Two research projects about small-sized historical bassoons hosted at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation Two research projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and hosted at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis / Hochschule für Musik at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland / Mus
ik Akademie Basel
More than 110 small-scale bassoons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, alternately known as ‘fagottini’, ‘bassonetti’, ‘tenoroons’, ‘quart-, ‘quint-, ‘sext- and ‘octave-bassoons’, have been identified in private collections and museums throughout Europe and the Americas, while others are still being discovered. Definite evidence exists of their pedagogical use, along with compositions specifying smaller-sized bassoons in orchestral, chamber, and solo settings, an indication that they formerly played multi-functional roles in musical and cultural life before virtually disappearing in the twentieth century. While historical performance practices of other wind instrument families have received researchers’ attention, the functions and repertoire of these smaller instruments have been largely ignored. Dr. Thomas Drescher (project leader), Prof. Dr. Donna Agrell(coordinator), Dr. Àurea Domínguez, Giovanni Battista Graziadio, Zoë Matthews, Letizia Viola
The three-year SNSF project “Out of the bass register” is being carried out by a team of researchers at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, FHNW (University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland) as a follow-up of the two-year pilot project “Fagottini and tenoroons – small forgotten giants”, completed in 2019. The team is exploring the organological and musicological aspects of smaller bassoons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and covers a comprehensive scope of research. Evidence of the usage of these instruments in orchestral, chamber music, opera and sacred settings, as well as a function in pedagogy, indicate that they formerly played multi-functional roles in musical and cultural life before virtually disappearing in the twentieth century. Imprecise terminology is widespread, leading to questions regarding choice of appropriate instrument size, as well as the necessity to re-evaluate bassoon repertoire. The instrument catalogues and suggested repertoire list published here are works-in-progress and are being continually updated; related articles and links are also included. Innovative 3-D printing technology will initially be used to create synthetic prototypes of several small-size bassoons, followed by conventionally-constructed models, enabling a thorough evaluation of organological and musical qualities of each size and type in performance and pedagogical trials.
