Bassoon Sonata (Saint-Saëns)

The Bassoon Sonata in G major, Op.

168, was written by Camille Saint-Saëns in 1921 as one of his last works.

These works were part of Saint-Saëns's efforts to expand the repertoire for instruments for which hardly any solo parts were written, as he confided to his friend Jean Chantavoine in a letter dated to 15 April 1921: "At the moment I am concentrating my last reserves on giving rarely considered instruments the chance to be heard.

A performance takes approximately 13 minutes.

The musical scholar Jean Gallois calls the Bassoon Sonata "a model of transparency, vitality and lightness", containing humorous touches but also moments of peaceful contemplation.