Playable BooksHector Berlioz · section 18 of 67
The Double-Bassoon
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The double-bassoon is to the bassoon what the double-bass is to the violoncello; that is, its sound is also an octave lower than the written notes. It is assigned a range of not more than two octaves and a
ulty can y istingui on account of their extreme depth. Mnguished It is obvious that this instrument, because of its extreme usness, is only suitable for grand harmonic effects and for bass movements of moderate speed. Beethoven used it in the finale of his C-minor Symphony and in that of his Ninth Symphony. He also used it in the d scene of his “Fidelio” (cf. Example 48, p. 124). As stated above in
The tenoroon occupies the same Position above the bassoon as the English horn below the oboe. The English horn is written a fifth above the real sound, the tenoroon a fifth below. The tenoroon therefore plays in F when the bassoons play in C, and in G when they are in D, etc. This instrument is missing in most orchestras; but it is successfully replaced in its upper two octaves by the English horn. Its tone has less feeling but more power that of the English horn. It would be of excellent effect in military bands. It is a great pity, and of great detriment to windinstrument bands, that bassoons should be entirely excluded from them, whereas the rough and harsh sound of these orchestras could be considerably softened by an appropriate number of large and small bassoons.
connection with the violoncellos, the lowest tones of the bassoons have also, in my opinion, no bass character—unless they are doubled by the low horns. In the modern orchestra, where even the smallest string quartet is weighted down by at least six double-basses, the wood-wind section requires a bass foundation of at least one double-bassoon— the natural bass of the wood-wind instruments, one bass clarinet, and perhaps one double-bass oboe if the composer wants to give the whole wood-wind group an independence matching approximately that of the string quintet. (Even the plain bass clarinet can serve as the bass for the three bassoons; cf. the chapter on the bass clarinet.) The double- } bassoon has recently been much improved by Wil- S helm Heckel, and its use is urgently recommended. The double-bassoon is very valuable in large bands, but only few players care to use it. Occasionally it is replaced by the ophicleide, whose tone, however, has not the same depth, since it is m unison with the ordinary bassoon, and not in the octave below; besides, the character of its timbre is entirely different from that of the double-bassoon. I think, therefore, that in the majority of cases it is better to do without poe souble-bassoon part than to replace it in such