Gordon Jacob: Bassoon Concerto (1947)

00:00 - I. Allegro
05:15 - II. Adagio
12:12 - III. Rondo: Allegro giocoso
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Bassoon/Conductor: Christian Kunert
Concertmaster: Peter Rainer
Orchestra: Kammerakademie Potsdam
Year of Recording: 2012
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"Gordon Jacob’s Concerto for Bassoon and Strings, written in 1947, was dedicated to Archie Camden (1888−1979), the solo bassoonist of the BBC Symphony. Camden was known not only for his famously long and distinguished career of 65 years, but also for being the “first native professional player of the German bassoon in England.” Camden was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London and taught several generations of bassoonists, spreading his influence and preference for the German bassoon throughout London. While Archie Camden was becoming a pioneer for the German bassoon, the French bassoon was still prominent in England during the work’s creation in 1947.
The Concerto for Bassoon and Strings was most likely written with the character and tendencies of the French bassoon in mind. The work opens with very limpid writing featuring staccato step-wise passages in the bassoon. These staccato passages are often featured in compositions for the bassoon of the early 1900s, as the French bassoon produces a dry, crisp staccato. Archie Camden, in his book Bassoon Technique, details how the French and German systems changed the character of the bassoon. He observes that the German bassoon is designed more for powerful expressiveness− and is less conducive to the delivery of effects such as the light staccatos found in this movement. To achieve the character that would be produced by a French bassoon, the performer should ensure that the staccatos are kept light, perhaps giving them a little bit more length so they do not sound choked. While a performer may not choose to perform in a way that imitates the French bassoon, the tendencies of the French bassoon should be taken into consideration when making performance decisions throughout the piece, as this was likely the instrument for which Jacob was writing, given the French bassoon’s reign until approximately 1970 in European countries.
Gordon Jacob is considered a neo-classical composer by English music scholar Frank Howes, and several of Jacob’s compositional choices imitate the techniques and forms of classical-era music. For example, the forms and key relationships within the movements are rather standard for common-practice tonal music, beginning with the use of sonata form in the first movement of the concerto. As can be seen in Figure 2.1, the overarching key areas of this movement conform to those of the standard sonata form, including the second theme in the dominant key and the recapitulation and coda in the home key. However, as is common in the neo-classical style, Gordon Jacob’s compositions tend to feature extended tonalities, modalities, or other modern traits on the musical surface." (Lindsey Wiehl)
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[@axelperegil667]

No conocía este concierto, está genial 👏🏻👏🏻

[@jackminto7062]

The viola lines are amazing

[@OfficialDanieleGottardo]

Incredible!

8:44 is unbelievably beautiful

[@lindseywiehl6747]

Well done!

[@batakasbatucada]

y la partichela donde estará?

[@jorgeb.giraldogarcia9380]

Where could i buy the score?

[@godeloth]

But I printed only bassoon part and piano

[@onofre957]

@@godeloth Me encantó este concierto, dónde conseguiste la parte de fagot y piano? Me gustaría empezar a estudiarlo

[@onofre957]

@@godeloth I loved this concert, where i could find the parts?

[@godeloth]

@@onofre957 write to me at the same email address

[@purp1tw]

@@godelothздравствуйте, у вас можно взять клавир?