In the Swiss Jura a few rather special instruments from the 18th century are kept, the "Basson d'Amour" or "Liebesfagott", an instrument close to the baroque bassoon. These instruments can be found in the Historischen Museum in Bern and in the church of Sornetan. In addition, a few museums like the MET in New York have one.
The basson d'amour can be characterized as an instrument that is close to a baroque bassoon, however with an onion shaped brass bell and many of them have no keys for the notes below F. If there are no back keys, the holes at the back are tuned for the ususal low E, D, C and Bb so that these notes could be played if the corresponding holes can be closed.
The basson d'amour has been used in protestant churches to accompany the singing. Here the basson d'amour was used together with the "Basse de Musette", a shawm like tenor instrument with a very wide bore and a curved bocal.
Below photos of the instruments in Sornetan are shown.
Back to the main Baroque Bassoon page.
Remarks and comment to: Hans Mons
© Copyright 2003-2006 by Hans Mons.
Last updated on 18 February 2006