IV. NOTES ON "THREE BASSOONS" IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIE SCOTLANDF SO LYNDESAY B . . LANGWILLYG , C.A.

On inspection, these old instruments are found to be two Bassoons an d"a Bass Recorder " r " Baso s FKite Douce. followine Th " g description, considered in conjunction with the illustrations showing both the back and the front of the instruments, will enable us to form a fairly accurate thesf o e eestimat ag exhibits e th f eo . The Bassoon (Fr. Basson, Span. Bajon, German Fagott, Ital. Fagotto) is the modern survival of the German Bass-Pommer of the sixteenth cen- tury, having evolved throug intermediare hth y form know Dulziane th s na . distinguishine Th g feature modere th f so conica ne bassooth ) (1 l e tubnar e ofeet8 f , doubled bac U-fashion ki r conveniencnfo f handlingeo e th ) (2 , sound-producing medium—a large double-reed, and (3) the bent S-shaped metal " crook whic o "t reee firss haffixedth s d i wa t t introduceI . d into e orchestrth a circa f comparisono y 167 Lullyy wa 4 b y B a moder., n orchestral 20-keyed "Buffet" bassoon (French) is shown alongside the Museum exhibits (fig. 1 (a) and fig. 2 (a)). While it is unfortunate that we know nothing of the history of these bassoonso tw s possibli t ,i e they wer locan ei e Citl th f Edinus yo n i e - burgh. Sir John Dalyell in his scholarly Musical Memoirs of Scotland e "doublth f (1849)o e . 163p us ,curtle ,e refer th n "th i "o t se good toune's music Edinburgn i " 1696n hi , when John Munro Malcold ean m McGibbon were found "compleat masters of playing upon the French hautboyes and double curtle." (Edinburgh Town Council Register, vol. xl. 1 Scotsman, t Augus1s t 1930. 6 33 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 193310 L . fol. 223; vol. xxxiii. fol. 97; vol. xxx . e doublfolth . w 249.e No curtl) r eo curtle—fo wore th r d " double " refers merel loweo yt r pitch—wa otheo sn r than the bassoon of the seventeenth and eighteenth century. An English accoun d illustratioan t e " doublth f o n e curtail" appear n Handli s e Holmes . "AcademMS ' f Armoury,yo " circa 1688 (British Museum)d an , show instrumene sth bassooa e b o primitivf t n o e design. Referenceo st curtail—the th e spelling varies considerably—are frequen secone th n i dt e seventeentth hal f o f h century—e.g. Lord Chamberlain's Recordn i s 1662 t possiblno , t 1663i d 1669 es an I , .therefor e thad t ol thes o tw e bassoon Waite th f Edinburgy so b se werus n ei h durin eighteente gth h century ? LT. 8.—Bassoon of sycamore (?) wood, brass bound and six brass keys. The "crook" is awanting. The "wing" or tenor "joint" is interesting in having two sections fitted together. The uppermost section, into which e crooth k woul fittede b d ,mad e useb differeno n edt i t lengths, inter- changeable to suit requirements of pitch. The front of this bassoon (fig. 1 (6)) shows: in the wing, three finger- lefe holeth t r hand"butte fo sth n ,i " (lowest sectioinstrument)e th f no , three finger-hole e righth r t fo shand , and additionn i , , there have been keyo tw s operate e littlth e y e righb dfinge th f e noteto rth han r s dfo F and G$. (Unfortunately the key for the latter is now awanting.) bace Th k view (fig (&)2 . ) shows that there hav ee "lon beeth n gno joint" (lying adjacen e "wing"th o t t Bbw ) jlo key (nor sfo w awanting) , botD hw operatelo lefe d th tan y thumdb r whicb fo thumb-hole hth e for low C lies between the keys mentioned. A third key operated by the left thumb is that for Eb. On the butt is the right thumb-hole for low E and the key lying closely adjacent for F$. On the brass " mount" at the top of the butt is the usual ring to which a swivel from a neck- sling can be attached. The brass " shoe " at the foot of the butt contains the usual cork plug forming the intercommunicating channel between twie th n "e "bore sectioU th instrumente n th si f no . Heigh instrumente th f to fee,4 t 2| inches. This bassoon would appear to belong to the second half of the eight- eenth century. LT. 9.—Bassoon of sycamore (?) wood, brass bound, with four brass keys and brass crook. The wing here is of one piece. The front view (fig. 1 (c)) shows: in the wing, three finger-holes for lefe th t butthande th ,n i ;thre e finger-hole righe th r t fo hands , andn i , addition keyo tw , s operate e littlth e y e db samfinge th f eo rhan r dfo G$e d formenotee th th an , f whicsF s norma o rit n hi l position a s ni "open" key, whil lattee e"closedth a s ri " one. bace Th k view (fig earlief (c)2 o . )e showb ro n t dat t O si e. 8 tha . nLT NOTE "THREN O S E BASSOONS NATIONAN I " L MUSEUM7 33 . the long joint we see the keys for low Bbj and D (the head of the key in both cases being broken off), and the left thumb-hole for low C lying betwee e keynth e buts th mentioned tn o r r Ebno fo , y . ke Thero n s ei

(a) (6) (c) (d) Fig . Thre.1 e Bassoons (front view Basd )an s Recorder (back view).

is there the usual key for F|, but merely the right thumb-hole. The same remarks as in LT. 8, concerning the brass mount on the butt, the swivel ring cord an ,k base-plug, apply here. Heighinstrumente th f o t , 4 fee sectiontp \to e inch, Th terme. "belle dth " joint, shows outwardly 2 2 VOL. LXVII. 338 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 193310 L . a pronounced bulbous contour which is typical of bassoons by the cele- brated London maker Stanesby Junior (died 1754) whosf o t leas a ,o etw t bassoons known to the writer are engraved with years 1739 and 1747

(a) (6) (c) (d) Fig. . Thre2 e Bassoons (back view Basd )an s Recorder (front view). respectively, and have the same four keys as the present exhibit. The stage of development in key equipment also suggests that this bassoon dates from about 1740. A bassoon with the four keys here present is depicte e Encyclopedicth n di f Dideroo D'Alemberd an t t (Paris, 1751-65), NOTE "THREN O S E BASSOONS NATIONAN I " L MUSEUM9 33 . and in the Museum, of the Brussels Conservatoire there is a bassoon stamped " G. de Bruijn, 1730," on which the same four keys are found. (Catalogue descriptif et analytigue du Mus£e instrumentale du Con- servatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles, vol. ii. (1909) No. 997.) The keys for low Eb and F$ on exhibit LT.8 appear first towards the eighteente th en f do h century nineteente earld th an , n yi h centure yw invariably find " octave keys " present on the wing joint—these keys, as their name denotes, being designe facilitato dt e productioth e e th f no higher registe bassoone th f ro . No monograp t existye s sha upo e bassoonnth , wit e exceptiohth n of Der Fagott by W. Heckel (Leipzig, 1931), 44 pp., illustrated. The present writer has prepared an English translation, which Herr Heckel hopes to publish shortly. LT. 10.—Bass Recorde f wooo r d with brass croo d singlkan e brass d fig (d)).2 an . ) (d y (fig Thi1 ke . s rathei s a rarr e specimee th f o n recorder family—now obsolete, although admirable wor s beeha k n accomplishe s resuscitatioit n di e celebrateth y b nd talentean d d Dol- metsch family. Bass recorders wer t madeno e after aboue t ar 1730 t bu , now being made in quantities on the Continent where recorder quartets have become the vogue. The recorder of Shakespearean times, beloved of Samuel Pepys, was characterized by its weak but sweet and soft tone, and acoustically it belongs to the whistle variety of sounding tubes, with inverted conical bore—i e presenth n t case diameteth ee th f o r bore diminishes as follows:— e pluth gt immediatelA y abov e notceth r fipplho . e ly'j- inch. At the top of the middle joint...... 11 „ 1 • „ . . . e middl th e foo f th . o tt e A join. t e bor th slightls ei d an y widene belle th .t da The word "Recorder" arises from the use of the verb "to record" n Elizabethai n e senstimes th o sing e"t n i r "t "o o warble," specially e singinfoth r f bird go thencd an s humao et n music-making. Chaucer usee terth sm "doucet d distinguishe"an t i fros m "rede" ("Housf eo Fame," II. 1220/1). The distinguishing feature of the recorders is thus whistle th e notc r "h o fipple " against whic breate hth deflectes hi d an d divided, thereby setting the air-column in vibration. In the bass 9 recorder e totath , l length, 39T T inches, would render manipulatiof o n the finger-holes difficult were the player to blow directly into the upper end. Accordingly a shor, t S-shaped crook—not unlike the tha of t bassoon—was fitted e presenth , t specimen havin a gbras s croof o k \ inch internal diameter, bent, however, into a more pronounced S-shape than usual e crookTh .t i mus, e notedb t , doet composno s e 340 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 10, 1933. vibratine parth f o t g air-column which f courseo , , commences belowe th notc e recorder fippleo th e hbor f Th o e. r constitute a truncates d inverted cone with six finger-holes in front and a thumb-hole, for the left thumb, behind. The bass recorder has also a single " open" brass key, which, when e littlcloseth ey db e righfinge th f to r hand, given sa additiona notew lo l , terme e "bellth d " note, sinc e sounth e proo s d - duced emanates fro e " bellmth r lowe"o r e instrument—iorificth f o e n this specimen unfortunately worm-eaten. In the recorder, the bell is so shaped merely for ornament, for the bore penetrating it remains uniform to the end. It is remarkable to observe the stretch of fingers require r suc dfo instrumentn ha intervae Th . l betwee e middlth n f o e the first and second, and the middle of the second and third holes of each group of three is If inch—quite a considerable stretch. The thumb-hole is | inch in diameter. This instrument dates probably from about 1700. The recorder, and indeed the whole family of fltites-a-bec, s displace wa e Germath y db n flutes (flutes traversieres) abou e timth t e of Handele onlth yd survivinan , g representativ humble th s ei e "penny- whistleraree th rd "Englis"an h flageolet."1 1 Welch, C,, "The Literature of the Recorder," Proceedings, Musical Association, 1897-8; London, 1898. Welch, C., " HamleRecorder,e th d tan " Proceedings, Musical Association, 1901-2; London, 1902. Welch, C., Six Lectures on the Recorder; London, 1911. Bridge, J. C., " The Chester Recorders," Proceedings, Musical Association, 1900-1; London, 1901. Galpin, Rev. Canon . EnglishW.d F Ol , Instruments of Music, ed.d 3r earliee , 1932th r fo ,r histor Recordere th f yo .