Contraforte

Okay, I thought I had seen just about everything but a German maker, Guntram Wolf, has created a redesigned contrabassoon which he is calling the “Contraforte!” I came across this wonderful beast while searching through bassoon bulletin boards. The contraforte claims to have a larger dynamic range that the “traditional” instrument as well as a range that remains stable over 4 1/2 octaves. After listening to the complete recording (!) of Victor Bruns’ Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra op. 98 (a piece that I have not been aware of until now), I’ve got to admit that the contraforte has a wonderful sound! Wow! A link to this instrument, that includes MP3’s of the concerto may be found here. The performance is stellar and, I’ve got  to admit, is really very cool! 🙂