The bassoon is the instrument with the lowest pitch in the woodwind family.
It is really a sort of bass oboe,, having a double reed and a conical bore. The
tube is 9 feet long, and so is bent double to make it practically manageable.
It has the enormous range of 3 octaves, from the 3rd Bb below middle C (MIDI Bb1) up to the 2nd D above middle C (MIDI D5).
There is a bassoon part in nearly all orchestral scores written since 1700, as well as in all chamber wind ensembles. There is not a great deal of solo music for the bassoon. Mozart wrote a bassoon concerto, as did 3 or 4 other composers. Probably the most famous bassoon passage is from Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from his Peer Gynt suite, and another well-known extract is from Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Music featuring the Bassoon. Audio is available for 20 tunes for this instrument.
| No. | Name of Work | Category | Composer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bassoon Concerto K191 | Concerto | Mozart |
| 2 | Blow Away the Morning Dew | Folk Song | Various |
| 3 | Canon on Ravenscroft's Psalter | Sacred | Tallis |
| 4 | Early One Morning | Folk Song | Various |
| 5 | Music for the Royal Fireworks | Suite | Handel |
| 6 | Romance Op 62 for bassoon and Orchestra | Concerto | Elgar |
| 7 | Sinfonia Concertante in Eb for winds, K297b | Concerto | Mozart |
| 8 | Sorcerer's Apprentice ( L'Apprenti Sorcier) | Tone Poem | Dukas |
| 9 | Swing Low Sweet Chariot | Folk Song | Wallis |
| 10 | There was a Jolly Miller | Folk Song | Various |
| 11 | Three-Part Invention No.12 in A | Chamber Music | Bach |
| 12 | Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | Nursery Rhymes | Various |
| 13 | Yesterday | Popular Songs | McCartney |