Etienne Ozi – «a great bassonist of incredible talent»

Abstract

Statement of the problem. Etienne Ozi stands out as a bassoonist due to his significant creative achievements in various spheres of his multifaceted activities. As a bassoonist soloist, he successfully debuted in the “Concerts Spirituels” and for more than two decades was actively performed in front of Parisians in the best halls of the capital. An equally significant achievement of Ozі as a teacher was the preparation of the first instructional manual for the specialists “Nouvelle méthode de basson adoptue par le Conservatoire” (1803), which remained the main official publication of the Paris Conservatory for many years. The composer’s work also became an important part of the bassoon repertoire, which was actively used by him and his students in performing and teaching activities. Despite the importance of E. Ozi’s contribution to all spheres of bassoon art, the artist’s multifaceted creative activity still has not been properly assessed by modern researchers and requires a more detailed study. Recent research and publications. Among the works of domestic scientists, there are hardly any publications dedicated to E. Ozi’s creative activity. An outstanding Ukrainian musician, teacher and scientist V. M. Apatsky (2017) in his fundamental reference publication «Bassoon from A to Z» covers only individual episodes of the musician’s biography. The figure of the French artist is considered more deeply by foreign researchers, among which it is necessary to single out the dissertation and monograph of H. E. Griswold «Etienne Ozi (1754–1813): Bassoonist, Teacher, and Composer» (1979), in which E. Ozi’s work is revealed in sufficient detail. However, over the forty-year period of its existence, a certain updating of historical materials took place, which requires clarification and correction of some facts. Among the latest publications, which in one way or another highlight E. Ozi’s work, it is worth mentioning O. Tiffou’s monograph «The French Bassoon in the 19th Century. Theory and Repertoire» (2022) and Á. D. Moreno’s thesis «Bassoon Playing in Perspective. Character and Performance Practice from 1800 to 1850» (2013). In each of the studies, the authors partly consider individual aspects of the musician’s creative work according to the chosen research direction. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to identify the main directions of Etienne Ozi’s performance and his role in the process of formation of the French bassoon school of the late 18th – early 19th centuries. The scientific novelty of the paper is determined by disclosing little-known facts of E. Ozi’s performance and his contribution to the formation of the French bassoon school. The study of E. Ozi’s performance required the use of a number of methods, such as historical to reveal the ideological and socio-economic factors of influence of the French Revolution on the development of musical art; historiography analyses to study and interpret musical and critical sources of the 18th century, chronological one to determine the time sequence of E. Ozi’s main concert performances; contextual and biographical approaches to highlight important stages of the artist’s creative work. Research results. The process of becoming Ozi as a performer is related to military brass bands, which, due to the lack of special musical educational institutions in France in the 18th century, remained the only place, where it was possible to learn to play wind instruments. Then, successful bassoon lessons under the leadership of the outstanding German bassoonist G. V. Ritter opened him the door to the concert stage. From 1779, he became an active performer-soloist of the prestigious “Concerts Spirituels” in the royal palaces. After the French Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy, E. Ozi continued a successful performing and teaching career in the Paris Conservatory, the orchestras of the Théâtre Italien, Théâtre Feydeau and Théâtre de la République et des Arts. An important achievement of the talented musician was a convincing victory in the competition of nominees for the post of soloist of the Grand Opéra Théâtre, which allowed him to take the most prestigious place for a bassoonist in France. Conclusion. E. Ozi is one of the first French musicians who presented the bassoon as a solo instrument and created a multi-genre concert repertoire for it. Regular performances at the most prestigious halls of Paris allowed him to confidently occupy a leading positions not only among the French, but also European bassoonists. Active performing activity of E. Ozi and his fruitful teaching practice at the Paris Conservatory had a crucial influence on the development of European bassoon art of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.