Reviews and comments received
This well-written and well-researched book fills a void in the literature about the bassoon’s
precursor … Kilbey has made an important contribution to resources about the historical
development of the bassoon. Curtal, Dulcian, Bajón: A History of the Precursor to the Bassoon is
excellent as a stand alone reference or as a supplement to the sections on early music in Langwill’s
The Bassoon and Contrabassoon and Joppig’s The Oboe and the Bassoon.
The Double Reed (Vol. 26 no.4, 2003)
See Kilbey’s Curtal for an exhaustive investigation of the history of the instrument, including
documentary references, iconography, repertory, and surviving examples.
Jeffery Kite-Powell, Stewart Carter, A Performer’s Guide to Seventeenth-Century Music (2012)
This is a magnificent assemblage of information about the curtal.
Early Music Review (no.93, September 2003)
This 300 page book contains probably everything that is currently known about the surviving
original dulcians and in addition lots of iconography and information of the history and repertoire
for the dulcian. Highly recommended.
Hans Mons (Holland)
Maggie Kilbey’s new book on the dulcian is an excellent model for collecting all the surviving
information about a single woodwind instrument, including its players and makers … most helpful
and inspiring.
David Lasocki (USA)
Truly admirable ...
William Waterhouse (UK)
… an unprecedented source book that brings much valuable information between two covers. The
woodwind community is much in your debt for this work.
James Kopp (USA)
All in all it is a most impressive piece of research, well laid out and presented and I felicitate you
wholeheartedly.
Jeremy Montagu (UK)
Congratulations for your excellent book about curtals and bajones.
Josep Borràs i Roca (Spain)
Exceptionally informative ...
Andrew Parrott (UK)
Your book is beautiful, marvellous, perfect! You did a fantastic job for all dulcian players.
Jan Klimes (Czech Republic)
Your book is really wonderful and exactly I am waiting for! Congratulations!!! So it is one of the best
books about an early instrument family I ever had in my hands with so much good information.
Bernhard Stilz (Germany)
What a GREAT book.
Bob Grossman (USA)
… very interesting and well written. Please let me know if you publish anything else!
Elena Bianchi (Italy)