George Frederick McKay · section 16 of 111

The Contrabassoon

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The contrabassoon is pitched an octave below the bassoon. Because its tone is somewhat dull and harsh, and its action necessarily sluggish, it is mainly useful for octave doubling to create the deepest possible bass effects, but it is occasionally used for special dramatic characterization: e.g., to represent the beast in "Beauty and the Beast" from the Mother Goose Suite by Ravel.

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