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This concert was my fist experience listening to a bassoon, so went in very skeptical thinking it would all sound the very monotonous and dull. I found the instrument had a profound nasal tone. The reason it makes this sound is because it is a low-pitch woodwind instrument with double-reed and a long wooden body composed of two narrow pieces of cane which are held between the musician's lips (Kamien, 2004).
The "Bassoon Lite" concert was performed by two distinguished members of the University of Florida faculty. Dr. Arnold Irchai, of Russian origin, is the Assistant Professor of Bassoon at the University of Florida, School of Music, the Principal Bassoon of the National Philharmonic, and the Principal Bassoon of the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Principal Bassoon of the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra. He gave most of the credit of his accomplishments; which include being the principal bassoonist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under world-renowned conductors at one point in his life, among many others; to the State Leningrad Conservatory, USSR, where he achieved most of his bassoon studies by receiving his masters and doctoral degrees. He was harmoniously accompanied by pianist Dr. Kevin Orr, the Associate Professor of Piano at the University of Florida School of Music. His accomplishments include several acclaimed performances all over the world, as well as his collaborative work opposite to distinguished international soloists. These two skilled performers meshed incredibly well, as both sounds of the bassoon and the piano complement each other to perfection, creating very smooth and soothing combined sounds (U of Florida School of Music, 2007).
The performance started off with Vocalize Opus 34, No.14, a piece by the Russian composer Sergey Rachmaninoff. This polyphonic piece had a very mysterious and soothing sound composed of mainly minor notes with some anticipated major notes. The tempo would probably be considered medium. The...