Important people in bassoon history

contributions to technique and tradition contributions to instrument design and manufacture associated repertoire/texts
Bartolomé de Selma y Salaverde
c1595-c1638
Spain		 Important early bassoonist. Wrote first solo bassoon piece, Fantasia; descends to low B-flat and includes difficult passagework.
Etienne Ozi
1754-1813
France		 Most influential bassoon soloist of his time, known for bringing the instrument to previously unheard levels of technical agility and expressive power. Wrote the most highly-regarded tutor then in existence. Wrote eight bassoon concerti and many other virtuoso works for his own performance.
Francois Devienne
1759-1803
France		 Recitalist, chamber, orchestral, and theater musician on both bassoon and flute. First flute professor of Paris Conservatory (1795). Compositions (including bassoon concerti, sonatas, and chamber music) raised the level of woodwind playing in late 18th-century France.
Francois Gebauer
1773-1845
French, of German or Swiss extraction		 Known for beauty of tone. Professor at Paris Conservatory 1795-1802 and 1824-1838. Wrote 13 bassoon concerti and a method, plus many other chamber works and solo transcriptions for bassoon and other instruments.
Carl Almenraeder
1786-1843
Germany		 Well-known bassoonist. Student of acoustics; applied this knowledge in making fundamental improvements to the bassoon. Formed a partnership with Heckel. Wrote a bassoon concerto and some chamber music, as well as a tutor for his 17-key bassoon.
Johann Adam Heckel
1812-1877
Germany		 Instrument maker, especially known for fine bassoons based on Almenraeder’s developments, and initially made in partnership with him; continued to improve the design after Almenraeder’s death. His sons continued his business.
Eugene Jancourt
1815-1901
France		 Bassoonist and pedagogue. Taught at Paris Conservatory from 1875-1891. Held all the important orchestral bassoon positions in Paris. Made several improvements that became standard on the French-system bassoon.
Julius Weissenborn
1837-1888
Germany		 Important bassoonist and pedagogue. Taught at Leipzig Conservatory. Wrote a major tutor for the Heckel bassoon, plus several collections of studies, short bassoon/piano pieces, and bassoon trios.
Ludwig Milde
1849-1913
Germany		 Important bassoonist. Known for composing well-known and frequently-used etudes.
Archie Camden
1888–1979
England		 Bassoonist and pedagogue. Known for a long and influential career. Trained several generations of leading British bassoonists.
Maurice Allard
1923-
France		 Bassoonist. Major soloist and champion of the French bassoon. In 1957 became a professor at the Paris Conservatory. Works written for him by Marcel Bitsch, Pierre Max Dubois, Jolivet, Rivier, Tisné, Tomasi and Marc Vaubourgoin.
William Waterhouse
1931-2007
England		 Major orchestral player, including London Symphony and BBC Symphony. Important soloist. Important scholar and pedagogue.
Works written for him by Gordon Jacob (Partita), Stanley Weiner, Jean Françaix and Elliot Schwarz.
Arthur Weisberg
1931-
USA		 Major orchestral player and pedagogue. Inventor of the “future bassoon,” an instrument supposedly unable to crack notes and having improved pitch and tone, while using familiar fingerings. Author of The Art of Wind Playing.
Milan Turkovic
1939-
Austria		 Bassoonist and pedagogue. Known for modern and Baroque bassoon.
Guntram Wolf
?-
Germany		 20th-century bassoon maker; also known for historical replicas, smaller bassoon-family members, and the contraforte, a redesigned contrabassoon.
Ray Pizzi
?-
USA

Paul Hanson
?-
USA

Michael Rabinowitz
?-
USA

Illinois Jacquet
1922-2004
USA

 American jazz bassoonists.