Cherubini gave the bassoon a solo in his opera of _Medea_; Gluck gave it a solo in some of his dance music in _Orfeo_; Rossini opens his _Stabat Mater_ with it; and Weber gave it much to do in his operas. Weber wrote a _Concerto_ for it and also an _Andante and Hungarian Rondo_. Mendelssohn also was fond of it. Dr. Stone has well summed up his use of this instrument as follows: “Mendelssohn shows some peculiarity in dealing with the bassoon. He was evidently struck not only with the power of its lower register, a fact abundantly illustrated by his use of it in the opening of the _Scotch Symphony_ and with the trombones in the grand chords of the Overture to _Ruy Blas_, but he evidently felt with Beethoven the comic and rustic character of its tone. This is abundantly shown in the music to the _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, where the two bassoons lead the quaint Clown’s March in thirds and still farther on in the Funeral March, which is obviously an imitation of a small country band, consisting of clarinet and bassoon, the latter ending unexpectedly and humorously on a solitary low C. In the Orchestra the bassoon also suggests the braying of Bottom. It is worth notice how the acute ear of the musician has caught the exact interval used by the animal without any violation of artistic propriety.” [Illustration: BASSOON, SYMPHONY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK _Ugo Savolini_] Modern composers have delighted in exhibiting the telling qualities of the bassoon. A notable example is in Tschaikowsky’s _Pathetic Symphony_ and in the waltz movement of his _Fifth Symphony_. In his _Marche Slave_ it is very effective in unison with the violas. Brahms shows it off well in his _C-minor Symphony_; Strauss in his _Heldenleben_, _Till Eulenspiegel_ and _Don Juan_; and Elgar in his _Pomp and Circumstance March_ and Variations III and IX of the _Enigma_. Wagner gets desolation and sorrow out of it; and, occasionally, humor; and Humperdinck makes comic use of it in _Hänsel and Gretel_, where it frequently comments on what is happening on the stage. The bassoon gives long sustained notes, shakes and _staccato_ notes, which are “dry” and grotesque. The English and French name _bassoon_ and _basson_ refer to its pitch in the bass; but the Italians and Germans call it _Fagotto_ and _Fagott_, because they think in shape it resembles a bundle of sticks, or fagots. To-day there are usually three bassoons in the Orchestra,—the first and second bassoon and the double-bassoon. THE DOUBLE-BASSOON The double-bassoon is an octave below the bassoon. It doubles the bass of the bassoon as the double-bass doubles the violoncello. The double-bassoon is a conical wooden pipe of hard wood—often maple—more than sixteen feet long and doubled back four times on itself. The crook, or mouthpiece, into which the double reed is fastened, is much like that of the bassoon; but the metal bell points downwards.