There was a rhapsodic theme for leader Jim Clark, charming solos from oboe and French horn and a lovely creamy
contrabassoon melody before the whole came to a splendid conclusion.
Scoring: 2 flutes (1 doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (1 doubling English horn), 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons,
contrabassoon, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, percussion, harp, celeste, strings.
To be accompanied by five jazz flutes and a
contrabassoon I will never again climb a mountain, read St.
A brief, queasy passage from a
contrabassoon almost made me physically ill, but I think that's rather what Strauss intended.
For example, can the
contrabassoon part be played up an octave?
As a bona fide contralto, she possesses a voice whose lower range violates gender boundaries, inasmuch as it sounds "masculine," just as the counter-tenor (and, earlier, the castrato) sounds "feminine." Several critics writing about Podles have remarked on the "slightly aggressive quality of her singing" (So), on her "huge voice" as a "powerhouse instrument" (Graham), a "great, big
contrabassoon of a voice" (Dobrin), with a "brassy, ringing volume [that stands] as irrefutable proof of the inferiority of countertenor Rinaldos" and of "a peeping male alto" (Anson).
The result, concocted under the baton of Gerard Schwarz, was a kaleidoscope of special sound effects, ranging from a flying wicked witch in low-key Russian romantic Anatol Liadov's concise Baba Yaga, through to the flatulent punctuation of the
contrabassoon in Stravinsky's puppet-inspired high-profile ballet, Petrouchka.
The way to do this is to sit them down and discuss sex in a very frank manner, the way they did in your high school health class, intoning in a solemn voice: 'The female sex organs consist of the pupa, the uvula, the medina, the hyphen, the sui genesis and the tubes; the male organs consist of the seminole vessel, the vast difference, the pendula and the
contrabassoon. During intercourse, the pendula reaches a state of engorgement and is placed in the vicinity of the medina, which responds in kind until both organs have secreted a variety of fluidic substances, at which time withdrawal becomes possible.' After a few minutes of this kind of talk, your kids will give up on sex and go back to their computers, and you'll be safe for another week or two."
Instruments like the
contrabassoon and piccolo became standard in the orchestra.
This made people assume this was a
contrabassoon part ahead of its time, but in fact it is perfectly playable on the bassoon at a' = 392 (if transposed up a minor 3rd), while the strings play at a' = 465.
One illustration of this is the four-part counterpoint between horns, trombones,
contrabassoon (and contrabass), and bass drum in measures 359-75, where both the horns and trombones are compound by two voices in the same rhythm (Example 34a).
The orchestral playing under Edward Gardner is excellent and the Chandos recording is impressively detailed and transparent - listen to the
contrabassoon's distinctive woody notes.
Choir I also includes a
contrabassoon. The orchestral core--violins I and II, viola, cello and violone, and organ continuo--is linked mainly to choir I, whose instruments tend to carry the concerted material.
This concerto calls for extremes in orchestral range, from piccolo to
contrabassoon, and a variety of tonal colors, enhanced by glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, cymbals, chimes, tam-tam, bass drum, harp and celesta - a percussionist's idea of nirvana.
Originally scored for double woodwinds and three horns (optional cello, bass,
contrabassoon), this is a challenging arrangement, as the original requires great range, virtuosity, and flexibility from the high wind players.
