Tenoroon

The tenor bassoon or tenoroon is a member of the bassoon family of double reed woodwind instruments. This group also includes the more widely known bassoon and contrabassoon, along with a smaller version of the tenor bassoon, the octave bassoon.

Many debates have been had on the nomenclature of the smaller bassoons. All small bassoons have at one time or another been called fagottino (pl. fagottini), but this term is historically usually only applied to the octave bassoon. The terms quart-bassoon (Quartfagott) and quint-bassoon (Quintfagott) are applied respectively to the instruments pitched a fourth above and a fifth above the normal bassoon. To add to the confusion, these terms can also be applied to instruments a fifth lower (quint-bassoon in F) and a fourth lower (quart-bassoon in G) known as semi-contrabassoons. Note that the keys of the lower and higher versions are reversed. Often the terms bass and tenor or high are added to clarify which instrument one is talking about, e.g. quart-bass bassoon or high quint-bassoon (Hochquintfagott). One of the most common terms used to describe these instruments is the term tenoroon which is a contraction of "tenor bassoon", which is the more correct title of the instrument although tenoroon is quite accepted nowadays. Altoon (the combination of the words alto and bassoon), as a moniker for the smaller octave bassoon has yet to catch on. A recently introduced alternative is the fagonello which is of similar size and weight to these smaller bassoons, but plays at the normal pitch, albeit with a slightly reduced range.

During the Renaissance, instruments were made in every size available, from sopranos, sopraninos, and garkleins down to bass, great bass, and contrabass. The bassoon (or more properly in this era, the dulcian or curtal) was to be found in at least six sizes. The larger sizes, the bass and the great bass, were more popular, but the smaller sizes were still used, being found in several of Heinrich Schütz's motets; they were also quite popular in Spain, where they were known as "bajoncillos". Smaller bassoons appeared throughout the later Baroque and Classical eras, although their exact use is somewhat clouded. It is true that virtually no literature exists for the smaller bassoons. A notable exception is a partita by Johann Kaspar Frost (not Trost, as sometimes listed) which is scored for two octave bassoons, two tenor bassoons, two bassoons, and two horns. It seems that this was exactly the situation during the nineteenth century. Such notable names as Carl Almenräder advocated the use of the smaller bassoons for teaching purposes and it is said that Jancourt would often perform solos on one during recitals. Hector Berlioz lamented its non-use in his Treatise on Instrumentation and even specified that his perfect orchestra would contain five tenor bassoons (though he never wrote for the instrument himself).

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