Orchestral repertoire
Well-known solos and repertoire
Beethoven Symphonies No 5 & 9, Missa Solemnis
Brahms Symphonies 1, 3 & 4
Dukas Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Elgar Enigma Variations
Glinka Russlan & Ludmilla
Mahler Symphonies 1 – 9, Das Lied von der Erde
Mozart Serenade No 10 for 13 winds, Masonic Funeral Music
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition
Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left hand, Ma Mere L’Oye (Mother Goose Suite), La Valse, Daphnis and Chloe
Richard Strauss Tod und Verklarung, Salome, Elektra, Alpine Symphony, Also sprach Zarathustra
Shostakovich Symphonies 5 & 10
Stravinsky Petroushka, Rite of Spring
Finding the excerpts
Composers such as Mahler, Ravel, Strauss and Schoenberg have written a lot of juicy parts for the Contrabassoonist, and if you’re playing anything written by them you should be in for a treat. Each of the tutor books mentioned in the Books & Tutors section are full of useful excerpts, and Inconis also contains a very comprehensive list of the pieces the Contra features in (without excerpts of every single one). The two lists above are a rather arbitrary and purely personal view of repertoire frequency from someone who doesn’t play in an opera orchestra. Maybe they should be subdivided into really solo, (Mother Goose), tricky but tutti (Missa Solemnis) and just dull (Bolero)!
Less common repertoire
Beethoven Fidelio
Berg Wozzeck, Lulu
Bloch Schelomo
Britten Peter Grimes, Cello Symphony
Debussy Jeux, La Mer, Martyrdom of St Sebastien
Gliere Symphony No 3
Hindemith Symphonic Metamorphoses, Pittsburgh Symphony
Janacek Cunning Little Vixen, The Makropoulos Case
Prokofiev Symphony No 5
Ravel L’enfant et les Sortileges, L’heure Espagnole
Respighi Pines of Rome, Roman Festivals
Schoenberg Gurrelieder, Chamber Symphony No 1
Richard Strauss Don Quixote, Sinfonia Domestica, Heldenleben, Rosenkavalier
Verdi Don Carlos
Auditions
The list of music you may expect in an audition will be different again: Ravel’s Mother Goose and the Left hand piano concerto are highly likely to appear along with a Beethoven 5 or 9 and probably Strauss’ Salome or Berg’s Wozzeck. Less taxing parts such as Elgar’s Enigma are probably not going to be included. You may also be asked to play a solo piece either of your own choice or a set piece. Not forgetting that you will have to demonstrate your competence on the bassoon immediately before or afterwards, as well as being able to carry all the paraphernalia involved into the room without dropping it all.