AN ENSEMBLE OF BASSOONS

There was a group of young bassoonists in Sainsbury’s tonight. They were playing carols and Christmas songs in rather nifty arrangements... and all in an ensemble of bassoons.

I’ve never seen that before. They were good, too. I always thought of the bassoon as a kind of equivalent to the tuba, or even the double bass, thumping and pomping away under the staves while the clarinets, oboes and flutes dance across it. It’s not the case. The bassoon’s much more the cello, with rich rounded wood-curving warmth and versatility that resonates through the octaves.

If I ever write a piece for woodwind instruments, I shall consider the bassoonist well, I hope.

That’s a lovely thought: devising a piece for a woodwind ensemble. I wandered around the aisles thinking about where to start and what I could do with a smooth melody.

And there it was again - that little inkling of a thought of arranging music. Choir last week, woodwind this: my heart must be telling me something. Or at least, something’s waking up in me. Now if only I had time to try it.

How, I wondered, did so many young bassoonists get together? It’s an unusual instrument to learn. If I were guessing, I’d have said the usual order is: flute, clarinet, then the kid who wants to be different and pick the oboe. I never met a bassoonist.

So, I need ideas. What will inspire a woodwind piece? What kind of thing would be simple enough to start, yet interesting enough to be a challenge? The wintry,l rasp of the oboe? The warm juicy fruit of the smooth clarinet? The dancing rays of sunlight that fall from the flute? Or the stately mellow joy of the oboe? How should these things fit? What shall I do?

It’s kind of exciting this, isn’t it? Well. If I get time to do it.