Does anyone have any tips for playing the end of the Saint-Saens sonata 3nd mvt?
I'm finding the top E difficult and I only know the one fingering, which doesn't speak very well (let alone pp and staccato!). My bassoon is 40 years old and german, which apparently doesn't help but I reckon any problems are down to lacking in technique!
I'll listen to any fingering/reed/playing advice people can give, as I'm really stumped with this one!!

well, to assume that the e fingering you're talking about is the one with left pointer, left ring, left pinkie (top key)and right pointer, middle, and ring fingers, i believe that's the only "standard fingering," but I can tell you that I taught myself wrong for about a year, and you can get the note out by playing the low octave E, that is just your leftpointer finger, and nothing else and really supporting it.....it'll come out, but it wont be stable.....hope that helps

When I said 3nd mvt, I meant 2nd mvt lol.
Were you talking about E4 or E5? I mean the E above the one you were talking about I think,
Thanks anyway!

E5(3 lines and a space above the tenor clef staff)? I know of 3 fingerings, maybe one will help you (this is difficult to describe, because bassoon has so many buttons!)

All 3 fingerings use the left thumb C# (next to the whisper key). Index finger is 1, middle finger 2, ring finger 3. 1/2 = half-covered. Eb = left little finger key, eb = sliver key between left hand first and second fingers.

left hand C# 1/2 2 3 right hand thumb-G# 1 2 3 pinky F

left hand C# eb 2 3 right hand 2 pinky F#

left hand C# eb 2 3 Eb right hand 2 pinky F#

You should have a look at the woodwind fingering guide at

http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/

It's an excellent resource.