(28.12.1938 - 1.12.2012)
jrs@netspace.net.auPublished in part in The Double Reed 2008; 31: 86–109.
Last revised and up-dated November 1, 2012.
The term obbligato, “an accompanying part of semi-independent melodic character played by a single instrument and combining freely with the remainder of the accompaniment” applies to many challenging and rewarding instrumental parts from the baroque and early classical eras. Amongst wind instruments, obbligati for bassoon are less common than for oboe, flute or trumpet, but there are outstanding examples in the cantatas BWV 149, 155 and 177 of Johann Sebastian Bach. The bassoon is also found as an obbligato instrument in works of Telemann, Graupner, Zelenka, JC and CPE Bach, the Graun brothers, Handel, Keiser, Naumann, Stölzel, Hasse and Steffani, as well as Fux and Caldara and their contemporaries at the Habsburg court. A later example is the aria “Solo un pianto con to versare” ("Ah! nos peines", "Only to shed a tear with you") from Medea of Cherubini, performed in 1797. While Mozart wrote no aria with bassoon as the single obbligato instrument, he often used bassoon as part of a concertante group.
There appears to be no source that documents vocal works in which bassoon is used as an obbligato or prominent continuo instrument. This genre receives only minimal attention in the two most complete compendia of bassoon repertoire (1,2), although David Lindsey Clark’s book on woodwind repertoire identifies some important examples (3). This repertoire is drawn together here, together with published and unpublished sources and selected recordings. Links to scores or parts that are available on-line, here or elsewhere, have been added, together with links to performances on YouTube. (YouTube listings can change; it is often useful to search for the aria by composer and title).
Many pre-1700 works, probably written for dulcian, have not been catalogued here. Vocal works with bass double-reed obbligati, or major continuo parts, by composers such as Heinrich Schütz, Dietrich Buxtehude, Samuel Capricornus, Marc Antonio Ziani, Christian Liebe, Matthias Weckmann, Nicolaus Bruhns, Marcin Mielczewski, Johann Adam Krieger, Johann Herman Schein and numerous Spanish composers who wrote for this combination (4), merit a separate catalogue. More modern works by Chabrier, Stravinsky, Britten, Poulenc, Weill, Grainger and Bantock, many of them mentioned by Clark (3), are also not included here. Numerous contemporary vocal works with bassoon as sole obbligato instrument or in chamber group settings, can be found on the website, The Lied, Art Ssong and Choral texts Archive (5).
The initial focus was on arias in which the bassoon had a solo obbligato role, but this has been extended to a larger repertoire in which bassoon can be used as continuo instrument, particularly in the cantatas of JS Bach. Explicit bassoon parts exist for only about ten of his cantatas, but the use of bassoon was probably more frequent, especially with the oboe family. In the recordings of Bach cantatas directed by Harnoncourt, Gardiner, Koopman or Suzuki, bassoon is used quite extensively, although these authorities differ substantially in their choices. There are notable instances where solo bassoon has been used in arias where the designation is simply “continuo”, as in cantatas BWV 56, 86, 87, 97, 149 and 202. Use of bassoon in Handel operas also varies in different presentations. The Andrew Lawrence-King recording of the early Handel opera Almira uses bassoon as a major continuo instrument, whether with oboes or not. Bassoon may also be a continuo option in various cantatas from Telemann’s Harmonischer Gottesdienst.
Terminology in eighteenth century manuscripts was sometimes inconsistent about the intended instrument. The proposition that "fagotto" implies an instrument of dulcian style while basson or bassono indicate the more modern four-part instrument is not supportable from the sources documented here; the difference in terminology was often regional. While the term “fagotto” was standard in the Viennese sources, “bassono” and “fagotto” seemed to be used interchangeably in many German sources, with “basson” dominant in France and "bassono" in the Stölzel sources, now held in Sondershausen. Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) avoids any confusion or controversy, but may blur important distinctions by consistently using the description fagotto (fag), regardless of terminology in original autographs or transcriptions. In one Graupner cantata (419/13, 1711), the instrument is described as “Fagotto obl” on the title page, but “Bassono solo” in the score, apparently by the same copyist. Listings are given here using the original terminology without implying any specific instrument. Glüxam (ref 15, p 507) points out a paradox in several arias of Bononcini in which fagotto and basson are both specified. These arias include solo treble chalumeau, which raises the possibility that the term basson may refer to a bass member of a chalumeau group known as "basson du chalumeau". Thus, conclusions about the intended instrument may be better based on the setting of an aria and characteristics of the part, than on terminology used by copyists.
The range of obbligato parts is generally up to g’, extending to a' flat, notably in the aria “Willkommen, Heiland! Freut euch, Väter!” from “Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu” of CPE Bach and up to a' with J.S. Bach in the B minor Mass and Telemann in Die Donnerode. The upper register of the bassoon is extensively used in the operas of Rameau, although the diversity of eighteenth century sources and variations in modern editions (6,7) make it difficult to be sure what Rameau actually wrote. At the lower extreme of the range, B flat appears only occasionally (e.g. Zelenka's sixth Jeremiah Lamentation and in Gassmann's "Pallide ombre" from L'opera seria). The paradoxical B natural and contra G in “Du musst glauben” in JS Bach’s cantata BWV155 is probably explained by the fact that a bassoon “in tiefem Kammerton” (a' 392), would sound a minor third below an organ tuned “in hohem Chorton” (a' 466), so that fingered B flat would coincide with the contra G, and fingered D would produce B natural in relation to such an organ (8). In that relationship, the highest note in the BWV 155 aria would be a comfortable tenor f'. Original instruments at this low a' 392 “french” pitch are found close to where Bach’s works were first performed (9).
The arias listed here cover a range of affect. In religious works, arias with bassoon obbligato generally have a dark and sombre affect. Light relief is provided in the operas of Telemann and Keiser, in the works of Boyce, Gassmann and Storace and in the Vauxhall songs of JC Bach. The role of the bassoon in the works listed here ranges from a melodic obbligato that introduces and interweaves with the voice, often in da capo form, to an additional or elaborated continuo part. While bassoon may be specified as part of the ripieno continuo, tacet when the voice enters, there is a contrasting style in the early eighteenth century that uses bassoon in unison with the vocal line, particularly by Telemann. For some operas (eg Gluck, Die Pilger von Mekka) there appear to be several versions, with and without the colla voce bassoon.
The same or similar material may appear in several works. For example, the well-known aria “Venti, turbini” with obbligato violin and bassoon from Handel’s Rinaldo is a re-run of an aria from a cantata Apollo and Dafne, written decades earlier. Handel’s aria “Pena tiranna” from Amadigi appears to be “borrowed” from Reinhard Keiser. Haydn used the same material with obbligato bassoon in Il Mondo della Luna and Philemon et Baucis. There is a notable similarity between three Vivaldi works, the “baggage” aria “Ch’ alla colpa fa’traggitto” found in Copenhagen, the aria with bassoon obbligato “Non lusinghi il core amante” from L’Incoronazione di Dario and “Dell’alma superba” from Serenata a tre, RV 690. Mozart’s Idomeneo aria “Se il padre perdei” with wind quartet, reappears as “Plasmator Deus” with obbligato for bassoon alone; the arranger is not known. Telemann, Sacchini, Righini and Himmel were among those who recycled the same score with different text in operatic and liturgical works. Telemann also seems to have "borrowed" from Reinhard Keiser. The notation of the Telemann aria “Dein ängstliches Klagen” with multiple obbligato bassoons from his cantata Kommt verruchte Sodoms-Knechte, TWV 1:1014, a cantata lost in Kiev from 1945 to 1999 (22), is identical to the aria "Geloso sospetto tormenta" from Keiser's Octavia, probably written some years earlier. In the classical era, there is some similarity between Beethoven's use of horns and bassoon in "Komm Hoffnung" in Fidelio and Johann Friedrich Reichardt's "Ihr verblühet, süsse Rosen" in Erwin und Elmire, written a decade or so earlier.
At least seven composers wrote bassoon obbligati for arias in the Passion texts by Pietro Metastasio and Reinhold Brockes. For Brockes’ text “Der für die Sünde der Welt ermartete und sterbende Jesus”, Keiser wrote an aria with chorus “Eilt ihr angefochtnen Seelen” for soprano, SATB, three bassoni, oboes and strings, and a soprano aria “Wisch ab der Tränen scharfe Lauge” for soprano, two bassoni, strings and continuo. Handel used soprano, two bassoni and continuo in the aria “Was Wunder, dass der Sonnen Pracht”. Stölzel set “Schäumest du, der Schaum der Welt?" as an alto aria with solo parts for both bassoon and cello. For the Metastasio text, Naumann and Salieri both wrote bassoon obbligati for Pietro in “Se a librarsi ...”, Paisiello for Giovanni in “Dovunque il guardo giro” and Lucchesi for Giuseppe in “Torbido mar che freme”. Naumann’s bassoon obbligato of concerto proportions in the tenor aria “Se a librarsi in mezzo all’onde incomincia il fanciuletto” in his 1767 Padua setting of La Passione, does not appear in the later 1787 Dresden version.
There was an innovation in the presentation of bassoon obbligati from the classical period in the 2004 Köln production of Wenzel Müller’s opera Kaspar der Fagottist, (alternative title, Die Zauberzither). In this magic opera, contemporary with Mozart’s Zauberflöte (10), the title character, Kaspar, is accompanied by a genie or fairy, Pizziki. Her role in the by-play and dialogue of this Singspiel is associated with prominent bassoon passages. In the 2004 production, the role of Pizziki was taken by a petite bassooniste in ballet tu-tu, whose playing on-stage was charming and dextrous.
The high-point of obbligati for single instruments is in church music from the first half of the eighteenth century, in the case of JS Bach often in the format voice(s), solo instrument and continuo in da capo format, generally emphasizing a single affect around a brief repeated text. From about 1760, the instrumental soli, even those that are complex and technically demanding, become more absorbed into the orchestral texture, a trend that occurs in the works of JC Bach that are listed here. A decline of solo obbligati through the eighteenth century may be reflected by the fact that Telemann’s Lukaspassion of 1727 includes extensive bassoon obbligati, whereas his Lukaspassion of 1744 has no specific bassoon part. A notable exception is the extensive obbligato in Neris’ aria “Ah! nos peines” from Medea of Cherubini from 1797.
Despite the apparent decline in new obbligati, arias with obbligato bassoon continued to appear in concerts, for example when James Holmes (11) accompanied a Mrs Ashe in a performance of Paisiello’s “Ah fate, O Dio di pianto”, from his cantata “Il Ritorno di Perseo” on Friday 14 February 1806 in London, on the same program that featured a New Grand Symphony for a full band by Beethoven (12).The William Boyce aria “Softly rise,O southern breeze” was performed in York on Thursday September 25, 1823 at the Yorkshire Grand Music Festival, sung by Mr Vaughan, with bassoon obbligato by Mr (John) Mackintosh (1767–1844) (10), (The Harmonicon, vol I, p151, 1823). Lesser known works included an aria "Angel of life" by Callcott sung by Mr Phillips, with bassoon obbligato by Mackintosh, performed 13 February 1828 at a Guidhall concert for the benefit of Italian and Spanish refugees. On March 29 1828, a recit and aria "The snares of death" by Sir John Stevenson (1761-1833) was performed at the same place by the same performers, for the benefit of City of London National, Ward and Parochial schools. (The Quarterly Music Magazine and Review 1828, vol IX, p 361, p 476.) The source of an aria with obbligato bassoon "Odi grand 'ombra", variously attributed to DeMajo or Sarti, has not so far been located. (The Harmonicon, vol III, p110–1, 1825; vol X, p115, 1832).
Bassoon obbligati were prominent in Berlin. Several sources from the early nineteenth century indicate that the obbligato in the aria “Non più di fiori” from Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito was sometimes played by bassoon rather than the customary basset-horn. This modification is mentioned in the Zeitung für die elegante Welt, 1802: 2; p 108; in the Dramaturgisches Wochenblatt of October 1816 p 106, the critic was positive about the bassoon obbligato, but critical of the singer. No original performance material has been found, but an obbligato part is on-line here, as it might have been modified for bassoon. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, 1 May 1805, p 517, describes a Carl Bärmann performance of an obbligato from the Righini opera Atalanta e Meleagro. The AMZ of 18 April 1804 p 479, refers to Georg Wenzel Ritter playing an obbligato by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel, probably in the aria “Deh tergi quel pianto”, which was also played later in Schwerin, with Rapp and Haydner as soloists (11). Both the Himmel and Righini arias are written in truly soloistic style for the bassoon. The parts and scores of both these arias are excellently preserved – see composer listings for download option and sources of the complete material.
Several controversial bassoon obbligati appear in this listing, for example in standard works of Mozart and Handel. The details of Hiller’s bassoon obbligato in the aria “If God be for us” that appeared with the 1803 Breitkopf publication of the Mozart revision of Handel’s Messiah have been documented by Dennis Pajot (13), with an account of the uncertainty that surrounds the first 1800 Breitkopf publication of the Mozart Requiem, which specifies bassoon instead of alto trombone for the instrumental solo in "Tuba Mirum" (13). Another puzzle surrounds the 1985 recording of Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino (1813) from the Warsaw Chamber Opera in which the florid english horn obbligato in the aria “Ah voi condur volete ala disperazione” is played an octave lower on bassoon, with some success. Rossini’s virtuoso english horn obbligato in the "Gratias agimus tibi" of the Missa di Gloria (CD Hänssler Classic 98.359) may also have been played on the bassoon (14) but it should be noted that Rossini’s english horn parts were often notated in bass clef in nineteenth century scores, so that an english horn in F would sound at the correct pitch when played with bassoon fingerings, reading from bass clef! (Vienna Symphonic Library - Woodwind notation: http://vsl.co.at/en/70/3161/3168/3171/5568.vsl) Thus, a potential misunderstanding that these parts were intended for bassoon.
The remarkable use of the bassoon as a major obbligato instrument at the Habsburg Court in Vienna, 1705-1740, has been recently documented in Dagmar Glüxam’s encyclopaediac publication “Instrumentarium und Instramentalstil in der Wiener Hofoper zwischen 1705 und 1740” (15) which identifies over 30 operatic arias with obbligati for one or two bassoons by Fux, Caldara, Porsile, Conti, Ariosti, Reutter, Bononcini and Predieri. In some arias there is a striking juxtaposition of four bass timbres – bass voice, two solo fagotti and continuo, often with the instruction “senza cembalo/cembali”; sombre settings of this sort have been rare since then. So far, there is no systematic study of the religious works from the Vienna Hofkapelle, equivalent in detail to the work of Glüxam for the operatic sources, but from works already listed here, these also abound in challenging arias with instrumental obbligati, in particular for bassoon. Further examples of this rich tradition from Vienna are found in eighteenth century copies in the Anton Ulrich collection in the Max Reger Archiv in Meiningen, documented in detail by Laurence Bennett (16). Some copies in Meiningen may now be the only surviving sources. This repertoire is also considered in Bruce Mac Intyre’s 1986 thesis on the Viennese Concerted Mass (17) and in Michael Nagy’s paper on bass wind instrument obbligati in the works of Fux (18). Notably, there is a unique collection of arias with obbligati for one or two bassoons in the Östereichische Nationalbibliothek (19) amongst five volumes of early eighteenth century transcriptions of arias by Vienna court composers of 1705–1740, bound according to the obbligato instrument in the style of present-day orchestral studies. (Three other volumes contain arias with violin, ‘cello and trumpet obbligati; a fifth, possibly for flute/oboe/chalumeaux, is lost). The bassoon volume contains transcriptions of twelve arias with obbligato parts for one or two bassoons. Court records give clues to the players who first performed these works (see Glüxam (15) and the link to 12 Vienna arias).
There are certainly works still to be added to this collection. Many of the composers listed here only once use the bassoon so elegantly that it is likely that they wrote in this genre more than once. More works will undoubtedly emerge, for example as RISM sources become more complete. It is notable that the distinguished Australian musicologist, the late Andrew McCredie, in his 1964 doctoral thesis: Instrumentarium and Instrumentation in the North German Baroque Opera (20), gave details of obbligati in the operas of Telemann, Reinhard Keiser and others, as well as location of sources. This valuable resource is now accessible on-line through the University of Melbourne (20). Kleefeld (21) gives information about instrumental resources in the Hamburg opera of that era.
The recovery of the collection of the Singakademie zu Berlin, sequestered in Kiev from 1945 till 1999 (22), has led to the rediscovery of many vocal and instrumental works. From the bassoon viewpoint, previously forgotten or lost works works of Telemann (23) and CPE Bach (24) are particularly interesting. Much of this material is now available on microfiche (23, 24). There are many obbligati for one and two bassoons, some with oboe, amongst the more than 1400 cantatas of Christoph Graupner, held at the Hessische Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt. The scores and parts of almost all these cantatas are now accessible on-line (25). After 250 to 300 years, the material is remarkably complete and well preserved. Some early cantatas, e.g. 419/13 from 1711, demonstrate a style of melodic solo writing for bassoon that seems well ahead of its time; others are elaborate ostinato continuo parts, often with oboe. Some da capo arias with complex bass lines require extraordinary technical facility and endurance. In a cluster of cantatas from 1716 to 1724, two obbligato bassoons play in octaves with violins or violetti. In other arias, bassoon or viola d'amore are listed as alternative soloists. Bassoon is a prominent obbligato instrument in at least 20 of about 150 cantatas by Georg Gebel written in Rudolstadt, Thüringen in 1747–1751. Details of these works are given in Schröter's Gebel Werkverzeichnis (26). The solo bassoon parts from 15 of these cantatas are presented here (see Gebel link). His oboe obbligati appear to be unexplored.
It would be interesting to know more about the first performers of these works. In some instances, challenging obbligati were written for particular players, for example Georg Wenzel Ritter (1748–1808) in JC Bach’s Temistocle and in Reichardt's Brenno (11,27). Court records give some clues to the identity of virtuoso players. For example, JL Brauer and later Johann Christian Klotsch played for Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt in the period 1709–1753 (28). The obbligati written by Georg Gebel in Rudolstadt were probably played by Johann Wihelm Gehring (d.1787), who also played violin and flute (11,29), as supported by Gebel’s cantata HKR 951 where the manuscript part indicates that the same player was responsible for traverso 1 and fagotto solo. There are clues to the careers of these pioneers in Hodges’ compilation of player biographies (11). The players involved in the clusters of arias from the Vienna court of 1705–1740 are discussed by Glüxam (15) and in the link 12 Vienna Arias.
In contrast to arias in which the bassoon obbligato relates to the vocal line, there are some challenging examples from the later classical period where arias are introduced with an extended cadenza-like bassoon solo, for example “So bin ich nun verlassen” in Weber’s Euryanthe, “Vorrei veder” in Rossini’s Ciro in Babylonia and “Da tanto duolo” in Sofonisba of Ferdinando Paer.
There have been few recitals that feature arias with bassoon obbligati, for example that given by Keith Sweger of works of JC Bach at the 1993 International Double Reed Society Conference (30) and a program of “Hidden Repertoire” at the IDRS conference in Melbourne in 2004 (31). In Bolzano in 2008, Sergio Azzolini performed the JC Bach tenor arias with virtuoso bassoon obbligati from Temistocle and Alessandro nell’Indie. In June 2011, at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, Mélodie Michel gave a successful masters’ recital in which she presented seven secular arias with obbligato bassoon from this collection by Heinichen, Rameau, Pergolesi, Fux, Caldara, Telemann and Sammartini.
Greater familiarity with this repertoire will allow arias with obbligato bassoon to be programmed alongside vocal works with flute, oboe or clarinet, together with arias that combine several instruments. Quality keyboard reductions, now becoming more readily available, will be useful in making this possible. The "Works for performance" link identifies some of the arias with obbligati for bassoon, alone or together with other instruments, that are suitable for chamber or recital performance. Included are three virtually unknown works that include extensive obbligati through multiple movements for either one or two bassoons (Missa Pastoralis by Jacob Jan Ryba; Grand Motet, Laudate Nomen Domini by Jean Gilles; Per la tre Ore Dell'Agonia di Nostro Signor Giesu Cristo, probably by Zingarelli, rather than Jommelli (32,33)). The first two are published; the complete score of the third is available on-line from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (see Zingarelli listing).
Scores and parts on-line gives direct access to key sources, published and unpublished, that can be down-loaded. Listen on YouTube leads to recorded performances, many with associated video, of many arias with prominent bassoon parts. YouTube links can change rapidly. If the quoted YouTube link seems to have been deleted or blocked, it is worth searching for the aria by title.
The number of published works with bassoon obbligati has increased significantly since 2002, particularly in collected editions. The CPE Bach edition from Packard Humanities Institute includes his Saint Matthew Passion (2002) and Dank-Hymne der Freundschaft (2006), while the Telemann Werke series from Bärenreiter has added Trauerserenata für August den Starken (2007) and Sieg der Schönheit (2008). The Reichardt setting of the Singspiel on Goethe's Claudine was published by AR Editions in 2009.
In his notes for the CD “Unbekannte Arien für Sopran und concertierende Instrumente” (34), clarinettist-scholar, the late Dieter Klöcker, commented on this genre in which the voice is partnered by an obbligato instrument – “Judging by music publishers’ current catalogues, a musical category that seems hardly to exist any more; this combination of voice and one or more soloistically-treated wind or string instruments was extremely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.” His rediscoveries, some recorded with bassoonist Karl-Otto Hartmann, show how this repertoire, much of it of high quality, can be brought together from unpublished sources.
Familiarity with vocal works that include obbligato bassoon will enrich recital, recording and teaching repertoire, as well as pointing the way towards innovative graduate student work and personal research. While most of the little-known operas listed here may have no possibility of full production, they contain arias that could become recital gems. What could be a better parallel to instrumental training, than to seek out a little-known baroque or classical vocal work with challenging instrumental obbligati, prepare a performance edition and present the work in recital? On-line access to original sources is advancing apace and the possibilities are immense (35,36). For example, the Darmstadt autograph scores and manuscript parts of the 1400-or-so Graupner cantatas, many with bassoon obbligati, are now accessible on-line (25). Further details of most of the sources cited here can be found on-line in Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM) (37), or from the catalogue of the Musiksammlung der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek (38), a resource that is not currently included in RISM. Some major libraries (eg D-Dl, D-B, D-DS) allow free access to works that are on-line, while others (eg Pl-WRu) require payment for time-limited access to on-line sources. Following a request to the libraries by email, copies are sent as photocopies or on CD at modest cost. After the required scanning, works sometimes then become accessible on-line.
References:
Jim Stockigt is a physician-endocrinologist who studied bassoon in Melbourne with Thomas Wightman. He has had professional experience with both modern and baroque bassoon and has been active in orchestral and chamber music in Australasia, California and London, as well as participating in numerous Kronach symposia. Medical travel has often been enhanced by side-trips to music libraries. email: jrs@netspace.net.au