Re: Bassoon Uber Alles

["T.W. Hartnett" <hartnett.t@apple.com>]

>> >International Double Reed Society 
>> >Library Holdings - Music: Solo Bassoon 
>> 
>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >The following is music for Solo Bassoon. The entries in this list are
>> >sorted by Composer. 
>> 
>> (long list of works deleted)
>> 
>> I think John P. may have (and if not, I am) been referring not to works 
>> written for unaccompanied bassoon, or featuring the bassoon, but rather 
>> spontaneous realtime composition and performance over a pre-decided 
>> backing, i.e., a hot bassoon solo in the pop music sense.
>
>All John requested was "Point out a killer bassoon solo" to which
>Dave complied.  Sorry to nitpick but he didn't specify a pop music
>context. 
>
>Even if he did, does it really matter?  A killer bassoon solo is a killer
>solo regardles of genre.

The definition of a "solo" varies by genre.  A "solo" in the classical 
music genre most often refers to a precomposed (by someone other than the 
instrumentalist) section of music.  I believe a cadenza is the term for 
an improvised solo performance, but I think that this is usually 
unaccompanied, and occurs at the beginning or end of a composed piece.

A "solo" in pop-derived music (including for this purpose, jazz) usually 
refers to something composed by the instrumentalist, usually in some 
semblance of realtime.  In a live context (to kill the topic of 
punch-in's or comp'ed performances), it's usually improvised, perhaps 
using previous improvisations as a guide or starting place.  Following 
the jazz tradition, I would say that in it's purest sense, the "solo" 
within pop music is different each time.

I think a good case can also be made that most "solos" in pop-music are 
ego-driven displays, designed to cut heads, or earn the Blow Job (as 
Zappa said).  To deny this is noble, but inaccurate.  

Travis