Contraforte

Okay, I thought I had seen just about everything but a German maker, Guntram Wolf, has created a redesigned contrabassoon which he is calling the “Contraforte!” I came across this wonderful beast while searching through bassoon bulletin boards. The contraforte claims to have a larger dynamic range that the “traditional” instrument as well as a range that remains stable over 4 1/2 octaves. After listening to the complete recording (!) of Victor Bruns’ Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra op. 98 (a piece that I have not been aware of until now), I’ve got to admit that the contraforte has a wonderful sound! Wow! A link to this instrument, that includes MP3’s of the concerto may be found here. The performance is stellar and, I’ve gotĀ  to admit, is really very cool! šŸ™‚

Praise God!

I seldom discuss my own religious beliefs on this board (yes, I believe in God and attend a Christrian Church on a regular basis) but today, I really must thank Him for the evil He stopped today. While I’m not going to go into the gory details of the matter on this blog, I will say that He protected me from some harm that was being perpitrated by an evil entity that has engaged in vile behavior towards me for a very long time. I would also like to thank all of those who have been praying for both me and the situation – these have included many people from my church, elders, support groups, friends, etc. Also my doctors and others who have been involved in the situation. ThingsĀ remainĀ very rough but IĀ am extremely grateful to God forĀ His grace, mercy, and protection. There are still many, many evilĀ people out there who have caused all of the problems but I’m thankful that GodĀ protected me.Ā