Heckel, Johann Adam Bassoons

The Hichwa-Rachor database contains four original bassoons of Johann Adam Heckel (1812 Adorf – 1877 Biebrich). Johann Adam Heckel founded the famous Heckel firm, which still exists today. In 1829, Heckel traveled from Adorf to Mainz to train with his uncle, August Jehring (d. 1837). Heckel worked with Karl Almenräder (1786-1843) at the Schott fils company. In 1831, Heckel, age 18, established a partnership with the 46 year old Almenräder. This partnership only lasted a little over a year. Almenräder accused Heckel of poor craftsmanship and thought Heckel’s bocals were disastrous. Almenräder is responsible for some of the most important developments in the bassoon in the 19th century, such as moving the A tone hole further down on the boot and double drilling the A and Bb tone holes. There are no known bassoons stamped Almenräder; however, there is a bassoon in the Heckel Museum in Biebrich stamped Heckel-Almenräder. The work of Almenräder tends to be overshadowed by the work of Johann Heckel. In 1862, Richard Wagner visited the Heckel workshop in Biebrich, and in 1879, Wagner endorsed Heckel bassoons and contrabassoons. Johann Adam Heckel was succeeded by Wilhelm Heckel (1856-1909) and Wilhelm Hermann Heckel (1879-1952). In the late 19th century, the Heckel firm produced bassoons, but also flutes, oboes, and clarinets, and invented a new bass oboe called the Heckelphon.

Johann Adam Heckel did not place serial numbers on bassoons. Wilhelm Heckel started in 1877 with the number 3001.

For an excellent history of the Heckel firm, see Reiter, Edith. Wilhelm Heckel: Six Generations Dedicated to Music. Waldemar Kramer Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2015.

Johann Adam Heckel Literature
[Revised 16 February 2025]

Dullat, Günter. Verzeichnis der Holz- und Metallblasinstrumentenmacher auf Deutschsprachigem Gebiet von 1500 bis Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Tutzing: Scheider, 2010.

Jansen, Will. The Bassoon: Its History, Construction, Makers, Players and Music, Vol. 1, 398, 399; Vol. 2, 525-565. Buren: Frits Knuf, 1978.

Heyde, Herbert. “Carl Almenräders Verdienst um das Fagott.” Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 14, no. 3 (1972): 225–230.

Hofer, Achim, et al. Lexikon der Holzblasinstrumente, 333-335. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, 2018.

Kopp, James. The Bassoon. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.

Kopp, James B. “Carl Boosé, Thomas Boosey, and Heckel Bassoons in Great Britain, 1856–1876.” Galpin Society Newsletter (May 2015): [8-11].

Rice, Albert. Four Centuries of Musical Instruments: The Marlowe A. Sigal Collection, 193, 197. Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 2015.

Reiter, Edith. Wilhelm Heckel: Six Generations Dedicated to Music. Wiesbaden: Waldemar Kramer Verlag, 2015.

Waterhouse, William. The New Langwill Index. London: Tony Bingham, 1993.

Waterhouse, William. The Proud Bassoon, 24, 25. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments, 1983.

Werr, Sebastian. Geschichte des Fagotts, 202. Augsburg: Wißner-Verlag, 2011.

Werr, Sebastian. “New Sources on the Early History of the Almenräder-Heckel Bassoon: The Correspondence between Carl Almenräder and the Music House B. Schott’s Söhne.” Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society 49 (2023): 184–221.

Werr, Sebastian. “The Business Relations Between Johann Adam Heckel and B. Schott’s Söhn in Contemporary Documents.” The Double Reed 47, no. 2: 108–116.

Young, Phillip. The Look of Music, 205. Vancouver: Vancouver Museums Association, 1980.