At 7:23 PM -0400 5/18/11, Raymond Horton wrote:
John R. Howell writes:
Contrafagotto was very likely an instrument sounding an octave below pitch,
although it would take a bassoon history specialist to know for sure. (Are
you there, ContraReed?!!!)
Not a history project at all, John, the contrabassoon is very much
still with us - present in every full orchestra!
Sorry I wasn't clear. I was talking about Mendelssohn's orchestra,
whether in Leipzig or other places he might have been writing for. I
know Mozart used contra, and I think Beethoven as well, but I don't
know how widespread their use was, or whether there were other
"contra" models in use that were not necessarily a full octave below
the standard bassoon. Modern orchestra, sure, no problem. (Finding
a serpent player might be; euphonium might be the modern substitute,
but it isn't very close in sound.)
John
--
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Virginia Tech Department of Music
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[email protected])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
"We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition
of jazz musicians.
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