Historical development of the Contrabassoon - Philipp Dangas

Historical development of the Contrabassoon

This instrument only gained significant importance in the first half of the 19th century. This period also saw the start of his first major technical improvements. Attempts to construct a 16-footed contrabassoon, i.e. one octave lower than the normal bassoon, that can fulfill the same tasks in relation to the normal bassoon as the double bass compared to the cello or the bass or double bass tuba compared to the baritone, resulted again and again Difficulty regarding the lowest notes.

In solving this problem, the instrument makers in the individual countries took different paths. The English, Belgian and French contrabassoons had an excessively flared tube shaped like the tube of the tuba. The best solution was the Heckel contrabassoon (the modern German contrabassoon ), which was improved again in 1901. It differs from the other contrabassoons primarily in its relatively narrow reed scale, which allows the tones to be made more precise and the true bassoon sound to be preserved. The key technology of this instrument also ensures perfect intonation. As a result of these advantages, it has superseded all other systems and found wide acceptance. Today all parts are consistently performed with the modern Heckel contrabassoon.