International Double Reed Society Conference 2023

Description

Forgotten Fagotten: Returning the bassoon to the basso of the early classical orchestra

Performances of Pre-Classic symphonies are often performed by orchestras comprising pairs of oboes, horns, with strings and maybe a harpsichord. The earliest symphonies of Haydn were performed by violins, violas, basso continuo together with the ensemble of the Feldmusik oboes, bassoons and horns. Eighteenth Century scoring conventions vary from those used today. Earlier scores were organised with melody instruments above the bass instruments. Modern scores group instruments according to sound production; winds, brass, percussion and strings. Mozart, Haydn and their contemporaries did not specify on their scores which bass instruments to use. Copyists also used the generic term basso. Breitkopf und Härtel in the Alte Mozart Ausgabe as well as Bärenreiter in the Neue Mozart Ausgabe did not use the term basso, it was ‘translated’ to Violoncello e Basso. It appears that an assumption has been made that basso, perhaps because it is grouped with other string instruments at the bottom of the score, is to mean cellos and double basses. This may be the reason modern performances have excluded the bassoon. Eighteenth Century treatises and music manuscripts provide evidence of the use of the bassoon and show how these practices can be adopted to offer contemporary audiences historically informed performances.

Period	20 Jul 2023
Event type	Conference
Location	Bangkok, ThailandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International