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We bassoonists consider Mozart’s bassoon concerto the absolute pinnacle of our
repertoire. That is because Mozart is so famous and brilliant but also because his
beautiful concerto features at almost any occasion in one’s career, whether it is an
audition for an orchestral position or a final round for a competition. The com -
position is very well-balanced, in accordance with the style of the period, but even
so the first and third movements are extremely playful, with idiomatic jumps and
staccato passages in the solo part and cheeky exchanges between the orchestra and
the bassoon. Therefore, it often has a boyish spirit that we also find in Mozart’s
per sonal letters of that time. When he was eighteen years old and writing this con -
certo, he had fifteen years of maturing as a composer behind him, but in his letters,
he sometimes used four languages per six words, and loved making slightly obscene
remarks – clearly enjoying the spontaneity of a young joker.
Mozart was a man of contrasts.