Debussy Nocturnes and La Mer

This weekend's Columbus Symphony program was varied and exciting, to say the least, combining French impressionism with a world premier and a Mozart masterpiece:

DEBUSSY: Nocturnes
MOZART: Concerto No. 23 in A Major for Piano and Orchestra, K. 488
HADDAD: Risala
DEBUSSY: La mer 
encore: RAVEL: Pavane pour une enfant defunte

Interestingly, the most hair-raising passage for me on the entire program was this (from the encore, the Ravel Pavane):

from Ravel: Pavane

At first glance this passage looks innocuous, except for that ppp dynamic marking.  (We never know whether or not to take such a dynamic marking seriously, especially as players of the bassoon, an instrument famous for its limited dynamic range.  But in this program full of French impressionism, yes, the dynamics are to be taken very literally!)  Oftentimes a ppp dynamic implies the absence of vibrato, since vibrato tends to make a passage stand out more.  Upon close observation, it may become clear that there is no time to breathe at letter B before beginning the ppp passage, especially if the player's goal is to linger as long as possible on the taper of the A2 at the end of the phrase before B.  Not being able to breathe certainly doesn't help matters!  By the time I reached the end of the E3 one measure after letter B (with a slow tempo) I had no choice but to breathe before the next note (A2).  Snatching a quick, desperate breathe right before a ppp A2 is somewhat less than ideal!  The calmness required for controlling the bassoon at ultra soft dynamic levels does not go hand-in-hand with gasping for the air required to sustain life!  (And it wasn't quite that simple; as bassoonists often do, I had to expel air before inhaling, and as you can see by looking at the part, there is really no time allowed in the music to accomplish any of this!)

This reminds me of one of the most significant concepts I learned from my teacher K. David Van Hoesen.  During my freshman year at Eastman he constantly stressed the importance of being relaxed in order to produce the best results on the bassoon.  As in the above-described passage, we are often anything but relaxed when the proverbial chips are down!  We are most likely to be sweating, tense, and so overcome with worry that our brains shut down!  Bassoonists often tighten the embouchure inadvertently in such situations, sending the pitch skyward.  Playing sharp is all too common among bassoonists under pressure.  The instrument reacts very easily to the slightest changes in embouchure and air, which is both our blessing and our curse.

For the above passage, the soft dynamic actually requires a tighter embouchure.  However, that must be coupled with a significant decrease of air in order to produce the desired dynamic at the proper pitch.  If the bassoonist is a nervous wreck, the embouchure often tightens but the player fails to decrease the air, thus raising the pitch.  But, as K. David Van Hoesen taught me, being a nervous wreck is not allowed!  Playing the bassoon requires relaxation. Perhaps this is one of the most difficult lessons to learn.

What most bassoonists would think of when faced with this program, though, is probably the "triple-tonguing" in La Mer.  Is there really any such thing as triple tonguing?  As far as I know, what we call "triple tonguing" is really just double tonguing with some of the accents falling on the "ka" (or "ga") syllable.

from Debussy: La Mer (tempo ~ 105 per beat; 3 beats per measure)

The sixteenth note triplets one measure before 25 above may be articulated like this, with emphasis as indicated: "TA ka ta KA ta ka TA ka ta KA ta ka TA ka ta KA ta ka TA".  The only difference between double-tonguing and triple tonguing is that in double-tonguing, the emphasis is on the first note, the third note, the fifth note, the seventh note, etc., with the dominant TA syllable being used for all emphasized notes.  In so-called triple-tonguing, the first, the fourth, the seventh, the tenth, etc. notes are emphasized, and the first is the TA syllable while the fourth is the KA syllable.  The reason some bassoonists consider triple tonguing to be more difficult is because of the challenge of emphasizing the KA syllable which, for many double-tonguers, is considerably weaker than the TA syllable.

It's easy to resolve that problem.  Just spend as much time practicing "Ka-ta-ka-ta-ka-ta......" as you spend practicing "Ta-ka-ta-ka-ta-ka........".   Sometimes I even practice (slowly) beginning ALL notes with the Ka syllable, just because the Ka is so much weaker than the Ta which we use all the time. The Ka syllable needs considerable attention to make up for its neglect relative to the Ta syllable.

Bassoonists tend to spend a great deal of time fretting over those triple tongued passages.  Yet it's nearly impossible to actually hear those passages on recordings.  Perhaps there are other passages more exposed and therefore more deserving of our attention, like this one:

From Debussy: La Mer

This is in a slow 6/8 tempo with 6 beats per measure.  I think it's challenging to project on this solo, especially while attempting to honor Debussy's dynamic marking of p and leaving plenty of room for crescendo on the last 3 beats of the solo.  This solo is rarely prominent enough on recordings, partially due to the orchestration in which the bassoon seems to be easily buried underneath strings and harps. My recommendation is to focus on the expressive quality of the solo rather than worrying too much about the p dynamic.  (That's not what I did, however.  I worried too much about the p dynamic.)

Basssoonists vary regarding reed usage during a concert.  I much prefer to use one reed for an entire concert, but in the real world that's not always possible or reasonable.  For this program I used two reeds.....a "normal" one and an easier-to-control one.  For the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 with its marvelous bassoon writing, I used the more soloistic (normal) reed.  For the Debussy Nocturnes I used the easier-to-control reed.  This is why:

From Debussy: Nocturnes

There's nothing worse than an uncooperative reed for this type of passage, which must fade into nothing.  I'll admit that I spent considerable time figuring out which reed to use for this.  Also, I recommend using the whisper key lock here to avoid any possible issues having to do with a wayward whisper key.  Moving the fingers in a calm, relaxed fashion also helps.

Here's another reason for the easier-to-control reed:

From Debussy: Nocturnes

The bassoon imitates the oboe in the two identical passages before 21 above, with the second one marked piu p with a decrescendo.  It's very quiet, and the diminuendo fades to nothing.  Although it might work with a "normal" reed, it could be risky.

The very opening also benefits from an easier-to-control reed:

Calmness is especially called for here, with ultra smooth transitions from one note to the next.  I debated which fingering to use for G#2 and finally decided to use the alternate (thumb) fingering.  It was really a toss-up, and that interval (from C#3 down to G#2) was the one I was most concerned about sounding smooth enough.

And here's yet another reason for that reed:

From Debussy: Nocturnes

Each of these measure-and-a-half long solos has a dynamic marking ranging from p to piu p to pp diminuendo.  Notably, the highest dynamic is p.  Only a superb reed is capable of producing these dynamic variations.  The bassoonist has a decision to make here about how to finger the grace note G#.  It's possible to use the standard fingering, but to me that usually sounds awkward, and I don't use it because there are better options.  I used the whisper key lock and the high A key with the F# trill key for the G#.  This sounded easy and it was easiest to control.  It was in tune but required careful listening because the pitch was easily thrown off.  My second choice would have been to use the high A key and the high C key for the G#, but its pitch tended to be a bit flat on my bassoon.

For decisions like this, I record myself using my phone's recording app.  Lately I've been recording orchestral passages using different reeds to make reed choices.  In fact, I now make sure my phone is nearby for recording whenever I practice.  This was inspired by a blog post I read entitled Practicing without feedback is like bowling through a curtain by Jason Haaheim, principal tympanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  Even though we THINK we hear ourselves accurately when we play our instruments, we actually lack the ability to provide ourselves with the informative and useful feedback offered by recordings, teachers, and mock audition committees.  I've always heralded the value of recording oneself, and throughout my life I've recorded my practicing from time to time.  Now I do it constantly.

One thing that I've noticed as I progress through my career is that if I feel that I've left no stone unturned in my preparation.......in other words, if I've recorded my practicing, if I've used a tuning drone, if I've listened to recordings of the rep I'm learning and studied the scores as needed, if I've made and tested plenty of reeds, if I've woodshedded the technical passages, if I've done everything I know of to do to prepare......then that calmness which my teacher insisted upon has a chance to prevail.