Chapter 2. The game is afoot

Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!

The bassoon should be dispatched today. While waiting I continue to google for anything I can related to Hawkes and French bassoons, looking for information as well as contacts. I may need it soon.

So far I have learnt some history of the manufacturer (some details are outlined in the previous post) and established that all existing documentation is in a museum not so far away, just a few hours on a train. I also have found this YouTube channel and got in touch with its author. He has pointed me to a yahoo group called frenchbassoon which I have joined already and just introduced myself there. I hope that I will find at least advise there if not some help or support in my endeavours.

Going from one link to another I have found few other sites worth mentioning. There is another YouTube channel with old recordings of Maurice Allard playing 'le basson' of which I especially enjoyed Concertino by Marcel Bitsch. There is also a page with French bassoon links on Brice Mallier's page where you can find things like this recording of Poulenc's trio.

And last but not least I have got a phone number to the bassoon's previous owner. It was sold to me by his neighbour who doesn't know much about it but hopefully I will be able to learn a bit more about the instruments history that way.