Editing Contrabassoon (section)

== Current use ==
{{listen|filename=contra2.ogg|title=Cello suites (excerpt)|description=This segment of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]]'s [[Cello Suites (Bach)|cello suites]], played on a contrabassoon.|format=[[Ogg]]}}

Most major orchestras use one contrabassoonist, either as a primary player or a bassoonist who [[Woodwind doubler|doubles]], as do a large number of [[concert band|symphonic band]]s.

The contrabassoon is a supplementary orchestral instrument and is most frequently found in larger symphonic works, often [[Voicing (music)#Doubling|doubling]] the [[bass trombone]] or [[tuba]] at the octave.  Frequent exponents of such scoring were [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] and [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]], as well as [[Richard Strauss]], and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]. The first composer to write a separate contrabassoon part in a symphony was [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], in his [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]] (1808) (it can also be heard providing the bass line in the brief "[[Janissary]] band" section of the fourth movement of his [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]], just prior to the tenor solo), although [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] (in his ''[[Music for the Royal Fireworks]]''), [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] (e.g., in both of his oratorios ''[[The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation]]'' and ''[[The Seasons (Haydn)|The Seasons]]'', where the part for the contrabassoon and the bass trombone are mostly, but not always, identical), and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] had occasionally used it in other genres (e.g., in the [[Coronation Mass (Mozart)|''Coronation Mass'']]). Composers have often used the contrabassoon to comical or sinister effect by taking advantage of its seeming "clumsiness" and its sepulchral rattle, respectively.  A clear example of this can be heard in [[Paul Dukas]]' ''[[The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas)|The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'' (originally scored for contrabass [[sarrusophone]]). [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' is one of the few orchestral works that requires two contrabassoons.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://nyphil.org/~/media/pdfs/watch-listen/commercial-recordings/1213/release01.pdf |title = NY Phil Plays on|website=Nyphil.org}}</ref>

As a featured instrument, the contrabassoon can be heard in several works, most notably [[Maurice Ravel]]'s ''[[Ma Mère l'Oie|Mother Goose Suite]]'', and at the opening of ''[[Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (Ravel)|Piano Concerto for the Left Hand]]''. [[Gustav Holst]] gave the contrabassoon multiple solos in ''[[The Planets]]'', primarily in "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" and "Uranus, the Magician".<ref name="auto"/>

Solo literature is somewhat lacking, although some modern composers such as [[Gunther Schuller]], [[Donald Erb]], [[Michael Tilson Thomas]], [[John Woolrich]], [[Kalevi Aho]], [[Ruth Gipps]] and [[Daniel Dorff]] have written concertos for this instrument (see [[#Notable solos and soloists|below]]). [[Stephen Hough]] has written a trio for piccolo, contrabassoon and piano ''[http://weinberger.epartnershub.com/Was-mit-den-Traenen-geschieht-trio-M570056989.aspx Was mit den Tränen geschieht]''. Contrabassoon may theoretically play music for bassoon, which has much more solo repertoire, but the sonic and mechanical differences from the bassoon (and bassoon's comparative facility in the high register) mean that bassoon repertoire is not always suited to contra.