The Proud Bassoon

Virtuoso works for Baroque bassoon and continuo

Peter Whelan & Ensemble Marsyas

Anonymous
Les Gentils Airs - ou Airs Connus,
ajuste en duo, pour basson seul
accompagn dun clavecin
1. Les Sauvages
(arr. Jean-Philippe Rameau) 2:08
2. La Furstemberg 4:46
3. Tamborin
(arr. Jean-Philippe Rameau) 1:16
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
(1689 - 1755)
Sonata in G Major for bassoon
and continuo, Op. 50 No. 2
4. Largo3:00
5. Allemanda: Allegro 2:45
6. Largo2:10
7. Giga2:18

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 - 1758)

Sonata in C Major for bassoon
and continuo, FaWV N:C 1
8. Largo2:54
9. Allegro2:27
10. Andante2:34
11. Allegro Assai 2:52
Franois Couperin (1668 - 1733)
Les gots-runis, ou Noveaux concerts:
Treizime Concert
12. Vivement1:04
13. Air Agrablement 2:47
14. Sarabande Tendrement 2:09
15. Chaconne Legre 2:35
Georg Philipp Telemann
(1681 - 1767)
Sonata in F minor, TWV 41:f1
16. Triste2:23
17. Allegro4:24
18. Andante1:41
19. Vivace2:31

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier

(1689 - 1755)
Sonata in E minor for bassoon
and continuo, Op. 50 No. 1
20. Andante-Staccato 1:35
21. Allemanda: Allegro 2:21
22. Aria: Affetvos 2:41
23. Gavotta: Presto 1:58
Matthew Dubourg (1707 - 1767)
24. Eileen Aroon with variations
set by Mr. Dubourg 2:28
Total Running Time: 60 minutes

Instruments
Bassoon, after Prudent Thierrot Paris c.1770, Peter De Koningh,
Netherlands 1994.
Cello, Thomas Smith, London c.1740.
Theorbo, Giuseppe Tumiatti 1998.
Harpsichord, after Mietke - Berlin c.1710,
Bruce Kennedy, Italy 1991. With grateful
thanks to Dunedin Consort.
Pitch a 415 Silbermann II

Recorded at
Wigmore Hall, London, UK
from 4 6 September 2012
Produced and recorded by
Philip Hobbs
Assistant engineering by
Robert Cammidge
Post-production by
Julia Thomas
Cover image
Peter Jakob Horemans
Bildnis des Hofmusikus
Felix Reiner mit Fagott
Courtesy of
Blauel/Gnamm (ARTOTHEK)
Design by
gmtoucari.com

What does the bassoon have to be proud of? After all, isnt it the clown of the
orchestra? It is too easy for caricatures like the goofy lumbering theme in Dukas
Sorcerers Apprentice and the grandfather in Prokofievs Peter and the Wolf
to override the more serious aspects of the bassoons musical persona. These
images colour our perception of the eighteenth-century bassoon, which had every
right to claim the epithet proud.
The variety of bassoon precursors that existed at the end of the Renaissance
elicited a lexicon of names: curtal, dulcian, bajn, basson, fagott. The last may
refer to the instruments physical construction that made it look like a bundle of
sticks, an etymology that appeared as early as 1636 before the appearance of
earliest reported true bassoon made in four pieces where the image makes more
sense. That instrument arrived on the scene in France sometime in the 1670s, likely
a product of the famous Hotteterre dynasty of woodwind players and builders
that was also responsible for creating the Baroque oboe from its ancestor the
shawm shortly before. The instrument they designed had a strong resonant low
register, making it ideal to reinforce the bass line, but the tenor and upper registers
remained the terrain of the virtuoso for some time. Still, this made it ideally suited
to providing bass lines, and its doubled-back bore meant that it was more compact
and portable than the hefty bass shawm pommers. At first the bassoon marched
alongside oboes in bands to rouse troops to battle, served as the kings official
alarm clock at his leve, or in rustic contexts, it often imitated the bagpipe bourdon.
The Dulcian had a rich solo repertoire but even after the Baroque bassoon
arrived in its definitive form, it still took some time to assert its pride of place in
musical ensembles. More than anything, it had to challenge the long-standing
assessment of wind instruments as less noble than strings, and inferior in
their expressive capabilities. Like the mythical Marsyas who had the temerity
to challenge Apollo to a competition between his rustic aulos pipes and the
refined lyre, bassoonists were not always given the same opportunities as
other instrumentalists and had to struggle to assert their individual voice
4

but emerged if not the victors, the proud equals to their competitors.
Like the other woodwinds developed at the court of Louis XIV just prior to
the establishment of Lullys Acadmie Royale de Musique (known commonly
as the Opra), the bassoon was also developed to be part of the orquestre. That
meant that it not only played in double reed consorts, but needed to be able to
play in tune with and blend with other instruments. Gradually its unique tonal
characteristics were used to add colour to the other sections of the orchestra.
Bassoonists found work outside France in the company of Hautboisten bands,
one of the most important cultural status symbols of the time. Already in the
1670s and 1680s oboe bands were resident in Wrttemburg and Hamburg.
Early on, the talents of the better bassoonists were utilised in aria obbligatos
for one or two bassoons, some of the instruments earliest solo repertoire.
As players and makers began to further explore the instruments potential,
its range was extended upwards. It was the Hamburg composer and music
commentator Johann Mattheson who dubbed the bassoon proud, and
wrote in 1713 that anyone who wishes to distinguish himself on the Proud
Bassoon will find that elegance and speed especially in the high register
will tax his powers to the full. This implies that fluency in the upper register
continued to be a challenge, but if the new bassoon music is anything to go by,
it was a challenge soon met by the finest of players. With this new capability,
resulting partly from design modifications, and partly from adjustments
to reed making, the bassoon was called on to supply inner harmonies and
counter melodies and, in the hands of an astute master, was now able to
match the haute-contre the proud high tenor hero of French opera.
As today, the bassoon was not nearly as common as other instruments,
like the flute, violin or oboe, or for that matter its string counterpart the
cello. It is hard to deny that, when it comes to repertoire, the bassoon has
always been less well off than practically any other instrument. This is
partly because it took some time for its personality to take shape from its
5

disparate registral components: the strong, manly, sometimes gruff lowest

register, the rich middle, and strained but potentially lyrical upper reaches.
If the bassoons multifarious character were not enough, the lexicon of names
applied to it made for an identity crisis. Today fagott and basson are used to
distinguish the two main branches of modern instruments. The German fagott
and French basson developed in parallel over the course of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, each with distinctive physical forms as well as associated
playing techniques, reeds and approaches. But the terms existed before there
was a clear national distinction. Bach used both words in different contexts. Most
of the bassoon parts written in Weimar are labelled bassono and are notated
higher than the other instruments. In his later music he more frequently used the
designation fagotto notating the part at the same pitch as the other orchestral
instruments. This suggests that for Bach bassono could have been a lower-pitched
(probably French) instrument and the fagotto was a dulcian at Chorton. But in
terms of treatment, there is little to distinguish in the energetic agile filigree that
he gave both fagotto and bassono. Other composers used the same terms, but
were apparently less discriminating. The manuscript of the sonata by Fasch on
this recording, likely composed when Bach was already established in Leipzig,
gives fagotto solo and bason for the accompanying bass line an indication
of different instruments, or simply the recognition of separate functions?
The 1710s and 1720s saw a flowering in the art of bassoon playing. In Dresden
musical tastes were turning to Vivaldi for inspiration. His plethora of bassoon
concertos and chamber works with bassoon set the tone for Jan Dismas
Zelenkas astounding Trio Sonatas where the bassoonist takes on an increasingly
independent role. While in the first couple of sonatas it still supplies the bass to
the virtuosic oboe parts, across the set of six sonatas, Zelenka gave the bassoon
progressively more elaborated parts that vie with the oboes for the virtuosic
limelight. Johann Friedrich Fasch, who was appointed Kapellmeister in Zerbst
in 1722, visited Dresden five years later and wrote sacred and instrumental
6

music for the famous Hofkapelle orchestra, so he was doubtless familiar with
Zelenkas music and the bassoon playing there. Faschs chamber music also
includes numerous works with demanding bassoon parts, but his only bassoon
sonata dates from the end of the 1720s and may compete with Telemanns Sonata
in F minor, TWV 41:f1 as being the earliest sonata specifying bassoon as the
solo instrument, although Telemanns is certainly the first to appear in print.
Telemann published his Sonata in instalments in his weekly music periodical
Der Getreue Musikmeister (The Faithful Music Master), begging patience from
subscribers to wait for four issues to build up the entire work (even the two parts
of the second movement were printed in successive issues). Most of the music
in this periodical seems to have been intended for domestic music making by
amateurs, and we may well ask how many subscribers there would have been
with the requisite skills for this work. Telemanns innate idiomatic instrumental
writing comes through. The melancholic triste with intertwined chromatic lines
where the bassoon sometimes drops below the bass is eminently playable on
the bassoon, as are the more vigorous passages in later movements. But, at the
same time there is nothing that stamps Telemanns writing as uniquely tailored
to the bassoon. The range ascends to high G, but it only rarely takes advantage
of the bassoons character as bass and melodic instrument. This music is easily
transferrable to other instruments. Indeed Telemann added a note at the very
end of the sonata so that it can also be played on recorder. Still, the work placed
the bassoon on an equal footing with other instruments and bassoonists could
proudly claim this sonata that was every bit as good as the best of Telemanns
sonatas for any other instruments. It is hard to know if we are to make anything
of Telemanns use of the designation fagotto in place of basson. Was he writing
for a German instrument rather than the newer French basson that would
shortly after burst forth with its fully-developed tenor and high registers?
Faschs Sonata in C Major for bassoon and continuo, FaWV N:C 1, while in terms
of range no wider than Telemanns, takes fuller advantage of the bassoons
7

different registers. Note the wide leaps in the fast movements. Faschs style
is already a hybrid of high Baroque formal design spiced with perky triplet
decoration, flashes of showy virtuosity and cheeky chromatic surprises
hallmarks of the galant style that became established as the new musical fashion
in the 1730s. Recently arrived in France from Italy, the galant style idiom placed
greater emphasis on lightness and simplicity, and gained popularity through the
Concert Spirituel, where instrumentalists, rather than resting in the shadows of
subservience in vocal works, could shine in bravura showpieces. The bassoon
came into its own, and was featured more as a soloist in concertos and chamber
music. Boismortier composed the earliest known concerto (Op. 26, 1729), and the
two sonatas from his Op. 50 (1734) are prime examples of this style. They take
full advantage of the bassoons extended range, leaps between its sonorous low
register and radiant upper reaches becoming a distinctive feature of the writing.
Couperins Les gots-runis, ou Noveaux concerts: Treizime Concert
represents a slightly older style of music. Written for deux instruments
lunisson implying two instruments share the same range but not necessarily
the same timbre, the top part is slightly higher in range than the other, but instead
of the second part being conceived as a basse continue, it is an equal partner.
The contrapuntal interplay is more apparent when the bassoon is contrasted by
a string instrument as here. As Ordinaire de la Musique de la Chambre du Roy,
Couperin was responsible for providing music for Sunday afternoon performances
in the kings chambers. Although published almost ten years after the death of
Louis XIV, this concert may thus preserve music written and performed some
years prior. And in its understated charm, there is a hint of the grandeur of majestic
ceremony, its dance movements preserving the essence of the dignity of the
court of the Sun King. From the list of the names of his accompanying musicians
in Couperins earlier set of chamber music, Les Concerts Royaux to which the Les
gots rnis provides a sequel, it would appear that the Treizime Concert was
written for gambist Hilaire Verloge (called Alarius) and bassoonist Franois Dubois.
8

The best French players were employed at the Opra, and with a section of four
players at their disposal, composers could draw out the talents of certain players
who specialised in the new high-register writing. From his first opera Hippolyte et
Aricie (1733), Rameau wrote prominent parts for bassoons that regularly rise to
high A, and occasionally B-flat. These are moments of true bassoon pride where
bassoon tone penetrates the orchestral palette, both giving it the richness of
harmony for which Rameau had made himself famous through his treatises, and
lending the score heart-searing pathos. Still, Rameau did not use the bassoon
to symbolise heroism or pride per se. Quite to the contrary, he used it to cast a
sombre, dolorous veil over the music. The lugubrious tone of a funereal scene,
the dark solitude of a prison cell, the mysteries of sorcery are all coloured with
the plaintive, somewhat strained tone of bassoons in its upper register. There are
other instances where the bassoons lend their voice in more animated writing,
and Rameau called on the bassoons agility to give sprightly gesture to lively
dances, but here the bassoon rarely takes the lead, answering rather to the call
of the strings and upper winds. So, more than anything, the bassoon came to be
associated with the inner recesses of human nature rather than proud exaltation
or jubilation, and that is perhaps why Michel Corette named his 1739 set of
bassoon pieces Les Dlices de la Solitude (The Delights of Solitude); eager that
his publication reach a wider public, he listed bassoon only after cello and viol.
If the bassoon had a fairly prescribed ambitus of roles in the opera house, in
the private salon and chamber music settings it routinely filled a more varied
assortment of roles. An abundance of anthologies of popular operatic tunes
were compiled for the varied needs of private music making. Tracks 13 are
taken from one such source entitled Les Gentils Airs - ou Airs Connus, ajuste
en duo, pour basson seul accompagn dun clavecin, assembled by the
Leclerc brothers who, as well as running a music publishing business, played
violin in the Opra orchestra and so were familiar with the operatic repertoire,
and the capabilities of their orchestral colleagues. When the anthology was
9

compiled in the middle of the eighteenth century the bassoon section at the
Opra included Chedeville, closely related to the Hotteterres, Brunelle, Nicholas
de Labarre and Antoine Dard, who had published a set of six highly virtuosic
Sonatas in 1759. Dards title Six Sonates pour le bassoon ou violoncel
avec basse continue gave pride of place to the bassoon and effectively
turned the tables on its secondary role to its prime competitor, the cello.
The contents of Les Gentils Airs indicates that it had become quite appropriate
for the bassoon to take on a broader range of characters, including the rollicking
Les Sauvages. Said to have been inspired by a troupe of Amerindians brought
to Paris, the piece started life as a solo harpsichord work (published 1726) before
becoming more widely known in an operatic version in the final entre of Rameaus
hugely successful Indes galantes (1735 with Les Sauvages added 1736). It is hard to
say what if anything is inherently savage (that is, primitive) about this music.
In the opera it is scored for violins and oboes on the top line, alternating with a
soprano and bass duo and chorus with the text Forts paisibles (Peaceful Forests).
In Leclercs scaled-down version for two bass instruments, the piece takes on a
jovial, satiric tone. The other two selections from Les Gentils Airs are the equally
famous Tamborin from Rameaus Keyboard Suite in E minor (1724, also recycled in
a later opera) and La Furstemberg taken from a keyboard work by Michel Corrette.
It is unclear whether this is an original composition by Corrette or an arrangement
of a folk melody, but whatever the case, it is full of rustic charm. There is precedence
for playing it alongside Rameaus Tamborin as Corrette himself placed them
together in one of his Concertos Comiques, a set of pastiche works that featured
famous tunes from the theatres and streets of Paris. There is a further, historical
and wholly serendipitous connection between La Furstemberg and the bassoon.
The manuscript of the Fasch bassoon sonata bears the notation Ex. Lib Comitum
de FrstenbergHerdringen indicating that it was part of the library of Baron
Clemens Lothar von Frstenberg, which also houses the most significant collection
of music for a regimental oboe band to have survived from the eighteenth century.
10

The Irish Air, Eileen Aroon, arranged for bassoon and continuo by Handels first
violinist in Dublin, Matthew Dubourg is a precious link to an original performance.
The Dublin Journal mentioned that on 5 March 1745 Mr. Alcock will play
Eileen ORoon...with some new Graces set on purpose for the Basson [sic] by
Mr Dubourg and a Concerto by Mr Boyce. Alcock (or Allcock) is recorded as
playing bassoon in Dublin on three occasions in 174446. This may have been
the same John Alcock who published A Favourite Duett for two bassoons or
cellos and other music based on Christmas noels and hymns. Unfortunately,
the bassoon version of Eileen ORoon does not appear to have survived, but
it is likely that it would have been very similar to Dubourgs arrangement for
harpsichord, which is also one of the earliest arrangements of the tune. Peter
Whelan found the harpsichord version in the National Library of Ireland and
discovered that with only light revisions he could easily adapt it on purpose for
the bassoon. The tune Eileen Aroon (variant spellings are efforts to Anglicise
the Gaelic original) is also known as Robin Adair, and gained great popularity,
its charm attracting many composers including Beethoven and Haydn.
Geoffrey Burgess, 2014

11

12

Peter Whelan bassoon

Principal bassoon with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 2008, Whelan was
described by the Philadelphia Enquirer as an absolute master of fleet facility with a
solidly plush tone of wondrous immediacy. Equally at home on modern and historical
instruments, Whelan has a diverse repertoire spanning over four centuries and is
in constant demand as a soloist and chamber musician. He has received glowing
responses from audiences and critics across the globe, including a Gramophone
Award for his recording of the Vivaldi Bassoon Concertos with La Serenissima.
As a concerto soloist, Whelan has performed in many of Europes most prestigious
venues, including the Musikverein (Vienna), Lingotto (Turin), St Johns Smith Square
(Lufthansa Festival) and the Cadogan and Wigmore Halls. He has recorded the Weber
Bassoon Concerto for Linn with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and his recording of
Mozarts Bassoon Concerto with Arcangelo will be released on the Hyperion label in 2015.
Whelan is the founder and artistic director of Ensemble Marsyas whose debut
album of Zelenka Sonatas received a Supersonic Award and was named BBC
Music Magazines Chamber Choice. A new recording of the sonatas of Fasch
is scheduled for release in 2014, coinciding with Ensemble Marsyas Wigmore
Hall debut. Whelan has also collaborated with the Belcea Quartet, London
Winds, Robert Levin, Anthony Marwood and Monica Huggett and appears
with Tori Amos in her album Night of Hunters (Deutsche Gramophone).
Whelan has also has worked with many of Europes finest orchestras and
directors including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Orchestra of the Age
of Enlightenment (Sir Simon Rattle), London Symphony Orchestra, Australian
Chamber Orchestra, the English Baroque Soloists (Sir John Eliot Gardiner),
Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre and Oper Zurich.
Whelan is Professor of Baroque Bassoon at the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama and gives masterclasses at conservatories across the UK and Europe.
13

Sarah McMahon cello

Sarah McMahon began learning
the cello in Nairobi at the age of ten.
She subsequently moved to Dublin to
study with Nora Gilleece at the Royal
Irish Academy of Music. Following this,
she enrolled at the Royal Academy of
Music in London where she continued
her studies with David Strange,
Jenny Ward-Clarke and Colin Carr.
McMahon founded the Callino
Quartet with whom she now has
a busy performing schedule. They
have collaborated with numerous
composers for string quartet including Kevin Volans, Ian Wilson, Arvo Prt,
Gyorgy Kurtg, Alexander Knaifel, Aleksandra Vrebalov and Peteris Vasks.
McMahon is passionately committed to historical performance practice and
is principal cello with the Irish Baroque Orchestra and a member of Camerata
Kilkenny and Ensemble Marsyas. She also receives regular invitations to
play guest principal cello with the Academy of Ancient Music, Arcangelo,
the Aurora orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

14

Thomas Dunford lute

Born in 1988, Thomas Dunford
discovered the lute at the age of 9,
thanks to the encouragement of Claire
Antonini. He was awarded a unanimous
Premier Prix with honours in the class
of Charles-Edouard at the Conservatoire
Suprieur de Paris before completing
his studies at the Schola Cantorum
in Basel with Hopkinson Smith.
His first professional appearance was
as the onstage lutenist at the Comdie
Franaise in Shakespeares Twelfth
Night. He has gone on to perform as
soloist and chamber musician across Europe and Asia at many of the most prestigious
festivals including, Ambronay, Saintes, La Chaise Dieu and Bozar with ensembles
such as Le Concert Spirituel, Les Arts Florissants, LEnsemble Baroque de Limoges,
Capriccio Stravagante, La Serenissima, the Irish Baroque Orchestra, the English
Concert, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, La Symphonie du Marais and La Fenice.
Dunford has an impressive discography including recordings with La
Capella Mediterranea, Ensemble Clmatis, Monica Huggett, Andrea Benedetti,
La Serenissima, A 2 Violes Esgales, Capricio Stravagante, Arcangelo,
and a recording of J.S. Bachs Mass in B minor with Pygmalion.
A versatile musician, Dunford has collaborated with the likes of Christophe Coin,
Monica Huggett, William Christie, Skip Semp, Francois Lazarvitch, Paul Agnew
and Jean Tubry, but is also at home playing other genres of music including jazz.
15

Philippe Grisvard Keyboard

Philippe Grisvard was born in Nancy,
France in 1980. He studied piano and oboe
before joining the harpsichord class of
Anne-Catherine Bcher. He was educated
at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
where he studied harpsichord and basso
continuo with Jesper Christensen and
pianoforte with Edoardo Torbianelli.
Grisvard was invited to join La Cetra
Barockorchester in Basel where he
performed under the direction of artists
such as Ren Jacobs, Jordi Savall and
Konrad Junghnel. On completion of his
studies he became the harpsichordist of the ensemble Harmonie Universelle, lead by
Florian Deuter, where he plays as both continuo player and soloist on tour throughout
Europe and the USA and on the ensembles recordings for the Eloquentia label.
Grisvard lives in Paris and performs regularly with Le Pome Harmonique,
Les Nouveaux Caractres, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, La Chapelle
Rhnane, La Fenice and Le Cercle de lHarmonie, he also plays and records as a
chef de chant with Emmanuelle Haims concert dAstre including productions
of the Fairy Queen, La Resurrezione, Orlando, Agrippina and Giulio Cesare.

16

Ensemble Marsyas
Formed to explore the virtuoso wind
music from the eighteenth century, the
Edinburgh based Ensemble Marsyas
counts amongst its members some of
the finest historical instrumentalists
working in Europe today. Having first
met whilst studying in Basel and
performing with the European Union
Baroque Orchestra, the core members
of the ensemble went on to win first
prize and audience prize at the 2007
Brugge International Competition playing
the music of Zelenka. Each member
has since established themselves at the forefront of the profession and individually
they have been awarded accolades by both critics and the recording industry alike.
Their debut recording of the Sonatas of Zelenka (Linn), was awarded a PizzicatoSupersonic Award and was named BBC Music Magazines Chamber Choice.
Ensemble Marsyas is in demand at prestigious festivals across Europe
and future plans include appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Festival di
Musica Antica delle Camelie (Ticino- Switzerland) and at the East Neuk
Festival with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout as well as a continued
collaboration with Gramophone magazines label of the year, Linn.

17

Ensemble Marsyas
Zelenka: Sonatas

Peter Whelan
& Scottish Chamber
Orchestra

Dunedin Consort
J.S. Bach:
Six Brandenburg
Concertos

Vivaldi:
LAmore per Elvira

Pamela Thorby

The Avison
Ensemble

Trio Sonnerie

Weber: Wind Concertos

Dunedin Consort

J.S. Bach: John Passion,

Reconstruction of
Bachs Passion Liturgy

CKD 435

ALSO AVAILABLE ON LINN

The Nightingale
and the Butterfly

Handel:
Concerti Grossi Op. 6

For even more great music visit linnrecords.com

Glasgow Road, Waterfoot, Eaglesham, Glasgow, G76 0EQ

T: +44 (0)141 303 5027 | E: info@linnrecords.co.uk

La Serenissima

La Gamme