The bassoon has a timbre of great individuality. It has a certain ungainly charm that lends itself to comic effects, but it can also be plaintively expressive, especially in the upper part of its range.
Normally the bassoon supplies a thickening ingredient for the bass in passages where fullness and power are needed. When used as foreground or melody its value is mainly in the addition of dramatic characterization. Because of the grotesque character of its sound the listener's interest is soon lost when the bassoon timbre is overused.
The bassoonist can make skips with relative ease, and legato playing is possible but does not sound quite as comfortably fluent as on the flute or the clarinet. As with the oboe, florid design goes somewhat "against the grain," but staccato effects are very natural and are easily produced.
The bassoon may disappoint if expected to sound softly in low register. As the player progresses down into this register there is an increasingly sharp edge to the articulation that works against the possibility of playing softly.
For typical examples of bassoon use hear the very opening measures of Le Sacre du Printemps by Stravinsky, the opening
statement of L'Apprenti Sorcier by Dukas, and the beginning of the movement "Uranus" from The Planets by Holst.
Playable Books