János Vajda (1949– ) The Eternal Bassoonist

In 2002 the statue of The eternal bassoonist was inaugurated at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. The statue was commissioned by bassoon player and teacher Ottó Oromszegi and was made by István Madarassy, sculptor and goldsmith. After the renovation of the building the statue was not replaced but it has still remained alasting memory in sheets of music. Composer János Vajda often used to walk in front of the statue and eventually set the imaginated figure of the ”eternal bassoonist” to music. The piece was finished but the manuscript was lost. The composer wrote it down again from memory with some minor modifications and in a higher, more suitable range. He dedicated the piece to bassoon artist Ágnes Herpay, who had encouraged him previously to compose for her intrument. So the title of the piece, Die ewige Fagottin, became a homage. Since Herpay is not only a performing artist but also a teacher, she asked the composer to provide a technically easier version for teaching purposes as well. In our publication we print the second version of the piece, preferred by artist, entitled The eternal bassoonist, but the student version is also included in the score.