Which of his Peter’s relatives is represented by the bassoon?
Bassoon tone suits it for both plaintive, lyrical solos such as Maurice Ravel's "Boléro" and more comical ones, such as the grandfather's theme in "Peter and the Wolf". Its agility suits it for passages such as the famous running line (doubled in the violas and cellos) in the overture to "The Marriage of Figaro". In addition to its solo role, the bassoon is an effective bass to a woodwind choir, a bass line along with the cellos and double basses, and harmonic support along with the French horns. A wind ensemble will usually also include two bassoons and sometimes contrabassoon, each
Bassoon a like-instrument ensemble. Peter Schickele's "Last Tango in Bayreuth" (after themes from "Tristan und Isolde") is a popular work; Schickele's fictional alter ego P. D. Q. Bach exploits the more humorous aspects with his quartet "Lip My Reeds," which at one point calls for players to perform on the reed alone. It also calls for a low A at the very end of the prelude section in the fourth bassoon part. It is written so that the first bassoon does not play; instead, the player's role is to place an extension in the bell of the fourth bassoon so that