The Bassoon Sonata in

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

, Op. 168, was written by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

in 1921 as one of his last works. This bassoon sonata is the last of the three sonatas that Saint-Saëns composed for

wind instrument A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator (usually a tube) in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into (or over) a mouthpiece set at or near the end of the resonator. The pitch ...

s, the other two being the Oboe Sonata (Op. 166) and the Clarinet Sonata (Op. 167), written the same year. These works were part of Saint-Saëns's efforts to expand the repertoire for instruments for which hardly any solo parts were written, as he confided to his friend

Jean Chantavoine Jean François Henri Chantavoine (17 May 1877 – 16 July 1952) was a French musicologist and biographer and the secretary-general of the . Chantavoine was born in Paris. He published numerous books and articles, including biographies of Be ...

in a letter dated to 15 April 1921: "At the moment I am concentrating my last reserves on giving rarely considered instruments the chance to be heard."

Structure

The work consists of three movements. A performance takes approximately 13 minutes.

Reception

The musical scholar Jean Gallois calls the Bassoon Sonata "a model of transparency, vitality and lightness", containing humorous touches but also moments of peaceful contemplation.

References

External links

* * , performed by Francesco Bossone and Akanè Makita {{authority control Chamber music by Camille Saint-Saëns Saint-Saens 1921 compositions Compositions in G major Sonatas by Camille Saint-Saëns Compositions for piano and another instrument