THE BASSOON

The Bizarre and Beautiful Woodwind

"I can easily understand why a person could
get excited about playing the bassoon." — Frank Zappa


The clown of the orchestra. The farting bedpost. Whatever you like to call it, the bassoon is one of the most intriguing members of the woodwind family in terms of both its appearance and its sound. It looks like somebody tried to make a saxophone out of a didgeridoo. As for the sound, imagine a talented goose singing Barry White covers. Casual music fans are familiar with the bassoon’s deep, reedy tone — equally adept at melodic crooning and comedic staccato bursts — even if they don’t know what instrument produces it. They know it as the grandfather’s theme in “Peter and the Wolf.” They know it as the crazy counterpoint in the opening lick from Smokey Robinson’s “Tears of a Clown,” laid down by longtime Detroit Symphony Orchestra principal bassoonist Charles Sirard. And then there’s the quirky, lilting melody of the Leave it to Beaver theme song, “The Toy Parade.” So how did such a bizarre and beautiful musical machine come to be?

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