Ondrej Sindelar – Duality – Zimmermann & Vanhal: Bassoon Cons

Two composers. Two bassoonists. Two premieres. One big musical feast.The bassoon as a solo instrument does not appear all that oftenin the concerto literature, but a concerto for two bassoons is truly rare,being something that could arise only in the environment of an ensemblethat possessed two soloists on that instrument. One such double concertohas been played for many years under the name of the important Czechcomposer Jan Krtitel Vanhal. But what if it had really been composedby someone else? The question has been raised by Ondrej sindelar, a playerof the classical bassoon, who has found the same concerto bearing the nameof Anton Zimmermann in one of Prague’s archives. The two works differ fromeach other only in the slow movement. Theft? Plagiarism? A copyist’s error?Collegial assistance? We are left with the unsolved mysteries of authorshipand of whether the two masters may have met. Vanhal’s travels took himfrom Hradec Kralove to Vienna, Italy,