Fingering Suggestions for Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra

In the final movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, there are several tricky technical passages in the tenor register for Bassoon 1 and 2. In this post, I'd like to share some fingerings that make these passages more playable. These are the fingerings I'll be using when DSO performs the Bartók next week—you can catch the concert, which also features Brahms' Violin Concerto, on the livestream here on Saturday, May 25 at 8 p.m. EDT.

My most recent blog post addressed mistakes in the Bassoon 2 part for this piece. Check it out!

Fast technique in the tenor register is often more difficult than fast technique in the middle register due to the convoluted tenor register fingerings. The good news is that there are also many more fingering options for every note. In technical passages, I make it a priority to choose each fingering carefully, write my choices into the music, and work with those fingerings from a slow tempo. I often compare this method to how pianists must choose and write in their fingerings.

Because there are so many fingering options for every note, there are many elegant solutions for these passages. The fingerings I'm suggesting here are by no means the only options, but they have worked well for me. Give them a try and see what you think.

The first difficult section is mm. 59–72:

The two unusual fingerings I use here are for high A and high F#:

It's easiest to think of the A fingering as a normal A without the right hand. Similarly, you can think of the F# fingering as a normal G without the low F key. I use these fingerings for all the As and F#s in this section, except for the A in m. 66, since I already have the low G key depressed for the preceding G#. I included the whisper key in the F# fingering, but it can be left off. (If you aren't already in the habit of leaving off the whisper key for high G in fast technique, it's helpful to notate when you plan to omit it.)

Here's one other difficult passage, mm. 123–126:

Here, I use the same F# fingering as above throughout. The only additional fingering I have to offer here is for E. Many of us are probably used to leaving off our right-hand first finger for E, but you can simplify the fingering even further by leaving off your second finger as well. I find that using only the G key makes for an easy rocking motion between my first and third finger going between my F# and E fingerings. That motion also occurs in the transition between the G# and F#. As an aside, this E fingering is also useful if you ever need your E to be on the sharper side.

One common complaint about these kinds of fingerings is that they don't sound as good as the ones we're used to, whether that's because of pitch, timbre, or response quality. Here's what I do to combat that issue:

• I practice long tones on the fingerings I choose to ensure that it's possible to get the desired pitch and response.
• I practice going back and forth between a standard fingering and the fingering I have chosen and try to match pitch and timbre as closely as possible.
• Even though it's essential to incorporate my chosen fingerings at a slow tempo, I acknowledge that at full speed, subtle differences in color and even pitch will not be audible.
  

Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions about these fingerings or would like to share your own solution for these passages! I'll leave you with a recording of how my suggested fingerings sound.