Editing Bassoon (section)

===Origin===
[[File:Praetorius bassoons.jpg|thumb|Dulcians and [[rackett]]s, from the ''Syntagma musicum'' by [[Michael Praetorius]].]]
Music historians generally consider the [[dulcian]] to be the forerunner of the modern bassoon,<ref>{{cite book |title=Classical Music: The Listener's Companion |last1=Morin|first1=Alexander J.|author2=Harold C. Schonberg|author2-link=Harold C. Schonberg|year=2002 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |location=San Francisco |page=1154 }}. "Its direct ancestor is the dulcian, a hairpin-shaped instrument with a long, folded bore and a single key; developed in the first half of the 16th century, it remained in use until the 17th."</ref> as the two instruments share many characteristics: a double reed fitted to a metal crook, obliquely drilled tone holes and a conical bore that doubles back on itself. The origins of the dulcian are obscure, but by the mid-16th century it was available in as many as eight different sizes, from [[soprano]] to great bass. A full consort of dulcians was a rarity; its primary function seems to have been to provide the bass in the typical wind band of the time, either loud ([[shawm]]s) or soft ([[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]]s), indicating a remarkable ability to vary [[Dynamics (music)|dynamics]] to suit the need. Otherwise, dulcian technique was rather primitive, with eight finger holes and two keys, indicating that it could play in only a limited number of key signatures.

Circumstantial evidence indicates that the [[baroque]] bassoon was a newly invented instrument, rather than a simple modification of the old dulcian. The dulcian was not immediately supplanted, but continued to be used well into the 18th century by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] and others; and, presumably for reasons of interchangeability, repertoire from this time is very unlikely to go beyond the smaller compass of the dulcian. The man most likely responsible for developing the true bassoon was Martin Hotteterre ({{abbr|d.|died}}{{nbsp}}1712), who may also have invented the three-piece ''flûte traversière'' ([[flute#Western transverse|transverse flute]]) and the ''hautbois'' ([[Oboe#History|baroque oboe]]). Some historians believe that sometime in the 1650s, Hotteterre conceived the bassoon in four sections (bell, bass joint, boot and wing joint), an arrangement that allowed greater accuracy in machining the bore compared to the one-piece dulcian. He also extended the compass down to [[B♭ (musical note)|B{{Music|b}}]] by adding two [[Key (instrument)|keys]].{{sfn|Lange|Thomson|1979}} An alternate view maintains Hotteterre was one of several craftsmen responsible for the development of the early bassoon. These may have included additional members of the Hotteterre family, as well as other French makers active around the same time.{{sfn|Kopp|1999}} No original French bassoon from this period survives, but if it did, it would most likely resemble the earliest extant bassoons of [[Johann Christoph Denner]] and Richard Haka from the 1680s. Sometime around 1700, a fourth key ([[G♯ (musical note)|G♯]]) was added, and it was for this type of instrument that composers such as [[Antonio Vivaldi]], Bach, and [[Georg Philipp Telemann]] wrote their demanding music. A fifth key, for the low [[E♭ (musical note)|E{{Music|b}}]], was added during the first half of the 18th century. Notable makers of the 4-key and 5-key baroque bassoon include J.H. Eichentopf ({{circa|1678–1769}}), J. Poerschmann (1680–1757), [[Thomas Stanesby|Thomas Stanesby Jr]]. (1668–1734), G.H. Scherer (1703–1778), and Prudent Thieriot (1732–1786).