instrument capable of playing in that range).


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## Josquin13

Yes, the French composer Charles Koechlin composed chamber music for the bassoon:














Koechlin also composed a late Wind Septet, Op. 165, that includes a bassoon:


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## Heck148

Two wonderful discs of chamber music for bassoon, and woodwind ensemble -

*20th Century French Wind Trios *- Chicago Chamber Musicians - Henoch/Combs/Buchman
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical...43C7529FD6CECAC35C4AECA92F4282?album_id=37092

*25th Anniversary of International 2ble Reed Society*
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical...AB508A637DAF1144E8E87B1284639C?album_id=52520

Great stuff, very entertaining and enjoyable - superb performances....on the 25th IDRS disc - check out the Rossini Barber/Seville duets for 2 bassoons - esp "Largo al Factotum" - Azzolini and Canuti go totally nuts!!


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## joen_cph

There are quite a few *sonatas for bassoon *and piano out there:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon_sonata

*L´Apres Midi d´un Dinosaur* is one of the quirkier, popular Hyperion releases, focusing on bassoon works.
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDH88035

*Nielsen* wrote some nice music for winds, the _Wind Quintet_ and the _Serenata in Vano_ are lovely works. And *Janacek*´s music generally contains a lot of catchy, fresh and folksy wind instrument writing. These are of course ensemble, not solo works.

My favourite work for bassoon is probably *Maxwell-Davies*´ _Strathclyde Concerto no.8._ More modernist than a lot of the repertoire, and not really chamber music, naturally.


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## fluteman

Great suggestions here, I'm glad the OP started this thread. I should have mentioned, for the Poulenc Sextet for piano and winds, there is an excellent recording by Alexandre Tharaud et al. released by Naxos as part of the worthwhile Poulenc set they released at the 100th anniversary of his birth. My favorite classic version is by Jacques Fevrier, who was a close friend of Poulenc, and the Paris Wind Quintet on EMI/Angel, I assume it's on CD somewhere. There is also a recording on Columbia by Poulenc himself with the great Philadelphia Wind Quintet, but that has some slips and ensemble and intonation problems, not surprisingly, as it was made in one evening in New York when Poulenc happened to be on a concert tour of the US.


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## starthrower

Art Rock said:


> Both Hindemith and Saint-Saens wrote a sonata for bassoon and piano that are worth hearing.


As did Alexander Tansman.






For some weirder stuff try Sofia Gubaidulina.


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## Heck148

Wonderful Sonata for 2 Bassoons by Brazilian composer Francisco Mignone...very neat piece....splendid recording available by Otto Eifert [long time CinnSO principal] and his well known teacher Sol Schoenbach


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## Heck148

My favorite Poulenc"Sextuor" for Piano and WW 5tet is by the NY WW 5tet, with Frank Glazer, piano....Frank was brother of David Glazer, the clarinetist, and performed often with the great group....

I got to perform the Poulenc with Glazer, soon after graduation - and it was a real thrill - we performed the Poulenc along with the Mozart 5tet in Eb for piano and Winds....Glazer was a superb chamber musician, extremely knowledgeable, and had wonderful insights into the music of both composers...
I also love the Poulenc Trio for oboe/bassoon/piano, and have performed it many times - great slow [middle] mvt - like an opera duet, or even popular song duet between soprano[ob] and tenor/baritone [bssn]...very melodic, romantic....


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## fluteman

Heck148 said:


> My favorite Poulenc"Sextuor" for Piano and WW 5tet is by the NY WW 5tet, with Frank Glazer, piano....Frank was brother of David Glazer, the clarinetist, and performed often with the great group....
> 
> I got to perform the Poulenc with Glazer, soon after graduation - and it was a real thrill - we performed the Poulenc along with the Mozart 5tet in Eb for piano and Winds....Glazer was a superb chamber musician, extremely knowledgeable, and had wonderful insights into the music of both composers...
> I also love the Poulenc Trio for oboe/bassoon/piano, and have performed it many times - great slow [middle] mvt - like an opera duet, or even popular song duet between soprano[ob] and tenor/baritone [bssn]...very melodic, romantic....


Yes, indeed. Frank and David Glazer recorded the Brahms clarinet sonatas together with great success, too.


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## RogerWaters

plaguebearer said:


> I would imagine some composer having already explored this. Do you know of any pieces? The instrument's darker tones preferred best.


Zelenka:


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## Chatellerault

Heitor Villa-Lobos - _Bachianas Brasileiras No. 6_ for flute and bassoon


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## HistoryJoe

There's a really nice trio piece by Karl Michael Komma from 1981 called "Verses of Sappho". Piano, cello & bassoon. It doesn't look like anybody has recorded it recently, but here's the old CD I have
https://www.amazon.com/Karl-Michael-Komma-Bohuslav-Martinu/dp/B004ECLO5K/


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## starthrower

I picked up this CD earlier this year. Not listed on the cover but it contains two solo pieces in addition to the concertos.


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## jegreenwood

starthrower said:


> . . .
> For some weirder stuff try Sofia Gubaidulina.
> . . .


I'm not sure which Sofia Gubaidulina you linked to (as the link is broken), but I found this.






Rebekah Heller has two albums of contemporary music for bassoon.


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## starthrower

It was from her bassoon CD on Chandos of which Quasi Hoquetas is included.


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## arpeggio

Three of my favorite works for solo bassoon:

Vincent Persichetti: _Parable_
Malcolm Arnold: _Fantasy_
George Perle: _Bassoon Music_

I have given up trying to learn the Persichetti.


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