Short Description

Small-sized bassoons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their organological and musicological aspects were the focus of two research projects carried out by a team of researchers from October 2017–April 2023, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, and hosted at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Musik Akademie Basel, FHNW (https://www.historical-bassoon.ch/). A third project, “Neue alte Klangkörper”, was carried out as a preliminary step to instrument printing and reconstructions, and successfully tested 3D-CT technologies to produce initial copies of two fagottini (https://www.fhnw.ch/plattformen/3dfagottino/). This trial was funded by Die Mobiliar, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW).

The team explored the history and functions of smaller bassoons from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, covering a comprehensive scope of research. Evidence of the usage of these instruments in orchestral, chamber music, opera and sacred settings, as well as in pedagogy, indicate that they formerly played multi-functional roles in musical and cultural life before virtually disappearing in the twentieth century. Imprecise terminology is widespread, leading to questions regarding choice of appropriate instrument size, as well as the necessity to re-evaluate bassoon repertoire.

Outcomes include a complete instrument catalogue with over 120 entries (folder A), photographic material (folders B and C of examined instruments) supplemented by 62 detailed datasets (folders D, E, F, G, H), an annotated suggested repertoire list (folder A), and related articles and links (folder J). Innovative 3-D printing technology was used to create synthetic prototypes of several small-size bassoons (folder I), followed by conventionally-constructed models, enabling a thorough evaluation of organological and musical qualities of each size and type in performance and pedagogical trials. The use of these small bassoons (originals, wooden copies, 3D-prints) in musical practice showed that they are a hitherto unknown but attractive colour, regained for the instrumentarium of the 18th and 19th centuries.