A Romance for Bassoon

Synopsis

Famous composers have been, on occasion, famous performers as well. Think of Bach on the organ, or Rachmaninoff on the piano. And if Mozart’s father is to be believed, young Wolfgang could have Europe’s finest violinist – if he had only practiced more.

But how many famous composers can you name who played the bassoon? Well, the British composer Edward Elgar, for one. As a young musician in Worcester, played the bassoon in a wind quintet. While never becoming famous as a bassoonist, Elgar’s love for and understanding of the instrument is evident in all his major orchestral works, and he counted one skilled player among his friends: this was Edwin F. James, the principal bassoonist of the London Symphony in Elgar’s day.

In 1910, while working on his big, extroverted, almost 50-minute violin concerto, Elgar tossed off a smaller, much shorter, and far more introverted work for bassoon and orchestra as a gift for James. Since Elgar was working on both pieces at the same time, if you’re familiar with Elgar’s Violin Concerto, Op. 61, you can’t help but notice a familial resemblance to his 6-minute Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra, Op. 62.

The Romance was first performed by Edwin F. James at a Herefordshire Orchestral Society concert conducted by the Elgar on today’s date in 1911.

Music Played in Today's Program

Elgar (1857-1934) Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra, Op. 62 Graham Salvage, bassoon; Halle Orchestra; Mark Elder, conductor. Halle Elgar Edition HLL-7505

On This Day

Births

• 1709 - English composer and writer on music Charles Avison, in Newcastle upon Tyne;

• 1878 - Finnish composer Selim Palmgren, in Björneborg (now Pori);

• 1907 - American composer Alec Wilder (Alexander Lafayette Chew), in Rochester, N.Y.;

• 1938 - American composer John Corigliano, in New York;

Deaths

• 1829 - Belgian-born French composer François Joseph Gossec, age 95, in Paris;

• 1868 - Canadian composer Healey Willian, age 87, in Toronto;

• 1963 - Hungarian composer Laszlo Lajtha, age 70, in Budapest;

• 1987 - Soviet composer Dmitri Kabalevsky, age 82, in Moscow;

Premieres

• 1737 - Handel: opera “Giustino,” in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: Feb. 27);

• 1884 - Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 2, in Moscow (Julian date: Feb. 4);

• 1892 - Massenet: opera, "Werther," in Vienna at the Court Opera;

• 1893 - Sibelius: tone-poem "En Saga," in Helsinki;

• 1929 - Copland: "Vitebsky" Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, at New York's Town Hall at a League of Composers concert featuring two members of the Pro Arte Quartet (violinist Alphonse Onnou and cellist Robert Mass) and the German pianist Walter Gieseking;

• 1936 - Varèse: "Density 21.5" for solo flute, in New York, by flutist Georges Barrère;

• 1956 - Leon Kirchner: "Toccata" for strings, winds and percussion, in San Francisco.