I am about to go to the airport, but to those of you who don’t play bassoon, you were probably always wondering what it is like to play the second bassoon part of the Sibelius Violin concerto. The Berkeley Symphony performed this last Thursday, and I somehow can’t turn the music off in my head. First of all, I am glad I don’t play first bassoon. But the second part is challenging, mainly because the second movement is pianissimo in the low register. This means fiddling with reeds to get one that plays quietly but in tune. It means understanding that the piece begins the 2^nd half of the first measure. Then it means coming in on a low B flat which serves as the fundamental for a slow build up of a B flat major chord. It is beautiful, but can contribute to stress dreams. There are some nice parts in the first and third movements too. Of course everyone is paying attention to the violin soloist, who in this case was a dazzling Jennifer Koh, but I do think that if the bassoons came in wrong, people would notice.

Here is a review of the concert.