Nouvelle méthode de basson par Ozi [...] Adoptée par le Conservatoire pour servir à l'étude dans cet etablissement [...] Gravée par Md. Le Roy.

Paris: Imprimerie du Conservatoire de Musique. [1803]. Method for the bassoon by the influential French bassoonist and composer. Engraved throughout. With one folding plate ("Tablature du Basson") including two illustrations of the bassoon and additional illustrations accompanying textual commentary at conclusion. Rare. [4], ii, 145 p. illus., 1 foldout plate. Two later labels on the title page, of "Lippi, Luthier," and "Jean-Baptiste Laprevotte, Facteur d'Orgues et de Serinettes," partially obscuring the original publisher's imprint. Blue paper boards with handwritten front label. Heavy overall wear and tears to the boards and spine; volume slightly warped. Area of damp staining to the lower edge of the pages throughout, especially strong on the folding plate. However, structurally sound and internally otherwise in very good condition. 10 x 13 inches (25 x 33 cm).

"Ozi’s influence as a performer, teacher, and composer of bassoon literature was international in scope. His music and Méthodes (written for a six- and seven-keyed bassoon) are the most comprehensive and informative source of instructions on bassoon performance of the late 18th century. As late as 1838 Schilling observed that his 1803 Méthode ‘was not only the first complete manual for learning to play the bassoon in France, but in most other countries as well’. The 20 pages devoted to embellishment and extempore variation have been cited as an important source dealing with late 18th-century improvisatory practices. His musical examples were used by Almenraeder as points of departure for improving the key mechanism of the bassoon. At least three of his concertos were published in Germany as well as France and editions of the Méthodes, sonatas and caprices continued to be published in Germany, France and Italy throughout the 19th century. Although his concertos and symphonies concertantes were intended for his own performance, they contain passages of virtuosic brilliance that contributed much to the development of the bassoon as a solo instrument during this time. As a soloist Ozi expanded the expressive as well as the technical capacity of the bassoon. It was observed that the bassoon took on ‘in his hands, a life, a soul, and an expressive character’ that was previously unattainable on the instrument. According to contemporaries, he was ‘le meilleur basson de son temps’." (Harold E. Griswold, Grove Online.) (14883)

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Printed Music

Classical Music

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