Date of Award

2009

Type

Thesis

Major

Music Education - Instrumental Concentration

Degree Type

Bachelor of Music in Music Education

Department

Schwob School of Music

First Advisor

Andrée Martin

Abstract

Good afternoon! Welcome to my lecture recital. I hope you will enjoy learning about the bassoon in the Baroque era. This lecture focuses on the origins and developments of the Baroque bassoon, elements of Baroque style found in music for bassoon, and the application of those elements through Antonio Vivaldi's composition for bassoon, Concerto in G minor, Op. No. 23.

In the 1901 edition of his book, The Holy Cross and Other Tales, Eugene Field states:

If you have never beheld or heard a bassoon you are to understand that it is an instrument of wood, of considerable more length than breadth, provided with numerous stops and keys, and capable of producing an infinite variety of tones, ranging from the depth of lugubriousness to the highest pitch of vivacity (198).

The legacy of the bassoon goes back over four hundred years, beginning with the precursor to the bassoon, the dulcian. The earliest written reference to the dulcian is from the early sixteenth century; it is thought that the dulcian originated around that time (Jansen 14). The original dulcian was made of one piece of wood, had few keys, and had a wide, conical bore. Its name derived from the Latin root dulc, meaning soft and sweet, and is thought to refer to the subdued tone quality of the dulcian, which contrasted to the louder tones of the shawms and pommers (Oxford 4). Shawms were double-reed instruments similar to oboes that developed into families during the rise of instrumental playing in the early sixteenth century; the lowest pitched of which were called pommers. These families had different sizes of the same instrument, with adaptations depending on the individual instruments, and made it possible to perform with an extended range within the family.

Comments

Honors Thesis

Download
DAISY

Share

COinS