07/10/2026
We’re featuring an incredibly special contrabassoon at our booth this year at IDRS 2026! Meet the Lange “The Croc” Contrabassoon, a unique instrument with a storied past that includes Hollywood, Walt Disney, lawsuits, and… crocodiles?!?!?! 😱
Even without its history, the instrument stands out from the crowd. Built in 1904, its bell is made to come up and over the instrument instead of up and over to the side. This gives it a much skinnier appearance as well as causing it to clock in at a whopping 6’7”! This contra also features a non-standard low A, nickel-plated keys, and the original 1904 Lange bocal.
The maker of the instrument was a German man named Reinhold Lange, who had been inspired by Heckel‘s success in bassoon making. He was so inspired that he convinced a Heckel worker named Friedrich Stritta to ALSO work for him on the weekends. Stritta would smuggle parts out of the Heckel factory during the week and then use them on the weekends to build Lange bassoons. In 1900, Stritta had a falling out with Heckel and began making instruments for Lange full-time, but this arrangement would be short-lived. Heckel responded by filing the first-ever contrabassoon-related lawsuit in history, suing Lange for copying their design. Lange was found guilty, forced to cease production, and died shortly after in 1905.
It is not known how the instrument made its way to the United States, but what is known is that it came under the possession of a bassoonist named Kenneth Lowman, who played for Disney studios. This means that this contrabassoon recorded the famous solo from “Never Smile at a Crocodile” from Walt Disney’s 1953 Film Peter Pan 🐊🐊🐊 Our new general manager Jacob made the meme on the final slide to commemorate our coming across such cool part of musical history 😆
Special thanks to Jonathan Westerling for some fabulous research into this contrabassoon! To see Jonathan play the famous solo and explain the history in greater depth: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUjpU299Cwg)
Trials at Forrests are available by appointment.
