Bob Oganovic
Bassoonist
I played the bassoon from 1972 to 1978. I pick up the instrument more-or-less on a whim and played it for several years thereafter. I had previously been a pianist, singer, and (at the margins) a violinist, but I had never even held a wind instrument.
THE BAD NEWS: for several decades thereafter jobs, marriage, fatherhood, traveling for work, focusing on choral music et al took priority over the fagott.
THE GOOD NEWS: I picked up the instrument again 2016, so after this long hiatus I am once again back behind the bocal. In 2019 I bought a new Fox Renaud instrument.
In the sections below you can read more about:
- Ensembles I’ve performed with.
- Teachers I’ve worked with.
- Performance of Loch Lomond, a Scottish ballad originally arranged for male chorus by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
- Major repertoire I’ve performed.
Groups With Which I Have Played the Bassoon
- University of Minnesota Summer Orchestra ~ 2017, 2019, 2023-2025
- Hopkins Westwind Concert Band ~ 2021-2023
- Bethel University Wind Ensemble ~ 2016-2020, 2023-2025
- Bethel University Chamber Orchestra & Chamber Ensembles ~ 2019-2022
- Centennial Community Band ~ 2020
- St. Louis Park Community Band ~ 2019
- Macalester Community Band ~ 1976-1977
- University of Minnesota Concert Band ~ 1975-1977
- St. Cloud (Minnesota) State University Concert Band and Community Orchestra ~ 1972-1975
- The photo shows the Bethel University Concert Band, May 2017 (I am in the yellow circle – the director of the group, Dr. Stephen Thompson, is just to the right.
- Click here for an article in Ireland’s Independent newspaper about the group’s performance at a concert in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin as part of their 2019 tour of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
- I also was part of the concert band’s tour of the Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia, and Lituania — in 2023. Additionally, I joined the Bethel Orchestra on a tour to the San Diego area in 2021.
The Folks Who Have Helped Me
Teachers
Over the years I have taken bassoon lessons from William L. Jones, Norbert Nielubowski, Nick Van Duzee, Katie Bauernfeind (shown in the photo) and others.
Katie Bauernfeind and I are shown here in a photograph taken in September 2017. Katie is a bassoon specialist for Fox and a fine performer and teacher. My t-shirt reads “BASSOON – I wet my reeds with the tears of brass player” [sic].
Performance
Transcription for Multiple Bassoons of Loch Lomond by Ralph Vaughan Williams
The marvelous English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams arranged the Scottish ballad Loch Lomond for 4 men’s voice parts and baritone soloist. I have, in turn, transcribed it for multiple bassoons making these minor changes from RVW’s manuscript:
• Shifting the original key of G major down a whole step to F major.
• Adding a lower octave on a few measures.
• Adding a higher voice “echo chord” right at the end.
The audio performance features multiple tracks with me playing each part; this was created using the Audacity and Studio One software applications.
Notes Regarding the Arrangement & Recording
Examples of major Repertoire
| Composer | Piece (“*” indicates played contrabassoon) |
| Anderson, Leroy | A Christmas Festival |
| Arnold, Malcolm (arr. Paynter) | Four Scottish Dances |
| Bach, J.S. | Cantata 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme |
| Beethoven, Ludwig van | Coriolanus Overture |
| Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor | |
| Symphony No. 1 | |
| Symphony No. 5 (1st movement) | |
| Symphony No. 7 | |
| Berlioz, Hector | Symphonie Fantastique (mvt. 3 & 4) |
| Boulanger, Lili | D’un matin de printemps |
| Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel | Ballade |
| Christmas Overture | |
| Dett, R. Nathaniel (arr. Pigott) | In the Bottoms-Introduction and Juba Dance |
| Elgar, Edward | Nimrod from Enigma Variations |
| Salut d’Amour from Enigma Variations | |
| Gould, Morton | Symphony for Band |
| Grainger, Percy | Children’s March |
| Hill Song | |
| Lincolnshire Posy | |
| Handel, G.F. | Messiah (excerpts) |
| Hindemith, Paul | Symphony in B-flat |
| Holst, Gustav | 1st Suite for Military Band in E-flat |
| 2nd Suite for Military Band in F | |
| Japanese Suite | |
| Honegger, Arthur | Le Roi David (final movement La mort de David) |
| Mendelssohn, Felix | Symphony No. 5 Reformation |
| The Hebrides | |
| Mennin, Peter | Canzona |
| Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus | Overture to Don Giovanni |
| Prokofiev, Sergei | Piano Concerto No. 3 C Major |
| Ravel, Maurice | Pavane pour une enfante defunte |
| Reed, Alfred | Alleluia! Laudamus Te |
| Respighi, Ottorino | *The Pines of Rome |
| Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai | Capriccio Espagnole |
| Scheherazade | |
| Rossini, Gioachino | Overture Guillaume Tell |
| Saint-Saëns, Camille | Symphony in A (mvt 1 & 2) |
| Schubert, Franz | Overture (Rosamunde) |
| Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) | |
| Shostakovich, Dmitri | Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major (1st movement) |
| Sibelius, Jean | Finlandia |
| Symphony No. 2 | |
| Stravinsky, Igor | Firebird Suite (1919) |
| Tchaikovsky, Pyotr | Capriccio Italien |
| Vaughan Williams, Ralph | *Dona Nobis Pacem |
| English Folk Song Suite | |
| Prelude 49th Parallel | |
| The Lark Ascending | |
| Verdi, Giuseppe | Overture to Nabucco |
| Wagner, Richard | Die Meistersinger (excerpts) |
| Walton, William | Crown Imperial |
| Washburn, Robert | Symphony for Band |
| Weber, Carl Maria | Clarinet Concerto No. 1 (Rondo) |
| Whitacre, Eric | Equus |