Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was a highly respected piano virtuoso, composer and sought-after teacher in the early 19th century. Hummel‘s piano improvisations were legendary and comparable to those of his contemporary and friend Ludwig van Beethoven, whom Hummel supported throughout his life.

In addition to numerous chamber, piano and orchestral works, the Grand Concerto in F Major for bassoon and orchestra is one of his most famous works. The three-movement concerto was probably composed in 1805 and, according to the autograph, is dedicated to Griesbacher. Editor Ronald Tyree suggests that this was the famous Viennese clarinetist and music director of Prince Grassalkovich’s wind orchestra. The concerto begins with an extended orchestral exposition, before the solo bassoon takes up the first theme in a varied form.

Reminiscences of his teacher Mozart are clearly audible. In the lyrical slow movement, the solo bassoon shows off all its skills. Ronald Tyree, himself a world-renowned bassoonist and professor of bassoon and saxophone at the University of Iowa, provides an equally impressive and authentic cadenza to Hummel’s Grand Concerto in F major. The concerto concludes with a lively rondo, whose melody is reminiscent of a village dance.