I don’t know about you, but when I think of chamber music, the bassoon is not the first—nor the second or third—instrument that comes to mind.
A standard string quartet, or some seven-piece collaboration among instrumentalists seated around a piano, captures what I imagine most of us would anticipate for a highbrow Friday evening. Maybe it’s just less common to hear the big bastards (bassoons are usually upwards of 4 and a half feet fully assembled) absent of their orchestral brethren.
So while any symphonic masterwork usually requires at least two bassoonists—with many productions wrangling three or four—you’ve got to hand it to Schuyler Jackson for his belief that there’s a big enough audience to sit down for 90 minutes to listen to his instrument of choice.
The instrument has range and expressiveness that’s long been credited with its ability to draw comparisons to the human voice … but still.
The assistant principal bassoon for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since the start of its current season, Jackson’s been with BSO since 2014. Having recorded and performed widely, he’s bringing his bassoon around for a free recital at UVA’s Old Cabell Hall. He’ll be joined by two UVA faculty members, fellow bassoonist Elizabeth Roberts and pianist John Mayhood. Though the actual works look to be a surprise, the composers have been revealed.
Twentieth-century names feature prominently in the program. Expect pieces by the inimitable Henri Dutilleux, popular Brazilian folk interpreter Francisco Mignone, prolific Hungarian figure Ferenc Farkas, and Peter Schickele, the four-time consecutive Grammy Award-winner for Best Comedy Album. (Schickele, who’s known for his parodies and jokey works penned under the name P.D.Q. Bach, was a bassoonist himself and part of a rock trio named Open Window.)
Stepping further back in time, the program also includes music by unstable German composer Robert Schumann, a Romantic-era star in the first half of the 1800s who failed at suicide (he was saved by fishermen from drowning himself in the Rhine).
Whatever Jackson has on tap stands to be of interest to open-minded music lovers. Really, when was the last time you heard someone complain, “I can’t believe I have to listen to this bassoon song again!”?
