Double Reed - International Double Reed Society

Transcription

39th Annual Conference
Vol. 33 • No. 1
June 22-26, 2010
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma USA
Johanna Cox and Carl Rath, hosts
IDRS OFFICERS
President
Martin Schuring
3272 North Ash Circle
Chandler AZ 85224
Bus: 480-965-3439
Fax: 480-965-2659
Email: mschuring@asu.edu
First Vice President
Keith Sweger
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47304
Bus: 765-285-5511
Fax: 765-285-5401
E-mail: ksweger@bsu.edu
Second Vice President
Kathleen McLean
Indiana University
Jacobs School of Music
1201 E Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47401
Bus: (647) 220-5624
E-mail: kkmclean@indiana.edu
Secretary
Eric Stomberg
460 Murphy Hall
1530 Naismith Drive
Department of Music and Dance
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS 66045
Bus: (785) 864-9717
Fax: (785) 864-5866
E-mail: stomberg@ku.edu
At Large Members
Kristen Sonneborn
1100 Rordon Ave
Naples, FL 34103
Home: (941) 261-3042
E-mail: kristensonneborn@gmail.com
David Weiss
6226 Corning Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90056
Bus: (310) 337-7431
Fax: (310) 337-7431
E-mail: weiss440@ca.rr.com
At Large-Business
Peter Klatt
1025 Mariposa Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
Bus: (510) 524-2726
E-mail: jpklatt@lmi.net
Past President
Nancy Ambrose King
3019 School of Music
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Bus: (734) 764-2522
Fax: (603) 843-7597
E-mail: nak@umich.edu
Conference Coordinator
Marc Fink
School of Music
University of Wisconsin-Madison
455 North Park Street
Madison, WI 53706-1483
Bus: (608) 263-1900
FAX: (608) 262-8876
E-mail: mdfink@facstaff.wisc.edu
Bassoon Editor
Ronald James Klimko
657 Douglas Drive
PO Box 986
McCall, ID 83638-0986
Home: (208) 634-4743
E-mail: klimko@frontiernet.net
Oboe Editor
Daniel J. Stolper
7 Hermosillo Lane
Palm Desert CA 92260-1905
Bus:(760) 837-9797
E-mail: stolper@dc.rr.com
IDRS-On-Line
Publications Editor
Yoshiyuki (Yoshi) Ishikawa
University of Colorado at Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309-0301
Bus: (303) 492-7297
FAX: (303) 581-9307
E-mail: ishikawa@colorado.edu
Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Exhibit Coordinator
Norma R. Hooks
2423 Lawndale Road
Finksburg, MD 21048-1401
Office: (410) 871-0658
Fax: (410) 871-0659
E-mail: norma4idrs@verizon.net
Advertising Coordinator
Wayne Gaver
15 Crestwood Drive
Milton, PA 17847
Home: (570) 742-8434
E-mail: waynegaveridrs@msn.com
Legal Counsel
Jacob Schlosser
4937 West Broad Street
Columbus, OH 43228-1668
Bus: (614) 878-7251
FAX: (614) 878-6948
Competition Coordinator
Nancy Ambrose King
3019 School of Music
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Bus: (734) 764-2522
Fax: (603)843-7597
E-mail: nak@umich.edu
Gillet-Fox Bassoon Chair
Keith Sweger
Muncie, IN 47304
Bus: 765-285-5511
Fax: 765-285-5401
E-mail: ksweger@bsu.edu
Gillet-Fox Oboe Chair
Margaret Marco
460 Murphy Hall
1530 Naismith Dr.
Lawrence, KS 66045
Bus: (785) 864-9719
E-mail: mmarco@ku.edu
Young Artist Bassoon Chair
Eric Stomberg
460 Murphy Hall
1530 Naismith Drive
Lawrence, KS 66045
Bus: (785) 864-9717
Fax: (785) 864-5866
E-mail: stomberg@ku.edu
Young Artist Oboe Chair
Tim Clinch
Muncie, IN 47304
Bus: (765) 285-5549
Fax: (765) 285-5578
E-mail: tclinch@bsu.edu
THE DOUBLE REED
THE
DOUBLE REED
Quarterly Journal
of the
INTERNATIONAL
DOUBLE REED
SOCIETY
VOL. 33 • NO. 1
Ronald Klimko and
Daniel Stolper, Editors
© 2010 International Double Reed Society
www.idrs.org
ISSN 0741-7659
Designed by Edward Craig
Ecraig3 Graphic Design
Baltimore, MD 21212 U.S.A.
Printed by The J.W. Boarman Company
Baltimore, MD 21230 U.S.A.
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Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Vol 33 • No. 1
ON THE COVER:
The 39th Annual IDRS Conference,
University of Oklahoma, Norman
Oklahoma, June 22-26.
Honorary Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Martin Schuring
Report of the Secretary/Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Norma Hooks
Contributing Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
IDRS Membership Application Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IDRS WWW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Use of the IDRS Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CURRENT EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Bassoonists’ News of Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ronald Klimko
Oboists in the News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Stolper
Midwest Bassoon Monsoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Louise Hillary
Among Oboists, a Mutual Admiration Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Wakin
Third Annual Bassoon Meeting, Cordoba, Argentina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gonzalo Brusco, Alejandro Aizenberg
Hobos from Holland – 50th Reunion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Don Jaeger, Nancy Fowler, Don Muggeridge
Carolyn Hove 2009 English Horn Master Class at Ball State University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Lemke
Grand Valley State University Fourth Annual Double Reed Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marlen Vavříkova
Double Reed Round-Up at Brigham Young University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Natasha Wallin, Jessi Judd
Oboe Occasion at Cranbrook, January 17, 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charlotte H. Sommers
The 39th Annual IDRS Conference, University of Oklahoma, Norman Oklahoma, June 22-26 . . . . . . . Obituaries: Judith Buttrey (1955-2009), Richard ‘Brian’ Moses (d. 2009),
Lorelei Grace Crawford (d. 2009) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ARTICLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “Oboists of My Time” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Neil Black, transcribed and annotated by Geoffrey Burgess
Russian Music for Bassoon and Large Ensemble after WW II (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tama I. Kott, Olga Haldey
Living Life for Music: The Story of the Schreiber Bassoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Janet D. Lein
An Indissoluble Marriage: Italian Oboe Playing and the Human Voice.
An Interview with Sandro Caldini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Jayne Ridilla
In Their Own Words with Albrecht Mayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Grad
An Interview with Franck Bichon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ronald Klimko
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THE DOUBLE REED
Interview with Udo Heng of Reeds ‘n Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Rath
Some Notes Comparing the Reed Making Practices of Louis Skinner and Leonard Sharrow . . . . . . . . . H. Gene Griswold
Flutter-tongue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Jacqueline Leclair
A Comparative Study of W.A Mozart’s and J.C. Bach’s Bassoon Concerti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Massol
The Contrabassoon as a Pedagogical Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Burns
Improve Your Bassoon Technique Through Repetitive Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marc Vallon
A Bassoon Lite, Please…Fine Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alan Goodman
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A Bassoon Lite, Please…Meaning of Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Alan Goodman
REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Bassoon Recording Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Ron Klimko
Carl Nielsen: Music for Wind and Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Anton Reicha: Woodwind Quintets Opus 100, Nos. 1 and 2, Volume 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
The New Israel Woodwind Quintet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Bataclan! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Bassoon Music Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Daniel Lipori
Music From Imagine Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
James McAllister, Joseph Tracy, Daniel Baldwin, Matthew Morris
Music From Itchy Finger Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Mike Mower
Music From EditionsViento . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
John Falcone, Heitor Villa-Lobos
Music From Brubel Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Bruce Broughton
Oboe Music Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Keri McCarthy
Music From Prarie Dawg Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
John Boda, Eugène Cools, John H. Corina, Richard A. Crosby, Louis-Stanislas Xavier Verroust
Oboe Recording Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Jeanne Belfy
Music for Oboe and Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Russian Oboe Music of the 20th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Pasticcio Barocco 01: Jean-Marie Leclair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Robert J. Krause
Joie de Vivre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
L’Amore Italiano - The lyrical oboe in opera & cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Oboe Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Neil Black
James Brown: Our Oboist Ancestors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Dan Stolper
Martin Schuring: Oboe, Art, and Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Bassoon Website Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Daniel Lipori
Arias with Obbligato Bassoon: http://web.me.com/jimstockigt/Site/Home.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Music and the Bassoon: http://www.musicandthebassoon.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Index of Advertisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
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HONORARY MEMBERS
Honorary Members
Maurice Allard (1923-2004)
Günter Angerhöfer (1926)
Lady Evelyn Barbirolli (1911-2008)
Philip Bate (1909-1999)
Neil Cathcart Black (1932)
Robert Bloom (1908-1994)
Gwydion Brooke (1912-2005)
Victor Bruns (1903-1996)
Donald Christlieb (1912-2001)
Lewis Hugh Cooper (1920-2007)
Gerald Corey (1934)
John de Lancie (1921-2002)
Robert De Gourdon (1912-1993)
Ferdinand Del Negro (1896-1986)
Willard S. Elliot (1926-2000)
Bernard Garfield (1924)
Bert Gassman (1911-2004)
Alfred Genovese (1931)
Fernand Gillet (1882-1980)
Harold Goltzer (1915-2004)
Ralph Gomberg (1921-2006)
Leon Goossens, CBE (1897-1988)
George F. Goslee (1916-2006)
E. Earnest Harrison (1918-2005)
Norman H. Herzberg (1916-2007)
Stevens Hewitt (1924)
Heinz Holliger (1939)
Cecil James (1913-1999)
Benjamin Kohon (1890-1984)
Simon Kovar (1890-1970)
Dr. Paul Henry Lang (1901-1991)
Lyndesay Langwill (1897-1983)
James Laslie (1923)
President’s Award
Peter Klatt (Industry Liason)
Jim Prodan (Archivist)
Noah Knepper (Founding Member)
Back to Table of Contents
Alfred Laubin (1906-1976)
Humbert J. Lucarelli (1937)
John Mack (1927-2006)
Stephen Maxym (1915-2002)
Robert M. Mayer (1910-1994)
John Minsker (1912-2007)
W. Hans Moennig (1903-1988)
Frederick Moritz (1897-1993)
Karl Öhlberger (1912-2001)
Fernand Oubradous (1903-1986)
Brian Pollard
Ivan Poushechnikov (1918)
Wayne Rapier (1930-2005)
Mordechai Rechtman (1926)
Charles Robert Reinert (1913-2007)
Lowry Riggins (1930)
Matthew Ruggiero (1932)
Roland Rigoutat (1930-2007)
Louis Rosenblatt (1928-2009)
Frank Ruggieri (1906-2003)
Sol Schoenbach (1915-1999)
Leonard Sharrow (1915-2004)
Jerry Sirucek (1922-1996)
Louis Skinner (1918-1993)
Robert Sprenkle (1914-1988)
Ray Still (1920)
Daniel Stolper (1937)
Laila Storch (1921)
Klaus Thunemann (1937)
K. David Van Hoesen (1926)
William Waterhouse (1931-2007)
Arthur Weisberg (1931-2009)
THE DOUBLE REED
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Message from the President
Martin Schuring
Tempe, Arizona
Dear IDRS Family –
I am very pleased to write this, the first of my messages to you as President of the International Double
Reed Society. IDRS has been an important part of
my professional and personal life since I first joined
many years ago, and I am profoundly honored by the
confidence you have shown in me by allowing me to
serve as your President.
I will be serving along with a deeply committed
Executive Committee, many of whom are new faces,
or in new positions. Keith Sweger will serve as First
Vice President, Kathleen McLean as Second Vice
President, Eric Stomberg as Secretary, David Weiss
and Kristen Sonneborn as at-large members, and
Peter Klatt as music industry liaison. In addition, we
continue to be served by our dedicated editors: Yoshi Ishikawa (online), Dan Stolper (oboe), and Ron
Klimko (bassoon). Marc Fink remains in his vital
capacity of Conference Coordinator while Norma
Hooks will continue her tireless work on behalf of
the Society as Executive Secretary/Treasurer and
Conference Exhibit Coordinator.
IDRS is constantly exploring new ways to serve
our membership, to honor our past, and to help define our future. One of these initiatives resulted in
the recent publication of Celebrating Double Reeds:
A Festschrift for William Waterhouse and Philip Bate.
This volume, edited by former IDRS President Terry
B. Ewell, contains fascinating articles by Geoffrey
Burgess, Mathew Dart, Jeffrey Lyman, Ron Klimko and several others. Ed Craig did a beautiful job
designing and producing a truly handsome volume.
Please refer to the advertising section of this issue to
order your copy. This material is not published anywhere else, and will make a treasured addition to
your library.
While many of you around the country are still
trying to dig your way out of record-breaking snowfalls, it is actually time to start making your plans
now to attend the 2010 IDRS Conference, which
will meet at the University of Oklahoma in Norman,
Oklahoma June 22-26, 2010. Our hosts, Johanna Cox
and Carl Rath, are putting together a wonderful program which you can view at http://www.idrs2010.org.
Preparing an IDRS conference is a huge job, and we
extend our heartfelt gratitude to Johanna and Carl.
And, now is also the time to start thinking about
attending the 2011 IDRS Conference, which will be
hosted by Martin Schuring and Albie Micklich at
Arizona State University May 31-June 4, 2011. Besides the excitement and inspiration that an IDRS
conference always brings, Tempe, Arizona is a wonderful point of departure for vacations to some of the
world’s most dramatic and beautiful scenery. 2011
will be the 40th anniversary conference and will include many special events.
Speaking of conferences—thanks to the generosity of one of our members, IDRS is able to offer
a scholarship for one student to attend the annual
conference free of charge. Nominations for deserving students may be sent to our Executive Secretary/
Treasurer, Norma Hooks, who will pass the names on
to the selection committee. Please include supporting materials that describe the student’s musical and
academic background.
Once again, thank you for allowing me to serve as
President of this wonderful organization. Along with
the executive committee, I am dedicated to serving
all of our members, so please do not hesitate to let me
or other members of our executive committee know
how we can serve you better in the future.
With warmest good wishes from Arizona,
-Martin Schuring
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REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY/TREASURER
Report of the Executive Secretary/Treasurer
Norma R. Hooks
Finksburg, Maryland
Conference Scholarship
TEACHERS—It’s time to write your letter of recommendation for your special student to
attend the International Double Reed Society Conference in Norman, Oklahoma. The conference will take place June 22-26, 2010.
This scholarship is open to students, ages 15-24, anywhere in the world. It includes transportation and all conference expenses. Students are asked to document their experiences in
pictures to share with their benefactor.
If you have an exceptional student who cannot afford to attend the conference, this is the
perfect opportunity. Recommendations must be received by May 15, 2010. Letters may be
sent by post or electronically.
Send your letter of recommendation to:
Norma R. Hooks
Executive Secretary/Treasurer
2423 Lawndale Road
Finksburg, MD 21048-1401
E-mail: norma4IDRS@verizon.net
Fax: 410-871-0659
NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETS
WWW.IDRS A MEMBERS-ONLY SITE
I want to welcome the new members of our executive
committee Kathleen McLean, Kristen Sonneborn,
Eric Stomberg and David Weiss. It’s great to have
you as part of the steering committee of our organization. You’ve already contributed so much.
Our new executive committee met the first weekend in January and started the year with excitement
and enthusiasm. There were plenty of new ideas and
foresight into how we can continue on the cutting
edge of technology and communications.
If you have thoughts on ways to improve our approach to the double reed world, please contact one
of the executive committee and share your thoughts.
Our Society is all about communications and we look
forward to your input.
At our January meeting the executive committee
voted to restrict all access to the website to individual members. There will be access to ‘tables of
contents’ only by non-members. For many years, because of a grant from the NEA, our site has allowed
non-members to access our publications, except for
current ones. We’ve begun to feel that this was a selfdefeating practice. We’d like as many people to join
the IDRS as we can attract. So we’ve taken this action
to make access more restricted. Individual members
have online access. Libraries and Institutional members remain entitled to the print publication only.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Our financial review of 2009 has been completed. If
you would like to see the report, please contact me
and I will mail a copy to you . u
7
THE DOUBLE REED
Contributing Members
The Society thanks those who have given additional financial support by becoming
contributors. Their additional support is vital to the accomplishment of our goals.
BENEFACTOR
DONOR
John Campbell
Peter Christ
Carlos E. Coelho Woodwinds
Thomas C. Heinze
Norma R. Hooks
Jan Kennedy
Ke-xun Ge
Richard E. Killmer
Buffet Crampon USA Francois Kloc
McFarland Double Reed Shop
Richard Meek
Frank A. Morelli, Jr.
Lowry Riggins
Gail Warnaar Double Reeds
Christopher Weait
Lisa M. Alexander
Richard Aronson
Mark Eubanks Arundo Research Company
William P. Baker
Alexander Bakker
Bass Bags - Anthony Morgan
Charles Bell
BG Franck Bichon
E. Edwin Bloedow
Gail J. Bonath
Edward T. Bowe, M.D.
Ronald E. Bowers
Heidi Brann
Fratelli Bulgheroni SNC
Ferald Buell Capps
Anthony Christlieb Christlieb Products
Mark Chudnow Woodwinds
Dale Clark
Trevor Cramer - TrevCo Music
Tong Cui - Innoledy
Glen R. Danielson
Przemyslaw Danowski
Michael Davenport
Troy Davis
William J. Dawson, M.D.
Gilbert Dejean
José A. Diaz
Michael H. Dicker
Lyle Dockendorff
Theodore J. Eckberg, M.D.
Terry B. Ewell
Billy Faggart
Michael W. Fay
Phillip D. Feather
Marc D. Fink
Wayne B. Gaver
Bruce Gbur
Gem WW Products - Gary Moody
Robert G. Gemmell
Nancy E. Goeres
Lauren Green Gombolay
PATRON
Sue Schrier Bancroft
Little Church of the West
Raymond H. Dusté
Michael A. Ellert
K.A. Fenner
Forrests Music - John Goebel
Kathy Henkel
Nigel Clark - Howarth of London
Charles B. King III
Alain De Gourdon - Lorée
Edmund Nielsen Woodwinds, Inc.
James C. Prodan
RDG Woodwinds, Inc. Nancy Huang
Jesse A. Read
Philippe Rigoutat & Fils
Dan Ross
Sharon’s Oboe Shoppe
Thomas A. Standish
Virginia K. Stitt
Frank & Kim Wangler
John J. Wisniewski Winc Research
Wilhelm Heckel GmbH
Peter J. & Elizabeth Hedrick
Leonard W. Hindell
North Texas Oboe Reeds and Cane
Carolyn M. Hove
Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, DMA
Nadina Mackie Jackson
Peter Aaron Janick
Jeanné Inc.
Robert D. Jordan
Peter Klatt
Ronald James Klimko
Bodo Koenigsbeck Accolade Musikverlag
Norbert Kölbl Pres. Kölbl Accessories Gmbh
Shawna Lake- Oboe Chicago, Inc
A. John Larsen
Kim Laskowski
Legere Reeds Ltd. - Guy Legere
Judith Zunamon Lewis
Stephen Lickman
Susan M. Lundberg
Donald V. MacCourt
Jan Irma Maria de Maeyer
Stephen Margolis, M.D.
James R. McKay
Kathleen McLean
Dr Rafael Mevorach
Christopher Millard
Roger O. Miller
John W. Miller, Jr.
Alexander L. Miller
Moennig-Adler Woodwind
Instruments
Bernd Moosmann, Ltd.
James H. Moseley
T. D. Ellis - The Music Source
Rebecca J. Noreen
Georg Noren
Timothy O’Brien
Margaret Noble - Oboe Works
Mark S. Ostoich
Fratelli Patricola
8
Duane Peltier
Janet Polk
Seth M. Powsner
J. Püchner Spezial Holzblasinstrumentbau
Gregory Quick
Jean L. Smith Pres QUODLIBET INC.
Robert P. Raker, M.D.
Frank B. Ray, Ph.D
John Richardson
Rita Merrick - RKM Double Reeds
Howard Rockwin
James R. Roe
Roger Roe
Bruce M. Salad
Grover Schiltz
Hannah S.Selznick hannahsoboes.com
Leo H. Settler, Jr.
Richard D. Simon
Robert and Bailey Sorton
Michael T. Spevak, Ph.D.
Amy Collins Stellar Oboe Products
Hitomi Sugawara
Yuhiko Takeda - Takeda Bassoon
Eric V. Varner
Charles O. Veazey
Allan Vogel
Rudolf Walter & Co
Holzblasinstrumentbau
David Weber - Weber Reeds
Karl-Friedrich Wentzel
Robert Hubbard Westwind Double Reed
Eugene White, Ph.D.
William Wielgus
Simon Williams
Guntram Wolf
Womble/Williams Double Reeds
Richard C. Woodhams
William S. Woodward
William E. Wright, M.D.
Takashi Yamakami
David Zar
Wilma Zonn
SUSTAINING
Rodney F. Ackmann
James E. Addison
Carol Padgham Albrecht
CONTRIBUTING MEMBERS
Meyrick Alexander
Alice Allen
Barbara J. Anderson
Nathaniel André-Erwin
Betty Krone Asher
Keith C. Atkinson
Dr. Lucinda Atkinson
H. Thomas Baise III
Donald Baker
Simon Ball
Gregory Barber
Eric Barr
Lindsey M. Bartlett
John Barzal
Audrey Baxley-Jackson
Jeanne Marie Belfy
Scott J. Bell
Betsy Bennett
John E. Bentley
Steven Bernstein
Donald Beyer
Wendy Bloom
David Bon-Keen
Caterina L. Bristol
Christopher & Regina Brodersen
James and Kimberly Brody
Robert W. Broemel
Andrew D. Brown
Wesley A. Brown
David Bryant
William F. Buchman
Marsha C. Burkett
Sharon Byrne
Sandro Caldini
Catherine Carignan
Gerald I. Carp
Janet F. Carpenter
Brenda L. Casciani
Jill Cathey
Stephanie Caulder
Charles Double Reed Company
Dr. Joseph C. Ciechalski
Perry V. Clissa
Lynne Cohen
Stephen Colburn
Cedric Coleman
Julia C. Combs
Peter W. Cooper
Piroozi Cooper
John H. Corina
Katherine Cromwell
Timothy H. Cronin
Zachary Cummings
David Cushman
Mitchell Cyman
Jerry A. Dagg
Lewis J. Dann
Ian Bruce Davidson
Pamela D. Davis
Cynthia Koledo De Almeida
Juan A. de Gomar
Alain De Rijckere
Rene Debets
David A. DeBolt
William Decker
Renee Anthony Dee
Doris A. DeLoach
John William Denton
Sharlotte A. DeVere &
Mark Dalrymple
Steven A. Dibner
Elaine Douvas
Cynthia Duda
Dan J. Duncan
Daryl W. Durran
Artemus L. Edwards
Pamela S. Epple
Frances Estes
Nancy Greene Farnetani
Seon Farris
Arlen J. Fast
Daniel Fendrick
James C. Ferraiuolo
Lewis T. Fitch
MaryAnne & Harvey Fleet
Sandra J. Flesher
Dr. Nancy Fowler
James M. Franklin
Dean A. Frick
Gerald Fried
Jonathan Friedman
David C. Gallagher
Adrienne C. Gallagher
Trina Baker Gallup
Lawrence A. Gardner
James T. Gaspar
Michael Gathings
Dr. Edward L. Gaudet, D.D.S.
Julie Ann Giacobassi
David L. Gibson
Geralyn A. Giovannetti
Alain Girard
Amy Goeser Kolb
Gene Marie Green
9
THE DOUBLE REED
Julie A. Gregorian
H. Gene Griswold
Elizabeth J. Haanes
Charles (Chip) Hamann
Per Hannevold
Bryan Harris
Lisa Harvey-Reed
Theodore C. Heger
Rebecca Henderson
Martha Pineno Hess
Alan Hollander Oboes
Steven Houser
Charles G. Huebner
Kerry Hughes
Steven and Jennet Ingle
Arnold Irchai
Edwin L. Jacobson
Nancy Jamieson
Jan Jekel
Michel Jolivet, DVM
Andrea Jones
Susan Speas Jones
Benjamin Kamins
Charles L. Kaufmann, Jr.
Wayne Kawakami
Amanda Kawucha
Leo Kenen
Mark W Kimpel
Stanley E. King
Victoria J. King
Merilee I. Klemp
David B. Knorr
Laura Koepke
Robert Kraus, M.D.
Bruno Kuhn
Cecile Lagarenne
Miriam Lahey
André Lardrot
Jessica Laws
David P. LeRoy
Martin S. Lipnick
Richard W. Lottridge
José Lozano
Jeffrey G. Lyman
Dennis Mancl
Dwight C. Manning
Robert Manzo
Donald C. Mattison
Bruce McCall
Paul B. McCandless, Jr
Susan Lawrence McCardell
Evelyn McCarty
Charles McCracken
Catherine McNamara
Albie Micklich
Eric Stone Miller
W. Stuart Mitchell, Jr
Thomas Henry Moore
Paige R. Morgan
L. Bud Mould
Antonio Ramón Ruano Nácher
Jay Nesmith
Christopher Newlun
Howard Niblock
Jan Joris Nieuwenhuis
R. Kathryn Nix
Paul Nordby
Earl C. North
Patricia Grignet Nott
Janelle Oberbillig
Barbara R. Herr Orland
Havner H. Parish, M.D.
Raymond Patricio
Jenifer H. Patterson
Sandra E. Pearson
William L. Peebles
Homer C. Pence
Gail Perstein
Richard Porter, M.D.
Darryl E. Quay
Paul Rafanelli
James F. Reiter
Scott E. Reynolds
Andrea J. Ridilla
Wilfred A. Roberts
John Rojas
Mark L. Romatz
D. Hugh Rosenbaum
Frank Rosenwein
Walter Hermann Sallagar
Dean H. Sayles
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Richard H. Scheel
Thomas Schneider
Peter J. Schoenbach
Clare Scholtz
David Schreiner
Martin Schuring
Alison Scott
William J. Scribner
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Laura Jaeger Seiffert
Kristen Severson
Stephen Shiman
Alan Shlachter
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Bob Stevens & Son
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Thalia Thunander
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Torsten Trey, MD
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Rena Vacha
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Abraham M. Weiss
David E. Weiss
Elizabeth Lyon Wheeler
Charles C. Wicker
Stewart Williams
Karol Wolicki
Saul L. Woythaler
Ye Yu
Peter Zeimet
David Zimet
Marilyn J. Zupnik
10
IDRS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
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For the calendar year of January 1 - December 31 of
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E-Mail: norma4idrs@verizon.net
THE DOUBLE REED
IDRS WWW
11
Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, Editor, IDRS OnLine Publications
Boulder, Colorado
The IDRS Executive board has adopted a new policy regarding access to IDRS publications. THE COMPLETE DIGITAL ARCHIVE of IDRS publications, from issue No. 1
entitled To The World’s Bassoonists (1968) to the most current issue, is available to IDRS
members (excluding institutional members). Non-IDRS members must join the society
if they wish to gain access to the archive. To access the archive, login to www.idrs.org
and select publications.
IDRS members must enter a different username and password (not your www.idrs.org username and password) to access publications. We are building an interface that will allow
members to access publication archives using their own www.idrs.org. We appreciate your
patience during this transitional period.
To see the username and password to access the digital archive of IDRS publications, please
do the following:
1. Login to
www.idrs.org
2. Select Publications
from the menu bar
and click on one
of the following
shown at right.
12
3. Reselect your
choice AGAIN
from the pull-down
menu and click
Find Records.
4. Look for the
username and
password under
Excerpt Abstract
column then click
Link in the Link
column. Enter
the username and
password from the
Excerpt Abstract
column.
IDRS WWW
13
THE DOUBLE REED
THE USE OF THE IDRS TRADEMARKS
The logo and the seal of the International Double Reed Society are the
exclusive property of the Society and may not be reproduced or used
without written permission. The Society will permit the use of logo
or seal only if used in conjunction with an official application form
for membership in IDRS and not used in a manner that may give the
casual reader the appearance of an endorsement by the IDRS, of the person, entity or product associated
with such reproduction. Prospective users must obtain permission in writing and submit a press proof of
the proposed printed item in advance of publication. Please direct inquiries in writing to the IDRS Music
Industry Liaison.
ADVERTISEMENTS IN IDRS PUBLICATIONS
The International Double Reed Society sells advertising space in The Double Reed to individuals, institutions
and businesses for payment of the current advertising rates. Please contact Advertising Coordinator
Wayne Gaver for advertising information (see inside front cover). The Society does not attempt to verify
the accuracy or reliability of any advertising claims, made herein, and thus IDRS does not recommend or
endorse any of the products, businesses or services advertised in the advertising section.
THE DOUBLE REED PUBLISHING SCHEDULE
ISSUE 1
ISSUE 2
ISSUE 3
ISSUE 4
Deadline for Articles
submitted to Editors
DECEMBER 1
MARCH 1
JULY 1
SEPTEMBER 1
All Copy sent
to Ed Craig
DECEMBER 15
MARCH 15
JULY 15
SEPTEMBER 15
Copy sent from
Ed Craig to Editors
JANUARY 10
APRIL 10
AUGUST 10
OCTOBER 10
Corrected Copy
returned to Ed Craig
Executive Secretary's
copy sent to Ed Craig
Ads sent to Ed Craig
JANUARY 15
APRIL 15
AUGUST 15
OCTOBER 15
Complete Final
Copy Proofs
sent to Editors
JANUARY 22
APRIL 22
AUGUST 22
OCTOBER 22
Final Proofs
returned to Ed Craig
JANUARY 27
APRIL 27
AUGUST 27
OCTOBER 27
Print Date to J.W. Boarman
FEBRUARY 1
MAY 1
SEPTEMBER 1
NOVEMBER 1
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Australasian Double Reed Society (ADRS)
Mägyar Fàgottos tarsasag (MAFAT) of Hungary
British Double Reed Society(BDRS)
Viennese Oboe Society
(Gesellschaft der Freunde der Wiener Oboe)
Chinese Association of Bassoon (CAB)
Finnish Double Reed Society(FDRS)
IDRS-Deutschland
Japan Bassoon Society
Japan Oboe Association
L’Association Francaise du Hautbois
(French Oboe Society)
L’Association “bassons”
(French Bassoon Society)
FagotClub Nederland
14
CURRENT EVENTS
Current Events
THE DOUBLE REED
15
Bassoonists’ News of Interest
Ronald Klimko
McCall, Idaho
CURRENT EVENTS
MYSTERY SOLVED…ALMOST…
In the last issue of The Double Reed, I ran the two
above pictures that Cleveland bassoonist Barry Stees had sent me. The hornist in both pictures is the
legendary John Barrows, but the mystery remained
concerning the identity of the rest of the musicians.
After asking for input from the readers, I am happy
to report that almost all have been identified, thanks
to the assistance of many members.
The first response I got was from John Ottaiano,
retired bassoonist from the San Diego Symphony.
John wrote:
“I just received my copy of The Double Reed in
the mail and saw your inquiry about the two
CURRENT EVENTS
16
BASSOONISTS’ NEWS OF INTEREST
THE DOUBLE REED
Wow! I had heard of the American Composers Quintet, and about the Suite for Quintet that they had
collectively composed, with each artist adding one
movement to the work. I had played two of them in
the past, the well-known Barrows March, and the
lesser known Van Vactor Scherzo. Now, can anyone provide us with information on the other three
movements of the Suite?
Next I heard from IDRS Honorary Member Bernard Garfield (via Barry Stees) who wrote:
“In answer to your question about the quintet players, in the lower IDRS quintet photo, I
believe the flutist is Charles Ehrenberg (one of
the early members of the NYWW Quintet). He
married an Israeli woman and spent his career
in Israel. I recall one tragic event that occurred
when he was travelling with his son in a Jeep
near the Mediteranian Sea, when some PLO
terrorists came ashore from a small boat and
machine gunned people on and near the beach
road. Charlie’s son was killed and his elbow was
shattered. This is all I’ve ever heard about Charlie
as I haven’t been in touch with him since he left
USA.
The oboist is Lois Wann, who was principal oboist of the NYC ballet orchestra, and with
whom I worked in that orchestra. She was also
a faculty member of the Aspen Institute during
the 50s, if not longer. Among all the others, I
didn’t reconize them, but did enjoy seeing pictures of John Barrows, probably the finest horn
player I’ve ever known. I left the NYWW Quintet in 1957, and then I heard that Barrows had
departed for the U. of Wisconsin.”
Two of the five identified. Alan Hollander Lehman
College C.U.N.Y and Hofstra University also provided the following information about Lois Wann:
“…She taught at Juilliard for many years and
played in many orchestras the Los Angeles, St
Louis, NYC Ballet and Opera to name a few. I
heard she was the first woman to be a principal
oboist of a major orchestra, at St. Louis during
WW2. She was born in California and eventually moved to N.Y. I studied with her from 65
through 7, (and) my son Adam was her last student to my knowledge and studied with her in
90, 91.”
Finally, I heard from Loren Glickman, who filled in
another bit of information:
“I dug into my scrapbook and lo and behold, I
found the same picture you asked about (the
lower one). It goes back to 1949 - - called the
Five-Wind Ensemble. I was a member of that
quintet. The strange thing is that it is not I on
bassoon in that picture. For some reason, I had
to miss one concert because of a previous commitment, and it was then that the photo was
taken. I cannot remember who was the bassoonist who took my place on that occasion.
But this brings back a lot of wonderful memories of those early years in my career.”
The front of the flyer Loren sent (see next page) contains the same picture as number two above. The
back side shows clearly the personnel and repertoire
of the ensemble: James Pellerite, flute; Milton Shapiro, clarinet; Lois Wann, oboe; John Barrows, horn;
and Loren Glickman, bassoon. The trouble is, as Loren points out, that is not him in the picture!
So…that leaves two unanswered questions: 1)
Who is the “mystery bassoonist” in picture #2, and
2) What were the other three pieces in the Suite of
the American Composers Quintet, besides the Van
Vactor Scherzo and the Barrows March? The mystery
continues…
(Thanks also to David Weber, Frank Stalzer, Dick
Lottridge, Marcie Horowitz, and Lynne Cohen for
their helpful responses to my inquiry.)
BASSOONISTS’ ACTIVITIES
In December, 2009, New England freelance bassoonist Stephanie Busby performed Julius Fucik’s comic
polka, Der Alte Brummbar, Op. 210, for bassoon and
orchestra with the Brockton (Massachusetts) Symphony Orchestra in their annual Holiday Pops Concert, conducted by Emilian Badea. The composition
(dated 1907) is mentioned in several sources under
different names: “Old Sore-Head,” “Old Grumbler,”
CURRENT EVENTS
quintet photos. The top photo I am very familiar with. I first saw this photo when my father’s
cousin, Leonardo De Lorenzo sent us a copy of
his new book My Complete Story of the Flute.
The name of the quintet in the top photo is the
American Composers Quintet. The musicians are
David Van Vactor, Adolph Weiss, John Barrows,
Robert McBride and Alvin Etler.”
17
CURRENT EVENTS
18
“Old Grumbling Bear.” The
composer, Julius Fucik (18721916) was a talented Bohemian
bassoonist, bandmaster and
composer, who studied bassoon
with Milde and composition
with Dvořák, and spent many
years as a bassoonist in Prague,
Zagreb and Budapest.
Stephanie Busby has been
performing with several orchestras including the New Bedford
Symphony, the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Longwood
Symphony, Lexington Symphony, the Radius Ensemble, the
New Hampshire Philharmonic, to name a few. She
has studied with Richard Plaster and holds a Bachelor and Master of Music from Boston University
Stephanie Busby
Henry Skolnick
bassoon and Orchestra op. 98 by IDRS Honorary Victor Bruns. This was on a subscription concert of Sinfonia da Camera, a professional chamber orchestra
in Champaign-Urbana,
Illinois. The concert took
place on the campus of
the University of Illinois
Urbana/Champaign and
was conducted by their
music director, Ian Hobson. Principal oboist in
the orchestra was Alicia
Tait, and the principal
bassoon in the orchestra
was Doug Spaniol.
A live recording was
made of the performance
Stephanie Busby performs Julius Fucik’s Der Alte Brummfor inclusion on an all-bar, Op. 210, with the Brockton Symphony Orchestra.
Bruns CD now in production. The CD will include
where she studied with
Richard Moore performing Bruns’ Sonatine for
Matthew Ruggiero. She
Tenor Bassoon and Piano op. 96 (which is dedicated
also studied with Dale
to him), and the Trio for Tenor Bassoon, Bassoon and
Clark at the University of
Contrabassoon op. 97 (dedicated to W. Waterhouse).
Memphis for one semesEric Stomberg will join Richard and Henry on the
ter. Currently Miss Busby
trio recording.
is on the music faculties
of The College of the Holy
THE CINCINNATI SYMPHONY
Cross and Clark UniverBASSOON SECTION
sity, where she teaches
bassoon.
Recently, I received the following photo from William Winstead, the principal bassoon of the CincinOn November 7th, 2009
nati Symphony. It shows the bassoon section taken
Henry Skolnick was soin Tokyo’s Suntory Hall - the “Carnegie Hall” of
loist in a performance of
Japan - during the Cincinnati Symphony Orchesthe Concerto for Contratra’s recent tour. The members are (left to right):
THE DOUBLE REED
19
Cinicinnati Bassoons
Photo by IXI CHEN
CURRENT EVENTS
Hugh Michie, second bassoon; William Winstead,
principal bassoon; Jennifer Monroe, contrabassoon, and Martin Garcia (Milwaukee Symphony),
substitute associate principal bassoon. Repertoire
for the October-November, 2009 tour included the
Bernstein Divertimento as well as his Symphonic
Dances from “West Side Story,” Dvořák’s New
World Symphony, Rachmaninoff’s Third Symphony,
Sibelius’ Violin Concerto, andGershwin’s Rhapsody
in Blue. Martin James, associate principal bassoon
of the CSO for 35 years, retired in the summer just
prior to the tour.
BASSOONISTS’ ACTIVITIES
Following this, Christin gave a master class at Weber
State University, Ogden, Utah, on February 3rd. That
evening she joined Thomas Priest, bassoon professor
at Weber State, in a performance of Hinrich Philip
Johnsen’s Concerto for Two Bassoons and String Orchestra, accompanied by the WSU Chamber Orchestra, Michael Palumbo, conductor. The evening program at Weber State also included the Mozart Oboe
Quartet performed by WSU faculty oboist Kendra
Johnson, and Edgar Varese’s Octandre. Assisting in
the Mozart were Ann Cox (violin), Michael Palumbo
(viola), and Victor Uzur (cello). The Varese Octandre
was performed by Cindy Henderson, flute; Kendra
Johnson, oboe; David Feller, clarinet; Thom Priest,
bassoon; Carey Campbell, horn; Reed LeCheminant,
trumpet; Kent Nelson, trombone; Jeff Eaton, double
Terry Ewell, bassoon, and Marguerite Levin, clarinet, performed the world premier of
Paul Harvey’s Towson Suite in Porto,
Terry Ewell and Marguerite Levin.
Portugal at ClarinetFest on August
7th, 2009. Later in the year Terry
Ewell was featured as bassoon soloist
in Deborah J. Anderson’s Images from
Mt. Tahoma on November 8th, 2009
with the Baltimore Flute Choir.
On February 1st, 2010, bassoonist
Christin Schillinger performed a
guest recital at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, assisted by pianist Jed Moss. She performed works by
John Steinmetz, Katherine Hoover,
Jeffrey Scott and Michael Van Bebber.
CURRENT EVENTS
20
bass; and conducted by Michael Palumbo.
As a part of her tour to the Northwest, Christine
then proceeded on to Boise, Idaho, where on February 8th, she gave a guest recital followed by a master
class at Boise State University for the students of BSU
bassoon professor Janelle Oberbillig.
Dr. Schillinger serves as the assistant professor of
bassoon at Miami University, Ohio. Previous to her
appointment there, she was on the faculty at University of Nevada, Reno as assistant professor of bassoon
and coordinator of music theory studies.
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Rose
Studio. The Institute is open to all woodwind, French
horn players, and chamber groups ages 16 and over,
including young professionals, college students, advanced adult hobbyists and high school students.
Auditors are welcome. Optional room and board accommodations at Juilliard’s Meredith Willson Residence Hall at Lincoln Center in the Samuel B. and
David Rose Building will also be available. For more
information you can go to the website at:
http://www.iw-institute.com/
NEW SUMMER BASSOON EVENTS
AND FINALLY...
Vancouver B.C. bassoonist Jesse Read has announced the coming of a week-long Bassoon Intensive Experience from July 13th to July 19th 2010, at
the School of Music of the University of British Columbia. The faculty will be the principal bassoonist
of the Vancouver Symphony, Julia Lockhart; the
contra bassoonist from the Vancouver Symphony
who also is the principal in the new Canadian Broadcast Orchestra, Sophie Dansereau; and the principal
from the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Ingrid Chiang, former principal of the Malaysian Symphony.
Subjects covered will include audition preparation,
reed-making, practice techniques, an introduction
to the baroque bassoon, extended techniques, solo
and ensemble repertoire, private lessons, contrabassoon, and more. Joining the group during the week
will be a large bassoon ensemble from Taiwan which
is made up of principal players from the Taipei Symphony, Taiwan National Orchestra, along with some
free-lancers, semi-professionals and former student
players. They will perform, engage the students in the
intensive week, and join in for some readings of large
bassoon ensemble works. For more information, interest parties can contact Director Jesse Read at jesse.
read@ubc.ca or by telephone at (604) 822-3824.
I came across this crazy photo on Ebay. Unfortunately the auction was closed so I couldn’t vote on it.
I have no history or explanation to add to it, except
that we bassoonists have been a pretty “nutty” bunch
for a long time! We obviously have a “serious” tradition to maintain!!! u
The Imani Winds have scheduled an intensive 8-day
program devoted to excellence in wind chamber music performance entitled the Chamber Music Institute
from July 31st to Aug. 7, 2010 at the Juilliard School
of Music in New York City. Students will participate
daily in masterclasses and seminars with members of
the Imani Winds and guest artists. The students will
also rehearse and perform in ensembles that receive
daily coachings. The seminars will include auditions training, alexander technique/yoga for musicians, and hands-on educational outreach training.
Participants will perform in a culmination recital at
THE DOUBLE REED
21
Oboists in the News
Compiled by Dan Stolper
Palm Desert, California
casion of his solo debut with the Baltimore Symphony (playing Vivaldi’s Concerto in D minor) in early
January, Michael Lisicky, the BSO’s second oboist
comments “I look forward to hearing him perform
this baroque masterpiece. I love sitting next to Shea.
He is smart, kind, and a beautiful player”. Scruggs returns the compliment: “My section is awesome; they
are extremely cool people and phenomenally capable.
Everybody in the orchestra is so accommodating and
receptive and kind to me. I really appreciate it.” He
often plays first oboe for half a program, with principal oboist Katherine Needleman playing the other;
she’s now on maternity leave, so Scruggs will be in
the first chair even more often for a while. In addition
to his artistic ability, he provides something else to
the BSO - increased diversity. His hiring doubles the
African-American representation. For several years
there has been only one other African-American musician in the BSO, cellist Esther Mellon. English horn
player Jane Marvine says that Scruggs “was incredibly impressive when he auditioned, and since he’s
been here, we’ve found him to be extraordinarily talented, with a lot of potential to grow. That he happens
to be African-American adds a great new dimension.
I think he’ll be a great role model.”
Cleveland-based oboist DEBRA
NAGY and her baroque ensemble Les Delices presented a highly acclaimed recital at the Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights,
Ohio, in February, 2010, where
they recently became ensemblein-residence. Some readers will
remember this venue as the site
of many exciting performances
and recordings by the late John
Mack and his Plymouth Trio. Ms. Nagy and her colleagues Scott Metcalf, violin; Emily Walhout, viola
da gamba; and harpsichordist Lisa Goode Crawford
are devoted to performing works of the French baroque. Cleveland Plain Dealer music writer Donald
Rosenberg calls them “models of suave phrasing and
CURRENT EVENTS
SHEA SCRUGGS is the recently appointed assistant first
oboist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and an up
and coming voice in the oboe
world. He graduated from the
Curtis Institute of Music in
2004 where he was a student of
Richard Woodhams, the esteemed and longtime principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The following year, Shea completed a
degree in English Literature from Swarthmore College where he attended concurrently for two years.
Since then, Shea has performed widely with
American orchestras, holding positions as acting
principal of the Cincinnati Symphony and principal
oboe of the San Francisco Opera. He has also performed in the sections of the Chicago Symphony and
Philadelphia Orchestra, and as guest principal with
the Atlanta Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony and
the Baltimore Symphony as assistant principal oboe.
Before starting Curtis, Shea graduated from the
Interlochen Arts Academy where he studied with
Dan Stolper. In addition to his Curtis studies, he also
worked with many prominent teachers, including
Robert Walters, the solo English horn of the Cleveland Orchestra, Elaine Douvas, principal oboe of
the Metropolitan Opera and the late John Mack, the
legendary principal oboe of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Shea has also taught masterclasses at Oberlin University, the University of New Mexico, the San Francisco
Conservatory and to the oboe students of El Sistema
in Caracas, Venezuela.
Like all oboists, Shea spends a great deal of time
crafting his reeds. He is also fascinated with the history and development of the American tradition of
oboe playing, listening in his spare time to old recordings of great oboists such as Marcel Tabuteau,
Marc Lifschey, Robert Bloom, John de Lancie, Al
Genovese and many others. A native of Miami, Florida, Shea is an avid South Florida sports fan and can
be found on many afternoons peering over his reed
table at his hometown teams’ games.
In a far-reaching newspaper interview on the oc-
CURRENT EVENTS
22
OBOISTS IN THE NEWS
rhythmic purpose as they explore Gallic delicacies.”
This program included works of Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Antoine Forqueray, Jean-Philllipe
Rameau, Louis-Antoine Dornel and Marin Marais’s
famous Tombeau pour Mr. de Sainte-Colombe. For
their finale, the group presented Francis Couperin’s
Apotheose de Lully, a collection of eleven fanciful
short pieces illustrating the ascent of Jean-Baptiste
Lully to heaven.
Mr. Rosenberg concludes his review: “Along
with oboe, Nagy piped elegantly on recorder, and her
partners in French musical crime did their parts with
equal panache. In a word, delightful!”
MUSICAL COUPLES
A recent article in the Rochester Democrat and
Chronicle focused on the eight married couples in the
Rochester Philharmonic. Staff writer Anna Reguero
comments that “working with a spouse may not seem
ideal, these musical couples thrive on it”. Principal
oboist ERIK BEHR and concertmaster Juliana Athadye were married in September of
2009. Ms. Athayde comments that
“we’ve been lucky that we both
have substantial soloistic roles in
the orchestra. We actually do get
to listen to each other’s artistry
and to respond to it.”
They met through their positions in the RPO, but the sparks
between them were ignited before
they started working together. Ms.
Athayde was hired in 2005 and she
sat on the committee for selecting
a principal oboist in 2007. They
had had a friendly relationship during the few tryout
weeks Mr. Behr spent with the orchestra, and when
he was offered the job, he approached Ms. Athayde
for advice on the contract.
They both say they are grateful to have jobs not
only in the same city, but in the same orchestra. Mr.
Behr says “it’s great to go to work with her and to
go home with her.” They planned to collaborate on
cooking an extravagant meal for Valentine’s Day.
The Trinity Episcopal Church of Hattiesburg, Mississippi sponsors a series of Lenten concerts on every
Tuesday at noon. Two well-known oboists were featured recently.
PATRICIA MALONE recently retired from
teaching at the University of Southern
Mississippi after a 26-year tenure. She
is currently the principal oboist with
the Meridian Symphony and the Mobile
Symphony and Opera Orchestra. In her
retirement, she says she finally is finding
time for exercise, practice, and reed-making.
ANNA PENNINGTON has been appointed assistant professor of oboe at the University of Southern Mississippi. A native of Texas, she holds degrees
from the University of Texas, the Manhattan School of Music, and Florida
State University. While at Florida State
she was soloist in John Corigliano’s
Oboe Concerto. She has also performed
with the New York Philharmonic, the
Jacksonville Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony, and the Florida
West Coast Symphony. She is currently the English
horn player of the Pensacola Symphony.
Her teachers have included Joseph Robinson,
John Snow, Eric Ohlsson and Beth Sanders.
OBOE OVERLOAD: ICE AT MOCP
The oboists of the International Contemporary
Ensemble – JAMES AUSTIN SMITH and NICK
MASTERSON - presented a concert of rarely-heard
works for oboe solo and duetoboe solo and duet, at
the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Illinois on February 21, 2010. The concert featured the Midwest premiere of Brad Bailliett’s Slow
Burning Sarabande, first performed by Smith in October but appearing on this program in a beefed-up
version not just one oboe, but two. Other duo works
included Christian Wolff’s exploratory for 1, 2 or 3
people and Michael Finnissy’s playful miniature Yso.
Members of the duo each showcased their soloistic
talents; Masterson performed a complex canon with
himself via tape delay on Jonathan Harvey’s Ricercare
una Melodia, and Smith reprised his New York performance (called “brilliant” by the New York Times)
of Luciano Berio’s boundary-pushing Sequenza VIIa.
James Austin Smith is a member of ICE, Sospiro Winds, and the Metropolis Ensemble, as well
as a fellow of the Academy/Ensemble ACJW. He has
performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra,
the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, St.
Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, and
at Barge/Music. His principal teachers include Stephen Taylor , Humbert Lucarelli, Christian Wetzel,
Hansjorg Schellenberger, and Ray Still.
THE DOUBLE REED
Oboe
OverlOad
ICE @ MoCP III
Friday, February 12, 2010, 7:30pm
Nick Masterson and James Austin Smith, oboes
Museum of Contemporary Photography
600 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s double-reed masters bring an evening of insane oboe action to
our series at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. The program includes the midwestern premieres
of Brad Balliett’s Slow-Burning Sarabande and Michael Finnissy’s Yso, Berio’s boundary-pushing classic
Sequenza VII, and more. Double your oboe, double your fun!
Christian Wolff: For 1, 2 or 3 people
Luciano Berio: Sequenza VII
Brad Balliet: Slow-Burning Sarabande
Jonathan Harvey: Ricercare una Melodia
Michael Finnissy: Yso
Tickets: $10 general/$5 student. To reserve, e-mail reservations@iceorg.org
PIERRE ROY, principal oboist of
the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra since 1995, appeared as soloist
with the orchestra in a performance of Mozart’s Oboe Concerto,
K. 314, at the Kleinhans Music Hall
in Buffalo, New York, on January
30,2010. Assistant conductor Matthew Kraemer was on the podium for this all-Mozart
concert. Buffalo News music writer Mary Kunz Goldman remarked that “It was fun to see the tall, lanky
Roy step into the spotlight. He’s not used to it, and
as the orchestra was playing the introduction, you
could sense his discomfort. He fussed with the oboe,
fidgeted….Then he played, and of course, he had everything completely under control…..Roy did a won-
derful job with the last movement, full of curlicues
and tricky rhythms. He is a graceful, courtly player
and the crowd gave him warm, prolonged applause.”
Pierre Roy studied with Alfred Genovese at the
New England Conservatory, where he obtained his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He began his professional career as assistant principal in the Portland
(Maine) Symphony for one season. He then joined
the Evansville Philharmonic as first oboist; he concurrently became adjunct instructor at the University of Evansville. He also played regularly with the
St. Louis Symphony, and also with the Indianapolis
Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra. He was soloist with the BPO in 1997 on a subscription concert
playing the Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto under
the baton of Hobart Earle.
BEDE HANLEY is the new principal oboist of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He spent two
years as principal oboist of the
Auckland (New Zealand) Philharmonia Orchestra and previously toured with the Orquesta
Sinfonica de Galicia in Spain. The
31-year-old native of Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, he started his oboe studies at the age
of nine with Mark Rogers, then principal oboist of
the Saskatoon Symphony. Hanley refers to him as “a
magnificent oboist and teacher”. He then went on to
study with the legendary John Mack at the Cleveland
Institute of Music.
In a feature article by music writer Glenda Nemerofsky in the Winnipeg Free Press, Hanley is portrayed as “smiling, well-spoken and enthusiastic; he’s
one of the nicest guys you’re likely to meet. When he’s
not practicing, making reeds, rehearsing or performing he likes to stay in shape. How does it feel to be assuming a position Doug Bairstow held for 44 years?
Hanley says “I think it’s beautiful for an orchestra to
have that kind of relationship with its musicians. I
am honoured to have this opportunity and I hope to
make a similar contribution”.
JAREN PHILLEO, principal oboist of the Louisiana Philharmonic, was soloist with the orchestra in
Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, K. 314, on January 28, 2010,
at the First Baptist Church in New Orleans. Carlos
Miguel-Prieto is musical director of the orchestra.
The program also included Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite
CURRENT EVENTS
Nick Masterson is currently a member of the
Princeton Symphony and Symphony in C. Before relocating to the northeast, Nick was a member of the
Charleston (SC) Symphony for three years, where he
played second oboe and English horn. An enthusiastic advocate of new music, Nick has been a member
of ICE since 2003, with whom he played Xenakis’s
opera Oresteia, and most recently a John Adams
concert under the direction of the composer at the
Mostly Mozart Festival. Nick holds degrees from the
Oberlin Conservatory and Rice University.
23
CURRENT EVENTS
24
OBOISTS IN THE NEWS
No. 1 and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka. Ms. Philleo was featured earlier this season – on November 15,
2009 - in a performance at the St.
Mary’s Church of the Catholic Cultural Center in J. S. Bach’s Double
Concerto in C minor for oboe and
violin. Joseph Meyer, concertmaster of the Louisiana Philharmonic, was the other soloist in this performance.
Jaren Philleo was born and raised in Fairbanks,
Alaska. She studied oboe at the Interlochen Arts
Academy with Dan Stolper, and then continued her
studies with John Mack at the Cleveland Institute of
Music. She joined the Louisiana Philharmonic after concluding her graduate studies at the Shepherd
School of Music at Rice University in Houston, where
she studied with Robert Atherholt. She has been
principal oboist of the Sarasota Opera, and she has
also performed with the Washington Chamber Symphony, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, and she has
recently appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival in
Vermont and at the Grand Teton Music Festival in
Wyoming. u
THE DOUBLE REED
25
Midwest Bassoon Monsoon
Louise Hillary
Columbus, Indiana
CURRENT EVENTS
T
wenty-six bassoonists gathered at Park Tudor School in Indianapolis on November
14, 2009, for the first-ever Midwest Bassoon
Monsoon, hosted by Paul Nordby, of Paul Nordby
Bassoon Repair. Participants in the “adults only”
event came from Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, and
ranged from occasional amateur players to university
professors and symphony players.
Upon arrival, the bassoonists were divided into
trios and quartets of mixed playing abilities. They
went to separate rooms to select an ensemble piece
which they would perform in concert that afternoon.
Next, the group reassembled to rehearse the massed
bassoon band pieces they would play in the concluding performance, four selections arranged by bassoon teacher Russ Hinkle of Cincinnati.
Featured artist for the day was John Wetherill,
principal bassoonist of the Indianapolis Symphony
Orchestra. He performed the second movement of
the Mozart Concerto for Bassoon, and discussed
warm-up routines, reed-making, and getting back in
shape after a vacation from bassoon playing.
After a final rehearsal, doors were opened to the
public for a concert of bassoon ensemble music. Selections ranged from Under the Boardwalk through
Weissenborn’s Turkish March, to Sousa’s Stars and
Stripes Forever,with the piccolo obbligato performed
on contrabassoon by Cathy McGuire of Springfield,
Illinois.
At the end of the day, Butler University bassoon
professor Douglas Spaniol commented, “That’s the
most fun I’ve had with a bassoon in a long time.”
A group of high school orchestra students attending the concert made the following observations:
“The first thing I saw was a sea of bassoons.
There were different colors of wood and different sounds. I was blown away by the sound. I
heard a pretty, bold resonance that took me by
surprise.”
“With a deep baritone voice, [the bassoon’s]
sound has a warm, melting quality. I found it
amusing that such small, slight movements of
just the players’ fingers produced such a huge
sound.”
“I thought that a whole wind ensemble was
playing. I had no idea that the bassoon has such
a wide range. The sound that is created when
multiple bassoons are playing simultaneously is
beautiful.”
26
MIDWEST BASSOON MONSOON
CURRENT EVENTS
“I was quite taken aback by the richness and resonating beauty of the bassoons’ sound. The performances were far from monotonous; at times,
I completely forgot that all the different parts
were being played by the same instrument.”
“The pieces seemed to have been chosen for
how much fun they were to play.”
“The contrabassoon: The instrument alone is
a masterpiece with many different pieces of
wood woven together, and the deep sound was
wonderful.”
“I was surprised by the number of people who
maintained their musical interests despite being
occupied with other jobs.”
“The big group of friends playing music together
is very appealing. They seemed to have fun together, and … reminded me of the interactions
between friends in a garage band. They made
me hope to find something like that when I get
older.”
“I left that afternoon with a new appreciation
and respect for all bassoon players.” u
THE DOUBLE REED
27
Among Oboists, a Mutual Admiration Society
They talked of Vivaldi concertos and legendary teachers, performance anxiety
and those pesky critics.
By Daniel J. Wakin
Published: December 2, 2009
Albrecht holds court with Tom Stacy, Dan Wakin and Graham Parker.
O
ligarchs of the oboe world gathered on
Monday for a private dinner, buffet style,
in a quiet corner of Greenwich Village. The
event drew players from the New York Philharmonic,
the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera,
New York City Opera and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Soloists, prominent teachers and hotshot upand-comers came too.
As a precaution against old jealousies and rivalries, they were not told who was invited, but knew
the name of the guest of honor: Albrecht Mayer, a
principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, a European star and a potential heir to the celebrated soloist Heinz Holliger. Mr. Mayer is in town to play the
Strauss Oboe Concerto on Saturday night with Orpheus at Carnegie Hall.
The event was the equivalent of a gathering of National Football League quarterbacks, with Mr. Mayer
cast as Brett Favre.
“It’s a regular who’s who,” said Elaine Douvas,
one of two Met principals and an influential teacher,
as she surveyed the room. The other Met principal,
Nathan Hughes, also attended, so they had to hunt
down a substitute for that night’s performance of Le
Nozze di Figaro.
The Americans, more than a dozen, had come
to meet Mr. Mayer in person, partly out of curiosity, partly to pay homage, maybe even partly to learn
something. Mr. Mayer, gregarious and self-assured,
wanted to mingle with the New York oboe scene and
pay homage of his own to names he knew from old
recordings. Orpheus was happy to invite a reporter to
publicize his appearance.
The dinner was organized by Matthew Dine, the
principal oboist of the American Ballet Theater orchestra and a member of Orpheus. It was held at the
loft of his mother, the filmmaker Nancy Dine, who
said she had suggested the dinner only as a joke. Mr.
Dine decided to take the idea seriously.
“Albrecht oozes the oboe,” he said. Others in the
CURRENT EVENTS
This article first appeared in the New York Times and is reprinted with permission.
28
AMONG OBOISTS, A MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY
CURRENT EVENTS
Albrecht and Marilyn Coyne
Albrecht with Dan Wakin
Randall Wolfgang and Elaine Douvas
room had a certain “jaded New York quality,” he added, but noted that almost all who were invited showed
up. “He’s like a rock star,” Mr. Dine said. “Everybody
wanted to meet him.”
Stephen Taylor, another Orpheus member who
also plays with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, seemed a bit amazed by the many wellknown faces when he entered the apartment. “I don’t
know who to say hello to,” he said, adding wryly: “I
was afraid not to come tonight. I had to be here to
protect myself.”
Oboists are a peculiar lot: they give the tuning A
before performances and often have the most prominent solos in a piece. Their instrument can sound like
a singing human voice or squawk like a duck. Half
their lives are spent hewing bits of cane to make the
double reeds that can produce those gorgeous sounds
but also prove cruelly disloyal.
The precarious nature of the double-reed existence creates a bond, several of the oboists said.
“We all know how difficult it is to play the instrument,” said Livio Caroli, who plays the English horn
and is second oboist at New York City Opera. “We are
dealing with nature, a tree. The tree changes in terms
of the weather.” You may be the greatest oboist in the
world, he said, but if you can’t express yourself, “you
are dead.”
“We all know this,” Mr. Caroli added, an awareness that puts Mr. Mayer and his colleagues on the
same playing field. (It was beginning to sound like
Oboists Anonymous.)
Yet Mr. Mayer, 44, who is German, was clearly
the star of the show. He plays a special prototype of
Albrecht with Nathan Hughes
THE DOUBLE REED
Clockwise from left-Marilyn Coyne, Dick Killmer,
Steve Taylor, Gerry Reuter, Laura Covey, Mark
Holloway, Debbie Dine and Jonathan Blumenfeld
Three amigos Dick Killmer, Steve Taylor and Matt Dine
Albrecht rehearsing with Susan Palma
CURRENT EVENTS
his own design, has released numerous recordings and carries
postcards with his portrait and
contacts. Yet he showed remarkable humility.
“There are so many people
here that are legends,” he said.
“I’ve been hearing about them for
the last 30 years.”
One was Randall Wolfgang,
whose playing is heard on a 1984
Orpheus recording of Rossini
overtures. (He is now the principal
at City Opera.) Those recordings,
Mr. Mayer told Mr. Wolfgang,
“completely thrilled” him as a
young oboist. Crowded between
the refrigerator and a kitchen island laden with food, the two traded stories about Marcel Tabuteau,
the patriarch of American oboe
playing, who died in 1966.
They talked about performance anxiety. Mr. Mayer said
you could play a piece perfectly
20 times, then have a bad performance. “From that point on, you
have to work on not being obsessed that it will happen again,”
he added.
Mr. Dine introduced Mr.
Mayer to guests as they came in,
including the courtly Richard
Killmer, Mr. Dine’s old teacher at
the Eastman School of Music in
Rochester. “I’ve seen you on YouTube,” Mr. Killmer told Mr. Mayer. “It’s a great honor to meet you.”
Later in the evening Mr. Mayer expressed wonder at how music critics could be negative about
performances that produced huge
ovations.
There were cordial chats across
the room. Thomas Stacy, the
English-horn player of the New
York Philharmonic, chatted with
Mr. Hughes, of the Met, about the
works they were performing this
season. Mr. Caroli and Pedro R.
Díaz, the English hornist of the
Met, were deep in conversation.
29
CURRENT EVENTS
30
AMONG OBOISTS, A MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY
Mr. Caroli, who grew up in Venice, brought a
widely acclaimed lasagna alla Bolognese as well as
a fascination with another native Venetian, Vivaldi.
He and Mr. Mayer compared notes on Vivaldi oboe
concertos. Mr. Caroli drew a laugh from Mr. Mayer,
saying that whenever he practices Mozart in Venice,
“it comes out Vivaldi.”
After several hours, the crowd thinned. Mr. Mayer, Ms. Douvas and Mr. Hughes were among the last
to leave. As they headed for the door, Mr. Mayer expressed wonder at the number of oboe players who
had been there.
“Just imagine a terrorist bomb,” he said. “So
many jobs in this room!” Then he left to take the No.
1 train to his Midtown hotel. u
Breezing through
the slow section
Albrecht with Alan Kay
Almost through the exposition
Mr. Casual
What? No conductor?!?
THE DOUBLE REED
31
Third Annual Bassoon Meeting, Cordoba, Argentina
Gonzalo Brusco and Alejandro Aizenberg
Cordoba, Argentina
T
CURRENT EVENTS
(Córdoba Symphony, Argentina), and Esteban Falconi
(SODRE, Uruguay). Due to
last minute inconvenients, Mr
Falconi could not travel and
was substituted by Gonzalo
Brusco (Córdoba Symphony).
The presentation of the
South American Quartet was
enjoyed by a numerous audience who packed the Conservatory Recital Hall. The
repertory offered, prepared
specially for the occasion, was
integrated by original compoParticipants at the Third Annual Bassoon Meeting, Cordoba, Argentina.
sitions and arrangements of
latin-american music.
The
Püchner´s
support
made also possible the
he third annual bassoon meeting of Cordoba
participation
of
Mauro
Silva
Ävila, bassonist and
was held from October 12th to October 17th,
bassoon
repairman
from
Rio
de
Janeiro, who offered
2009. in the facilities of the Superior Consera
workshop
about
bassoon
care
and maintenance,
vatory of Music “Felix T. Garzon”, located in the City
of the Arts of Cordoba City. The event can already be
and did a lot of work on the participant´s instruments.
considered one of the most important of its kind in
Another activities held during the week included
South America.
master classes by Fabián Contreras (orchestral solos),
The main guest professor was Fabio Cury, the
Felipe Destefano (practicing techniques) and Alejanrenowned principal bassoon of the Sao Paulo City
dro Aizenberg (contra bassoon), as well as chamber
Theater Symphony Orchestra, Brazil, who not only
music coaching by Gonzalo Brusco, Córdoba Conoffered his artistry and experience to every one that have the
privilege to assist to his master
classes, but also, along the recitals in which he played, left a
fantastic impression as a musician and as marvelous person.
Another remarkable issue
in this edition of the Cordoba
meeting was the support granted by the Püchner Company,
which made possible the appearance of the Püchner South
American Bassoon Quartet,
integrated by Fabio Cury, Felipe Destefano (Chile National
Püchner South American Bassoon Quartet.
Symphony), Fabián Contreras
CURRENT EVENTS
32
THIRD ANNUAL BASSOON MEETING, CORDOBA, ARGENTINA
servatory Bassoon Professor and General Coordinator of the Córdoba meeting.
Mario Navarro, director of the Man/Pizzo Company from Uruguay, offered a varied exhibition of
products commercialized by his firm: instruments,
supplies, cane. He also shared with us his warm
friendship and musicality.
The participants, coming from every corner of
Argentina, took part of the different activities with
great enthusiasm and interest, and with a real feeling
of comradeship.
The challenge for next year is to continue organizing the ever growing Cordoba bassoon meeting
even better, since it has become an event that fills
everybody involved with great satisfaction, bringing
together the South American bassoon family.
Participants:
Verónica Herrera (Córdoba)
Amelia Ottonello (Córdoba)
Mariela Enamorado (Córdoba)
Emilia Fadul (Córdoba)
Florencia Guzmán Olivera (Córdoba)
Pablo Farias de la Torre (Córdoba)
Victoria Merlo (Córdoba)
Anahí Vilte (Córdoba)
Pablo Fernández Brollo (Santa Fe)
Alejandro Tomaíno (Santa Fe)
Gustavo Laciar (San Juan)
Ítalo Antúnez (San Juan)
Enzo Zuleta (Salta)
Carolina Arévalo (Neuquen)
Professors:
Fabio Cury (Brazil)
Fabián Contreras (Argentina)
Felipe Destefano (Chile)
Alejandro Aizenberg (Argentina)
Gonzalo Brusco (Argentina)
Luthier:
Mauro Sila Ávila (Brazil)
Exhibits:
Mario Navarro (Uruguay)
Hosts:
Gonzalo Brusco (General direction)
Fabian Contreras
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33
Hobos from Holland – 50th Reunion
Don Jaeger, Palm Springs, California and Lake Ann, Michigan
Nancy Fowler, Tallahassee, Florida
Don Muggeridge, Los Angeles, California
A
short 51 years ago (August 1958) three
young American oboists disembarked from
a couple of Holland America cruise liners
onto the shores of the Netherlands to begin a year’s
study with the distinguished principal oboist of the
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Haakon Stotijn. Each of
the American oboists was there
to experience the benefits of a
Fulbright scholarship. (FYI, a
“Hobo” is an oboe in Holland!)
While in Amsterdam all
three became close friends and
colleagues while studying together and performing together
such works as the Henk Badings
Trio and the Beethoven Trio,
both for two oboes and English
horn. Perhaps of greater interest, they played the premiere
of Barney Childs’s Changes for
three oboes, performed for the
Dutch National Radio in HilL to R: Nancy Fowler, Haakon Stotijn, Don Muggeridge, and Don Jaeger
versum. Dr. Childs composed
in Amsterdam.
this specifically for these three
CURRENT EVENTS
L to R: Don Jaeger, Nancy Fowler, and Don Muggeridge
at the “Hobos” 50th reunion.
musicians.
These three oboists, Nancy Fowler, Don Muggeridge, and Don Jaeger, recently enjoyed a reunion
in Los Angeles, the first time the three have been together in 49 years! A great time was had by all, remembering the wonderful time in Amsterdam and
discussing their respective careers during the ensuing 50 years.
Dr. Nancy Fowler, a graduate of Ohio State University, served 48 years as professor of oboe, music
education, and wind pedagogy at Florida State University before retiring in 2003. She is a founding
member of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra and
played in many orchestras throughout the Southeast.
A long time member and a former secretary of the
IDRS for four years, she co-hosted the 12th and 25th
conferences in Tallahassee, Florida.
Don Muggeridge played for 44 years as a distinguished member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
playing second oboe and solo English horn before
retiring in 1996. Mr. Muggeridge has a degree in
English from UCLA and as a member of the Columbia Orchestra recorded with Bruno Walter and Igor
Stravinsky. In addition, he was a well-known teacher in the area and in demand as a studio player in
Hollywood.
CURRENT EVENTS
34
HOBOS FROM HOLLAND – 50TH REUNION
Haakon Stotijn
Don Th. Jaeger, a graduate of Oklahoma City University, played with the Oklahoma City Symphony,
Dallas Symphony, and the Chicago Little Symphony,
Below is the original article reprinted from Woodwind World Magazine of June 1, 1960.
HOBOS IN HOLLAND
By Don Jaeger, Nancy Fowler, and Don Muggeridge
THE AUTHORS
Mr. Jaeger is a member of the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra; Miss Fowler is oboe instructor at Florida
State University; Mr. Muggeridge is a member of the
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. All three were
aided in their studies by the U. S. Fulbright program.
A
“Hobo” is an oboe in Amsterdam, where we
three American oboists have had the privilege
of studying with Haakon Stotijn, first oboist of the
famous Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.
Our study, which lasted nine months, was a most interesting and enlightening experience, part of which
we wish to share in this article.
The present day school of oboe playing in Holland was introduced early in this century by Jaap
Stotijn, father of the present Stotijn of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. The elder Stotijn is now living in
The Hague, where for many years he was principal
oboist of the Residentie Orchestra of that city. Jaap
Stotijn for a short time was the principal oboist of the
Israel Philharmonic and was responsible for bringing
as well as in various festivals across the country. In
addition, he was instructor of oboe at the Interlochen
Arts Camp and was the first oboe teacher at the Interlochen Arts Academy when it opened in 1962. He
later turned to conducting and has since conducted
public concerts on four continents.
Of particular interest during their recent reunion
in December 2009 was a discussion of how their study
with the renowned Dutch oboist Haakon Stotijn
(whose father Jaap was also an oboist) influenced
their own playing and teaching in subsequent years.
An article about these three “Hobos in Holland”
written by them appeared in the June 1, 1960, issue of
Woodwind World Magazine shortly after their study
abroad. Needless to say, each has made a significant
contribution to the world of oboe playing in the past
50 years. All agreed that the schools of oboe playing
in various parts of the world, while still distinctive today, were at one time more “isolated” due to the greater challenges of international travel and communication. After all, it was before jets and e-mail when the
three studied In Amsterdam! u
Toscanini to Holland for the first time.
Due to the Stotijns, the oboe holds a very prominent position as a solo instrument in Holland today,
and a great number of compositions have been written for them. An interesting example is the Concerto
for Two Oboes by Alexander Vormolen, which Jaap
and Haakon Stotijn performed some 40 times with
the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
The following paragraphs contain a few of the
most striking characteristics of the “Stotijn” school:
The sound is very free and singing in quality, one
which can be beautifully projected, not only from the
wind section but throughout the entire orchestra if
desired. It can be considered a fairly bright sound,
but by no means a thin or nasal sound. It can best
be described by the words open and full. We found
that the dynamic range which Stotijn can achieve is
next to spectacular, as is also his ability to temper the
sound to fit the most subtle of playing. This flexibility
is due mainly, as can well be expected, to the reed and
embouchure, as well as the control and variation of
vibrato. In speaking of the vibrato, we noticed that in
accordance with American tastes, it was sometimes
a bit wider and slower, but always free and singing.
Both father and son, as well as most of their students,
produce vibrato with the throat!
The Stotijn reed is different from any other that
we have seen. The over-all length (from tip to bot-
THE DOUBLE REED
tom of staple) is 67 mm’s. The staple itself is greatly
shortened to 40 mms. We have found the cane to be
quite and thickly gouged. The size of the opening is
controlled by a wire. The scrape, basically a U shape,
is gradually tapered to the tip, thus making it possible to see light through about three-quarters the
length of the cane. The reed is very free-blowing and
therefore must be played with a very relaxed embouchure. The strength of the embouchure is found in
the muscles at the side of the mouth, with complete
relaxation of the lips. Such a reed makes possible
the interesting technique of double tonguing, a feat
which both Stotijns do with amazing security.
A note about their oboes might be interesting at
this time. They both play Lorée oboes with a number of modifications, namely: automatic octave key;
lowered thumb rest to make less weight on the right
hand; coupling mechanism which enables high C to
be played with any finger of the right hand; and a
coupling which enables low B to be played without
the use of the right hand little finger.
In conclusion we would like to point out that although many of the Stotijn methods and ideas are
quite apart from those generally accepted in this
country, they are nonetheless effective. The three of
us are all agreed that it is the end result that is important, and the Stotijns, both Jaap and Haakon, can well
be assured that their results over the past 40 years
place them among the “greats” of dedicated woodwind players of our time. u
CURRENT EVENTS
Haakon Stotijn (left), Nancy Fowler, Donald Muggeridge, and Donald Jaeger
photographed at the Amsterdam Conservatory of Music.
35
36
CAROLYN HOVE 2009 ENGLISH HORN MASTER CLASS AT BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
Carolyn Hove 2009 English Horn Master Class
at Ball State University
CURRENT EVENTS
Ann Lemke
Troy, Michigan
Performers and featured composers pose for a photo in the lobby of Sursa Hall following the opening recital. From left:
Patricia Morehead, Carolyn Hove, Timothy Clinch, Kathy Henkel, and Jeffrey Rathbun.
E
nglish hornists from across the country gathered June 16-20, 2009 at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana to learn from master
teacher and performer Carolyn Hove, solo English
hornist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. For four
full days, participants had the opportunity to attend
classes in orchestral repertoire, solo literature, and
reed making, as well as instrument repair with the
Napa, CA-based oboe maker Mark Chudnow. Timothy Clinch, assistant professor of oboe at Ball State,
did a superb job of organizing all aspects of the class,
despite his busy performing schedule with the Indianapolis Symphony. IDRS members who attended the
2006 annual conference will be familiar with Tim’s
outstanding organizational skills and congenial personality, as well as the impressive new facilities of the
Ball State University School of Music.
Carolyn Hove is known for her support of living
composers and for significantly expanding the body
of repertoire for her chosen instrument. At the opening recital in Sursa Hall with Stacey Edwards, piano,
Hove introduced the audience to exciting new works
for English horn, and even introduced the composers themselves. Three composers were present for the
performance: Kathy Henkel, Patricia Morehead and
Carolyn Hove lecturing participants.
THE DOUBLE REED
37
CURRENT EVENTS
Master repairman Mark Chudnow explaining oboe adjustment with a masterclass participant.
Jeffrey Rathbun, all of whom have composed numerous works that call for oboe and English horn. Henkel’s beautiful work Summer’s Echo for English horn
and piano received its world premiere performance,
and will no doubt continue to be enjoyed by performers. Hove also performed Morehead’s poignant
Elegy for English horn and Piano. Timothy Clinch
joined Hove for an energetic rendition of Rathbun’s
Suite for Oboe and English Horn with its four movements: “Fast and Furious”, “Two Marches”, “Chorale”
and “Quick Fugue”. Rounding out the program were
Richard Lane’s Introduction and Allegro for English
horn and piano, Beethoven’s Seven Variations on the
Theme ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ from Mozart’s opera, The Magic Flute” transcribed by Hove,
and Hindemith’s Sonata for English horn and Piano.
The recital was followed by a reception at which
the participants from Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland,
Michigan, Texas and Puerto Rico met one another
informally. It was a special treat to be able to meet the
composers and discuss their works with them.
A unique aspect of this master class was that participants performed in a recital on the final evening,
so there was a sense of purpose and immediacy to the
instruction, and participants made use of the practice
time between sessions. Each participant had time to
rehearse their solo with pianist Stacey Edwards, who
accompanied with precision and sensitivity.
Excerpts and solos were assigned in advance,
and participants received a packet with the excerpts,
which represent important orchestral solos for the
English horn. Having the music projected on a screen
during the excerpt coaching allowed the participants
to follow Ms. Hove’s suggestions and markings. She
affirmed the need to make excerpts convincing in an
audition situation. She worked to help players get a
bigger solo sound through posture and embouchure,
not overblowing. Those who usually play oboe found
her suggestions for alternative fingerings to stabilize
and correct the pitch of certain notes on the English
horn very helpful.
The semi-private format was a particularly effective way for participants to benefit from Ms. Hove’s
reed-making advice. She met with two or three participants at a time to make suggestions tailored to the
individual’s needs. She also gave advice on selecting
the best bocal to suit an individual’s instrument and
playing style, and was willing to offer specific help
in selecting from the large collection of new bocals
available to try.
Mark Chudnow led three afternoon sessions on
oboe and English horn maintenance and adjustment.
The depth of his knowledge and experience, as well as
his quick-witted humor made these classes both extremely informative and entertaining. He explained
CURRENT EVENTS
38
CAROLYN HOVE 2009 ENGLISH HORN MASTER CLASS AT BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
in understandable terms an effective system for adjusting the oboe. The image of an oboe was projected
onto two screens in the classroom, allowing participants to see with great clarity exactly the mechanisms being discussed. Mr. Chudnow was available
throughout the class to work on participants’ instruments, and a large selection of supplies was available
for purchase. The room where he had set up shop was
also the break room, where participants gathered for
snacks and informal exchange of ideas.
There was a sense of camaraderie among the participants, who enjoyed a pizza lunch together on the
first day and subsequently walked across the campus
lawn to area restaurants for meals between the morn-
ing and afternoon sessions. All celebrated with relief
at a restaurant following the final concert.
Looking back on a full four days, all participants
benefitted greatly from the wealth of ideas presented
by Carolyn Hove, as well as having our instruments
finely tuned by Mark Chudnow, and all was coordinated smoothly by Timothy Clinch in BSU’s excellent
facilities. The class was generously sponsored in part
by F. Lorée-Paris.
The Carolyn Hove 2010 English Horn Master
Class will take place on the campus of Ball State
University July 20 - 24. For more information, please
contact Timothy Clinch tclinch@bsu.edu ◆
Participants in the Carolyn Hove 2009 English Horn Master Class at Ball State University with instructors (seated) Mark
Chudnow, Carolyn Hove and Timothy Clinch.
THE DOUBLE REED
39
Grand Valley State University Fourth Annual Double Reed Day
Marlen Vavříkova
West Olive, Michigan
CURRENT EVENTS
O
n November 14, 2009, GVSU held its fourth
annual Double Reed Day. Over sixty oboists and bassoonists from Michigan came
to campus to enjoy a day filled with workshops and
activities for middle school, high school and university students, band directors, professionals, and
amateurs.
The morning opened with a warm welcome from
Dr. Danny K. Phipps, GVSU’s Music Department
Chair, and a recital featuring GVSU students–oboists
Stephanie Kehoe, Alexandra Renny, Cassandra Negron–and GVSU faculty Marlen Vavříkova (oboe),
John Clapp (bassoon), and Robert Byrens (piano).
This year’s distinguished Double Reed Day guest
artists were Christopher Millard, principal bassoon of the National Arts Centre
Orchestra, and Scott Hostetler, second
oboe and English horn of the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. Double Reed Day
participants had an opportunity to hear
GVSU’s double reed students playing for
guest artists in morning master classes.
High school students performed for
GVSU Faculty, Marlen Vavříkova and
John Clapp in the afternoon. This series
of master classes was followed by instrumental repair presentations by Carlos
Coelho and Kenneth Potsic. For those
interested in trying new professional or
student instruments, Carlos Coelho Woodwinds and
Miller Marketing provided a variety of oboes and
bassoons. Students were also able to purchase basic reed-making equipment, to be used in oboe and
bassoon reed-making workshops. After intensive
reed-making workshops GVSU Director of Bands,
Barry Martin, directed a double-reed choir rehearsal
featuring Issacson’s Phonals and Antiphonals, and
an arrangement of Prokofiev’s “Gavotte” from the
Classical Symphony. Concurrently, Middle School
Program took place in the choir room. Local oboe instructor and freelance oboist and this year’s Middle
School Program guest artist, Dan Ruggles, helped
beginners with proper breathing, embouchure, pos-
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY FOURTH ANNUAL DOUBLE REED DAY
CURRENT EVENTS
40
ture, and many other issues that can be troubling to
beginning oboists. This session was not only helpful
for beginners, but very valuable to any band and orchestra directors who work with double-reed players
in their ensembles. Shortly after lunch, GVSU sophomore Stephanie Kehoe led double-reed ensemble for
beginners. The Middle School Program closed with
a very insightful session, “Preparing for Solo and
Ensemble,” where students were instructed on what
to remember and what to avoid when preparing for
public performances.
The GVSU Double Reed Day culminated in an
unforgettable evening recital, featuring Christopher
Millard and GVSU’s assistant professor, pianist Giuseppe Lupis, performing a virtuoso composition
by John Williams (b. 1932), The Five Sacred Trees for
bassoon and piano. Scott Hostetler was joined by violinist Adam Liebert and pianist Yu-Lien The in Donald Francis Tovey’s (1875-1940) Trio in D minor for
piano, violin and English horn, op. 14.
Double reed day events are possible thanks to
volunteers who donate their time and energy, the
hard work of GVSU faculty and staff, the GVSU
double reed studios, and thanks in large part to support from Dr. Danny K. Phipps, Music Department
Chair. Each November Michigan oboists and bassoonists meet for a few hours at Grand Valley State
University for a day of double reed activities, creating and strengthening musical friendships. Whether you live in Michigan or in a state close by and are
interested about oboe or bassoon, join us next year
on Saturday, November 13, 2010, for the fifth GVSU
Annual Double Reed Day. We promise you will enjoy your stay in Allendale and leave with many great
memories, new friendships and ideas about music.
Visit www.gvsu.edu/music and look under “Workshops and Conferences” for updates. We hope to see
you in 2010! u
THE DOUBLE REED
41
Double Reed Round-Up at Brigham Young University
Natasha Wallin and Jessi Judd
Provo, Utah
CURRENT EVENTS
G
eralyn Giovannetti and Christian Smith
(hosts of the 2008 IDRS Conference) were
delighted to welcome double reed players from all over Utah and southern Idaho to the
Brigham Young University campus for the Double
Reed Round-Up, a weekend of recitals, workshops
and masterclasses. Rebecca Henderson and Frank
Morelli were featured distinguished guest artists for
the weekend.
The Round-Up began Friday, October 16th
2009, with a chamber music masterclass coached
by both Ms. Henderson and Mr. Morelli. They gave
the students useful and insightful comments about
chamber playing, particularly tuning and staying true
to each piece’s particular character. That evening the
guest artists joined BYU faculty in performing an all
double-reed recital to a packed house. Their program
included works by Paladilhe, Saint-Saëns, Handel,
Rossini, Pinkston, and Lalliet.
Saturday began with separate masterclasses for
both oboe and bassoon. During the oboe master class,
Ms. Henderson was able to work with several students.
Among many points she encouraged performers to
find natural phrasing in the musical line, and use tone
color to add to the character of the piece. Mr. Morelli
combined wit with solid musical principles in the
bassoon masterclass. Students were able to take Mr.
Morelli’s suggestions, making dramatic progress in
a few short minutes. Participants left the masterclass
feeling enriched and excited to implement what they
learned to their own playing.
After lunch, the guest artists held reed classes. Mr.
Morelli shared helpful reeds tips for beginning as well
as advanced reed makers. Ms. Henderson assured the
group that although reed-making can be frustrating,
oboists are actually lucky to have so much control over
their sound. Her advice was threefold: never leave the
reed desk without having done something productive;
pretend like you’re having fun even when you’re not;
and always work on your second-best reed.
After an 1 ½ hours of reed-making, local woodwind
repairman, Bob Joffs, came and spoke about cracks,
leaks, minor adjustments, and maintenance practices
that will keep instruments in good condition. All the
CURRENT EVENTS
42
DOUBLE REED ROUND-UP AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
participants then gathered in the atrium of the Harris
Fine Arts Center to sight-read music for double reed
choir–what a sound! Nothing quite compares to the
sonority of seventy double reed musicians playing
together. Afterward, Lizzy Nelson, a BYU graduate
student of oboe, asked “Why can’t we do this every
day?” Why not, indeed?
The weekend closed with a recital of woodwind
octets performed by BYU faculty and students. Thanks
go to Dr. Giovannetti and Dr. Smith for hosting a
successful event. We really appreciated the generosity
of our guest artists in making this an inspiring event.
Thanks Ms. Henderson and Mr. Morelli!
We are pleased to announce the next BYU Double
Reed Round-Up (October 2010), will feature guest
artists Linda Strommen (oboe faculty at Indiana
Univeristy and Juilliard School) and Ben Kamins
(bassoon faculty at Rice University; former principal
bassoon with the Houston Symphony). u
THE DOUBLE REED
43
Oboe Occasion at Cranbrook January 17, 2010
Charlotte H. Sommers
Troy, Michigan
CURRENT EVENTS
Participants in the Oboe Occasion at Cranbrook gather for a group photo with Ann Lemke and Daniel Stolper (left) and
Ellen Sudia (right). Photo courtesy of Laura Newton.
D
aniel Stolper was the special guest at the
Händel, transcribed by Ernst Krenek, Italian Dance
Cranbrook Oboe Occasion on January 17
by Madeleine Dring, and Aria and Allegretto by Alan
organized by Dr. Ann Lemke, oboe inRichardson, with his accustomed rich and colorful
structor at Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills,
tone. Ann Lemke performed two works transcribed
Michigan. Mr. Stolper is well known to members of
for the English horn: the Largo from the New World
the IDRS as a co-editor of The Double Reed Journal,
Symphony by Antonin Dvořák (trans. Thomas Staas well as oboe instructor at Interlochen Arts Acadcy), and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Song Without Words”
emy and Interlochen Arts
Camp, visiting professor of
oboe at Indiana University
and Professor Emeritus of
Michigan State University.
The event, held in Kingswood Auditorium, began
with a recital featuring music
for oboe and English horn
with piano. Three performers played solos accompanied
by Tatyana Zut, Cranbrook
piano instructor and acOboists and English hornists of all ages joined together to perform the “Royal
companist. Daniel Stolper
Fanfare”. One section of the ensemble included from left: Sophia Lusk, Steve Landino, Lauren Janness, Michael Japowicz, Ellen Sudia-Coudron, Jennifer Newton, and
performed the Andante in
Stefan Lemke. Photo courtesy of Laura Newton.
A minor of Georg Friederic
CURRENT EVENTS
44
OBOE OCCASION AT CRANBROOK JANUARY 17, 2010
Ellen Sudia-Coudron and her fans Jennifer Newton and
Stefan Lemke.
Op. 53 nr. 22 (trans. David Walter). Ellen SudiaCoudron, oboist and English hornist with the Flint
Symphony Orchestra and Saginaw Bay Orchestra,
performed Finding Peace, a piece she had commissioned by Saginaw composer Catherine McMichael.
Stolper and Lemke together performed the touchingly beautiful Brahms Intermezzo, Op. 118 nr. 2 (trans.
Jennifer Sperry). For the closing work, Beethoven’s
rousing Variations on La ci darem la mano, Stolper
and Lemke played oboe, while Sudia-Coudron played
English horn.
About thirty oboists and English hornists attended the event, and most of them joined in to perform
together the Royal Fanfare of Antonio Soler, arranged
by Alan Hawkins of Bocal Music.
Mr. Stolper coached thirteen players during the
ensuing master class. He encouraged students to be
aware of their posture and hand position, and to use
a mirror to help improve their embouchure. He recounted some anecdotes about the legendary John
Mack and shared a wealth of information which
helped all of the students. Mr. Stolper gave generously of his time and knowledge, continuing to teach
overtime in order to hear all the students who had
prepared solos to play for him.
Charlotte H. Sommers is the pastor of Northminster
Presbyterian Church and plays her oboe in worship.
She studies oboe with Dr. Ann Lemke and is a former
student of John Ferrillo, the late Arno Mariotti and
his son David Mariotti.
45
THE DOUBLE REED
Oboe &English Horn Artists
Jean-Louis Capezzali (France)
Peter Cooper (USA)
Nicholas Daniel (UK)
Hèléne Devilleneuve (France)
Pedro Diaz (USA)
Marc Fink (USA)
Gordon Hunt (UK)
Eugene Isotov and Chicago
Symphony Oboe Section (USA)
Richard Killmer (USA)
Nancy Ambrose King (USA)
Katherine Needleman (USA)
Emily Pailthorpe (UK)
Martin Schuring (USA)
Bassoon & Contrabassoon Artists
Rodney Ackmann (USA)
Michel Bettez (Canada)
William Buchman (USA)
Stefano Canuti (Italy)
Yoshiyuki Ishikawa (USA)
Stansilav Katenin (Russia)
Peter Kolkay (USA)
Bill Ludwig (USA)
Kathleen McLean (USA)
John Miller (USA)
Frank Morelli (USA)
Scott Pool (USA)
Henry Skolnick (USA)
Ted Soluri (USA)
Roger Soren (USA)
Andrea Zucco (Italy)
Premiered Composers
Samuel Adler
Miguel del Aguila
Kim Ashton
Daniel Baldwin
David Bixler
Fulvio Caldini
Andrew Callow
Paul Max Edlin
Luigi Gatti
Stewart Grant
Kevin Gray
Ted Hammond
David Heinick
John Joubert
Don Keipp
Elaine Lillios
Laurence Lowe
Mathieu Lussier
Michael Alec Rose
David Smooke
Benjamin Taylor
William Winstead
Nathaniel Zeisler
Please visit the website for complete information on other artists, lectures, and masterclasses. www.idrs2010.org Concertos
Jazz in June IDRS Event
The Jazz in June Friday night concert will feature Michael Rabinowitz and Bassoon in the Wild plus Paul McCandless, jazz oboist. Rabinowitz and McCandless will also present lectures during the educational clinic on Saturday afternoon as a part of the Jazz in June event. You will not want to miss the opportunity to hear these innovative jazz musicians perform. Dinner may be purchased at one of the many vendors on location and enjoyed outside during the concert. Make your reservations today! www.idrs2010.org
Miguel del Aguila: Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra
Yi Chen: Concerto for Oboe with Full Orchestra
Michael Daughtery: Spaghetti Western
Michael Dorff: Concerto for Contrabassoon
Luigi Gatti: Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra
Eugene Goossens: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra
John Joubert: Concerto for Oboe and String Orchestra
Ray Luke: Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra
Bohuslav Martinu: Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra
W.A. Mozart: Concerto in Bb for Bassoon and Orchestra, K. 191
Carl Maria von Weber: Andante e Rondo Ungarese, Op. 35
CURRENT EVENTS
The 39th Annual International Double Reed Society Conference June 22-‐26, 2010 46
39TH ANNUAL DOUBLE REED CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, NORMAN, OKLAHOMA, JUNE 22-26, 2010
The 39th Annual International Double Reed Society Conference June 22-‐26, 2010 CURRENT EVENTS
University of Oklahoma School of Music Johanna Cox and Carl Rath, Hosts Katie Robertson, Administrative Assistant Join Us for IDRS 2010
annual conference, June 22-‐26, 2010. We have excellent facilities, a beautiful campus, and a Campus Corner with plenty of restaurants and coffee bars! Come join us, as in Oklahoma 2010! About Norman and OU
IDRS 2010 Features
Norman, Oklahoma is a city rich with beauty, activity, culture and excitement. We are rd
th
" largest city and voted the 6 best place to live by Money Magazine. Whether everything you need. Established 17 years before Oklahoma statehood, the university has a rich history of academic and athletic excellence. Visitors will marvel at the breath-‐taking blend of historical buildings with exquisitely manicured lawns, Oklahoma art and stunning architecture. is at the University of Oklahoma. The School of Music offers degrees at th
and doctoral levels in all areas of music performance, composition, education, history and theory. Costs are moderate, and scholarships are available. The school presents 250 performances each year. * Five days of concerts, lectures, master classes, and workshops featuring internationally renowned artists * World premiere performances * Exhibits of instruments, accessories, music, and recordings * World-‐class teachers and performers of double reed instruments * Double reed chamber music reading sessions * Fernand Gillet-‐Hugo Fox Competition ! Bassoon * IDRS Young Artist Competition ! Oboe * A tribute to Arthur Weisberg * Yoga classes For more information about Norman, OU and the surrounding area, visit the following websites: Travel and Accommodations
Located right off Interstate 35, Norman is easily accessible by car. Air travelers can fly into the Will Rogers World Airport on several major airlines. Rooms are reserved at IDRS 2010 Conference rates at several Norman-‐area hotels. For a complete listing of hotels, rates, and driving directions, please see our website: www.idrs2010.org Norman Chamber of Commerce -‐ www.normanchamber.com Discover the University of Oklahoma -‐ www.ou.edu/discover OU School of Music -‐ music.ou.edu Campus Corner -‐ www.oucampuscorner.com www.idrs2010.org
Travel Agency
University American Travel 405-‐321-‐9629 800-‐580-‐8747 405-‐321-‐2402 -‐ Fax 47
THE DOUBLE REED
Registration Information Conference Registration
Daily Registration
Registration includes entrance to all conference activities and events except Jazz in June. IDRS Member Non-‐Member Student Member Student Non-‐Member Family Member Before April 1 $280 $375 $125 $165 $105 After April 1 $340 $435 $165 $220 $135 IDRS Member Non-‐Member Student Member Student Non-‐Member Family Member Before April 1 $65 $85 $35 $45 $40 After April 1 $75 $95 $45 $55 $50 Day passes will also be available for purchase on location at the IDRS Conference. To become an IDRS member, please register online at www.idrs.org or contact Norma Hooks at (410) 871-‐0658; fax: (410) 871-‐0659; email: norma4idrs@verizon.net On-Campus Accommodations
Discounted room and board will be available in the dorms. Single Double Single Double Meal Plan Included Included Not Included Not Included Daily Rate $55 $40 $40 $25 * Meal plans include 3 meals a day at an all-‐you-‐can eat buffet. Meals may be purchased on an individual basis on location. * Linen is $5.00 for the set up and an additional charge of $3.00 for each requested towel and wash cloth exchange (per day). On-‐Campus Apartments (Sooner Suites) are also available for $88 per night ! unit space is limited. Please visit the website for more information regarding on-‐campus accommodations. www.idrs2010.org Airport Shuttle
Parking
Conference shuttle service to and from the airport will NOT be available. Please make your own Airport Express arrangements. $3 off coupons will be available for Airport Express on the website. Parking will be available at the dorms and in the parking garage next to Catlett at no extra cost. Off-Campus Accommodations
Embassy Suites ! (800) 364-‐8040 Best Western ! (405) 701-‐4011 Comfort Inn ! (405) 701-‐5200 Hilton Garden Inn ! (800) 782-‐9444 Holiday Inn ! (405) 364-‐2882; Fax: (405) 321-‐5264 Residence Inn ! (800) 311-‐3131; Fax: (405) 360-‐6552 Sooner Legends ! (405) 701-‐8100; Fax: (405) 310-‐6279 Each hotel is providing a shuttle to the conference venue every 30 minutes. Visit the website for more information. www.idrs2010.org Cancellation Policy
Cancellations received prior to April 1, 2010, will qualify for a full refund, minus a $30 processing fee. All cancellations must be in written form to the hosts of IDRS 2010. From April 1st to May 14th, only 50% of the registration fee will be refunded. 100% of the housing and meal fees will be refunded. No refunds will be allowed after May 15, 2010. All approved refunds will be processed before September 1st, 2010 Processing Fee Registration Fee Housing/Meals Up to 4/1 $30 100% 100% 4/1-‐5/14 $30 50% 100% 5/15-‐On -‐-‐-‐ 0% 0% Register online at www.idrs2010.org! www.idrs2010.org
CURRENT EVENTS
The 39th Annual International Double Reed Society Conference June 22-‐26, 2010 48
OBITUARIES
Obituaries
CURRENT EVENTS
Judith Buttery (1955–2009)
Richard ‘Brian’ Moses (d. 2009)
Lorelei Grace Crawford (d. 2009)
JUDITH BUTTERY (1955–2009)
Judith Buttery passed away on December 24, 2009
after a 15 year battle with cancer. She was a true saint,
with a smile and a loving heart. She took joy in being a musician, bassoonist, teacher, wife, mother and
grandmother.
Judy was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on July
12, 1955. Her brother, Jack Karsten also a musician,
teaches music for the Kalamazoo Christian Schools
and is band director for both the middle and high
school. Judy earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in
bassoon performance from Calvin College in Grand
Rapids in 1977 and her Master of Music degree from
Michigan State University in 1979. Her teacher at
Calvin College was Gail Warnaar and at Michigan State her teacher was Edward Kirk, whom she
had absolute respect for as a teacher and performer.
She earned her position in the United States Coast
Guard Band as co-principal bassoonist in 1979 and
performed in that role for 25 years until her retirement in 2004. During that time, she was member of
the Coast Guard Woodwind Quintet and performed
for many high security jobs, including performances
for many Presidents. She also performed concertos
with the Coast Guard Band, and on chamber recitals. She played in area orchestras including Eastern
Connecticut Symphony and Wallingford Symphony.
As a teacher, she conveyed her love of music to her
students at home, Connecticut College, and the University of Rhode Island. Judy was a member of the
International Double Reed Society and the American Guild of Organists. She was organist and choir
member at Lee Memorial United Methodist Church
in Norwich.
Before and during her illness, Judy was an avid
quilter, providing 54 handmade baby quilts to family
members and to new babies born of families within
the Coast Guard Band. She also hand-quilted 15 full
sized log-cabin quilts for her home and children, several earning recognition in the Montville Fair and
at the Big E. She was involved in weekly sewing sessions at Lee Church, making sleeping bags and quilts
for the Norwich Homeless Shelter. She made many
varieties of jam every year for countless friends, and
people would clamor for “Judy’s Jam”.
Judith met Gary Buttery who played tuba in the
Coast Guard Band and married in 1980; they were
each other’s love of their life. She had two children
while employed in the Coast Guard Band, Katherine
and Steven. Gary and Judy loved traveling; they were
the first family with children to travel on tour with
the Coast Guard Band together. Judy accompanied
Gary on playing engagements in Italy, Ireland and
Germany, and also did her own travel and playing
in the Netherlands and Germany as a college student and performer on bassoon. They performed as
a duo with a ‘Music and Whales’ multi-media show
at schools and other venues in New England and
in Canada, including Newfoundland at the Village
Inn in Trinity. Judy and Gary had pieces written for
them as a tuba/bassoon duet from composers Vaclav
THE DOUBLE REED
RICHARD ‘BRIAN’ MOSES
Richard ‘Brian’ Moses, 46, beloved friend to many,
passed away at the Hadlow Center on Sunbeam Road
on October 8, 2009. He was born in Jellico, Tennessee, raised in Williamsburg, Kentucky with his family and graduated from the University of Kentucky
with a Bachelors in Music Performance. He worked
for the University in various administrative support
positions from 1974 until he moved to Jacksonville in
2005 where he took a position with the Department
of Children & Families in the Regional Director’s
office. Survivors include his partner and companion, Merrell Barry Segars of Jacksonville, his father,
Scotty M. Moses, two (2) sisters, Lucinda Moses and
Malorie Cooper of Williamsburg, Kentucky, brother
Gregory Scott Moses of Florence, South Carolina,
two (2) cats, Roscoe Moses and Jax-Kitty Moses and
all his friends at DCF.
LORELEI GRACE CRAWFORD
Age 56 of Toledo, and celebrated oboist and arts activist passed from this life at 9:06 PM on Monday, December 21, after a long struggle with primary aphasia, a cognitive disorder.
Besides playing principal oboe with the Ann
Arbor and Saginaw Symphony Orchestras, she had
served on the staffs of both Perrysberg Antiques Market and Materials Unlimited in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Her long time goal of operating a Bed and Breakfast was realized in the Cummings House B&B in the
Vistula District of Toledo. She was also the founder
and the principal driving force behind the successful series of historic home tours held in the Vistula
District. Her B&B was one of the featured houses on
the first tour.
She is survived by her companion, The Rev. Dr.
Lowell Greer; siblings, Frank (Kathy) Crawford of
Cheboygan, Michael (Carol) Crawford of Northville,
Terry (Patricia) Crawford of South Lyon, Kathleen
(Terry) Klein of Caro, Kenneth (Danette) Crawford
of Highland and many nieces and nephews. She was
preceded in death by parents, Franklin and Vera
Crawford, and a sister, Trudy Crawford. u
CURRENT EVENTS
Nelhybel, Antony Paasch, Richard Penner, Geoffrey
Gibbs, and Frank Warren. She leaves her children,
Katherine (Buttery) Malon and her husband Jon, of
Norwich and Steven Buttery, of Montville; as well as
her grandson, Caleb Malon, of Norwich. She is also
survived by her beloved sister, Joann (Karsten) Tysman, of Grand Haven, Michigan, and brother, Jack
Karsten, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, along with nieces,
nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Everyone who knew Judy knew she was special;
she was such a caring and giving person. She is dearly
loved and missed.
49
50
ARTICLES
Articles
THE DOUBLE REED
51
“Oboists of My Time”:
A Talk at the IDRS Conference in Birmingham, July 2009
Neil Black, London, England
Transcribed and annotated by Geoffrey Burgess
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
G
eorge Caird: Please join me in giving Neil
Black our warmest congratulations beause
yesterday he was awarded the highest honour of the IDRS: honorary membership. [applause].
Neil Black: That is a lot to live up to, and I assure
you that I was not honoured for my public speaking,
however, I know I’m among friends, so I’m not as nervous as I might be.
My life has been spent learning from colleagues
and great artists. The privilege of working with the
masters of my instrument has always been a great
thrill for me, and I feel that I am still learning as I
listen to everyone here at this conference. What I
want to get across is that certain oboists have had a
monumental influence on how we all play. This talk
doesn’t attempt in any way to be comprehensive, because I think we would all die of oxygen starvation
if I embarked on a study of all the schools of oboe
playing, and every great oboist — even if I restricted myself just to those whom I had the pleasure of
hearing or knowing. So, what I will present is more
Carl Nielsen, Romance and Humoresque,
Svend Christian Felumb (1898-1972);
recorded 1937
(Scandanavian HMV DA5204, Copenhagen;
re-released on The Oboe on Record 1905-1955
Oboe Classics CC2012, 2005).
Felumb is very interesting to me. He was not only
an oboist, but a conductor of the Tivoli Orchestra
in Copenhagen for some of their Summer concerts
and what makes this recording particularly special
is that, in the last movement of his Wind Quintet,
Carl Nielsen portrays the characters of the players
for whom he was writing. Felumb was the oboist, and
I’m sure that Nielsen must have heard him playing in
much the same way as we hear in this recording of the
Fantasy Pieces.
ARTICLES
Fig. 1. Neil Black at IDRS Birmingham.
like an anthology and I want to start by saying that
a comprehensive survey has been made possible by
the fact that a few years ago Geoffrey Burgess who is
sitting here, compiled a most fantastic piece of oboistic archaeology in the form of the CD set The Oboe
from 1903 to 1953. At home I can’t keep away from
it. I think it’s my most frequently-played recording.
You can hear Georges Gillet, his pupils, and his colleagues and other players from the early days of the
twentieth century up to the time when I started to get
interested in the oboe. So, I’m extremely grateful to
Oboe Classics for allowing me to play some excerpts
from these CDs.
I’m going to begin with a recording from when
I was aged five, so I didn’t actually know this gentleman — indeed, aged five I didn’t know very much
about the oboe — but this is the sort of oboe playing
that was heard in the 1900s to 1920s. The piece is well
known to all of you, but the reason why I’m playing
it is that I want you to get the sense of how your style
of playing was and still is dictated by what is going
on, how your teachers taught you, what you heard
on the radio and so on. We are all part of life’s great
conveyor belt and we’re all heirs of these players. So
the first player I want to highlight is Svend Christian
Felumb with Nielsen’s Fantasy Pieces.
52
“OBOISTS OF MY TIME”: A TALK GIVEN AT THE IDRS CONFERENCE IN BIRMINGHAM, JULY 2009
ARTICLES
[Felumb can also be heard on an early recording of Carl Nielsen’s Quintet recorded 1936
by members of the Royal Danish Orchestra,
Holger Gilbert Jespersen fl, Svend Christian
Felumb ob, Aage Oxenvad cl, Hans Sørensen
hrn, Knud Lassen bn, (HMV DB 5200-03,
re-released on Danacord, DACO 124/5, 1984,
and Historic Carl Nielsen Collection, vol. 4
DACO 360-62).]
Felumb was taught by Bleuzet, who was a pupil of
Georges Gillet, so this playing is in a sense part of the
Paris Conservatoire tradition. Over and over again
we will come across the Conservatoire in Paris as being a hotbed of influence… and I think it still is.
Although I was aware of players like Felumb, all
of my earliest influences were from the one oboist
who was universally admired at the time: Leon Goossens. His recordings were sent all over the world, and
so his influence was paramount not only in Britain,
but in other countries as well. In 1943 during the war
when, as a boy, I began playing the oboe in this very
city [Birmingham], the only source of oboe playing
apart from my teacher Lucy Vincent (the principal in
the Birmingham Symphony 1943-5 who was herself
a Goossens pupil), was recordings by Goossens. His
was the only style, and the only sound that I heard.
And I know that there are similarities with Felumb’s
playing, but you will hear what I think is an added
refinement that Goossens brought to oboe playing of
his time. Again, this piece is probably very familiar
to you all, but the subtlety and lightness of Goossens’
tone is remarkable. With his little light Lorée oboe of
Fig. 2 Svend Christian Felumb
Fig. 3 Leon Goossens
1905 that almost took off when you held it, he produced a light, flexible and beautiful tone. Not until his
very last days did Goossens ever make a thin sound.
Domenico Cimarosa, Concerto (arr. Arthur
Benjamin), Leon Goossens with Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, Malcolm Sargent,
cond. (Columbia DX 1137/80, 1943; rereleased on Leon Goossens, Pearl GEMM CD
9281, 1987).
That recording brings back so many memories.
What was remarkable about Goossens was not only
his playing, but his charismatic figure. He was an extraordinarily tall man, one of the few men I ever met
who could wear a cape without looking ridiculous,
and he had the young ladies running after him. He
was very much the reason why young ladies started
playing the oboe…and in vast quantities. [laughter]
What had been a male instrument suddenly became
what every young lady wanted to play, and it hasn’t
stopped. If you look in the London Musicians’ Union
book today, you’ll find many more ladies than men
playing the oboe, and I think it’s probably the same
in other countries. Women flocked to Goossens. He
was very good looking in a sort of godly way. He was
the King of the Oboe, and he didn’t like too many
people approaching too close to the throne. He had
THE DOUBLE REED
certainly in Britain. If you trace from him, through
his pupil Helen Gaskell, the fine cor anglais player
and one of the original members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, to her pupil Janet Craxton and
Janet’s pupil Celia Nicklin, you get to her students
who are playing at this conference. That is a single
line of descent, and all of us have been influenced by
these people. What I’d like to do now, in memory of
one of Goossens’ most talented students, our beloved
Evelyn Rothwell, is to play a little snatch of her performance of the Vaughan Williams Concerto.
ARTICLES
an extraordinarily gifted, and also very charming
young pupil, Evelyn Rothwell, who began to play solos. Now, Mr Goossens always thought of himself as
the one who played solos. But of course she couldn’t
charge his fee, so he had the feeling that she was undercutting him. All the same, I think they had a great
respect for each other, and I certainly maintained
my respect for Goossens right to the end when I was
making reeds for him.
Before the war, no one in this country made their
own reeds. Today it seems extraordinary, but nobody
needed to because there were dedicated reed makers
who were mostly retired players. Some had retired
from the army and found reed-making a way to earn
money in civilian life. There was one very good reed
maker called Mr Brearley. The instrument dealer
Louis in Chelsea used to stock his reeds. One day Mr
Goossens walked in and demanded their entire stock
of Brearley reeds. He foresaw that, with the war, there
would not be an easy supply of reeds and cane from
France. So he decided that he had better lay in a store,
and that store lasted him until his late seventies. As
he still required reeds for his lecture-recitals, I used
to go along to his house with a few reeds, which I
would then have to scrape even more than I already
had. He would put on a record of himself playing the
Strauss Concerto and play along karaoke style. He
said that it was the only way he could make sure that
his playing didn’t deteriorate.
The influence of Goossens on all of us was enormous. His style was inimitable, but it didn’t stop us
from trying to imitate it. When I listen to my own
records as a student, I hear a clear attempt to copy
all the features that were very personal to Goossens.
They worked for him, but not always for us. Still, we
were so much under his influence that we had to give
it a go. I think that it is due to Goossens that many
English oboists still play the thumbplate system, long
after it died out in the rest of Europe with Gillet’s introduction of the Conservatoire system at the Paris
Conservatoire. I play the Gillet system, but most British oboists, with the exception of Terry MacDonagh
and Michael Dobson (who had both studied in Paris), play the thumbplate system. I think it is perfectly
arguable that it is as good a system as the Conservatoire. It has a less good middle B f, but it has a much
better C because you don’t have a finger on the right
hand spoiling the sound. Nowadays most British
players have both systems on their instruments, and
get the best of both worlds.
On the whole, among all the oboists I will talk
about today, Goossens has had the greatest influence,
53
Fig. 4 Evelyn Rothwell from a recording of Baroque
and Twentienth-century Music with harpsichord
(EMI HQS1298, 1973)
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Concerto for
Oboe, Evelyn Rothwell, London Symphony
Orchestra, John Barbirolli, cond. (HMV
Victor BLP 1078, 1953-55, re-released on
EMI CMS 5 66543 2, 1998).
To be autobiographical for a moment, I went to Rugby
School where I had lessons with the bandmaster, who
didn’t play the oboe himself, but was very helpful in
a number of ways, and then I went up to Oxford University to read History. Perhaps the most musically
educative part of that experience was going twice a
year to the Royal Philharmonic’s concerts at the Shedonian Theatre, where I would listen to their incomparable wind section with Beecham conducting. We
ARTICLES
54
called those wind players “The Royal Family.” They
many people think of as Liszt’s most successful tone
were the most distinguished players in the orchespoem, Orpheus.
tra. Whenever there was a wind solo, Beecham, for
all his personal egotism — and I don’t think anyone
Franz Liszt, Orpheus, Royal Philharmonic
would argue with that! — became the most sensiOrchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, (recorded
tive of accompanists. The wind players loved him so
1958; Capitol, SGBR 7197, 1959, various remuch because he allowed them to spin their magic.
releases, including EMI 64465, 1992).
He would keep the strings down so that they could
play at a natural dynamic and he gave them the time
The other excerpt is from La jolie fille de Perth by Bithey required.
zet, a piece that Beecham loved very much. He had a
It was at that point when I fell in love with anwonderful way with French music. This is an orchesother oboist — not Goossens who had been the star
tration of some pieces from the opera, in which the
of my youth — but Terence MacDonagh the princivocal parts were given to these fabulous wind players
pal in Beecham’s orchestra. MacDonagh is not nearly
of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
so well known as Goossens, but had a
profound influence on British players
of my generation. I had only a few lessons from him, but many oboists who
occupied the principal chairs in the
British orchestras were pupils of his or
were influenced by him. Because I’m
so devoted to his memory, I’d like to
play two short excerpts. If Terry wanted to take some time to make a phrase,
Beecham made room for him. It shows
what a different concept of wind playing there was at that time: the whole
wind section was a collection of soloists, and when they were given solos,
Fig. 5 Terence MacDonagh’s article “Bitter Sweet Oboe”
they would play in the most soloistic
manner possible. That, I think, is the
main difference I have noticed between playing then
Georges Bizet, La jolie fille de Perth Suite,
and now. I’m not one of those old dears who say “Oh,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas
in my day it was better,” I’m just saying that in my
Beecham, (Columbia ML2133, 1950; re-reyounger day (because this is still my day!) there was
leased on Beulah 1-2PD23, 2000).
a different emphasis. Although I did get to play in
that fantastic section of the Royal Philharmonic, I
Why I am an oboist is because of that playing. I would
was a very junior employee, and was never allowed
lean over the balcony of the Sheldonian and drink it
to play when Beecham was conducting. They had to
in. “That’s for me — I don’t know whether I can make
have the first team on then, which included my old
it, but I have to try.” That experience was very imfriend Roger Birnstingl, who is here in the audience.
portant for me, and I think that there were a number
He could tell you more about the atmosphere then,
of players of my generation and a little younger who
but one of our colleagues used the analogy that when
would say precisely the same. I thought, I see another
he was playing second clarinet and had a bar or two
pupil of Terence MacDonagh in the back — Mr Edof solo — his moment of glory — it was like having
win Roxborough — so you see, we still exist!
to catch a piece of priceless china and pass it on to
While at Oxford, I developed an enormous intersomeone else. The responsibility was terrific when
est in all forms of oboe playing, and I became aware of
you are playing among such people. So I would like
two quite separate styles of playing that hadn’t crossed
you to listen with the greatest care to the subtleties
my path before. One was the American school, the
of Mr MacDonagh’s playing. First we’re going to hear
other the Berlin school. Now, when I last gave a simiwhat doesn’t appear in many study books, but, in my
lar lecture, I was talking to people who were mostly
opinion, it is one of the most lovely solos from what
of student age, but here I am talking to people who
55
THE DOUBLE REED
know so much more about my subject, and I feel very
humble to be talking about Marcel Tabuteau in the
presence of Laila Storch. You can’t really talk about
things like this with the person who wrote the book
right there in front of you, but please forgive me: this
is my own personal reaction. I first heard American
oboe playing when I bought a record of Harold Gomberg playing Vivaldi, Telemann and Handel, which
many of you know, and I was very struck.
The Baroque Oboe, Harold Gomberg
(Columbia ML 6232, 1966).
Here is a totally different way of playing from anything I had ever heard before. So I started getting
interested, and of course as soon as you investigate
American oboe playing, before too long you realize
that all roads lead back to Tabuteau. There were many
French oboists in America in his time: in Boston
there was Longy, and then Fernand Gillet, whom I
met in what must have been his very last moments.
He was the nephew of Georges, and had an enormous
influence. Tabuteau suddenly arrived on the scene,
first playing with the New York Symphony Orchestra, and later moving to the Philadelphia Orchestra.
This is extremely important because the principal
oboist of that orchestra also teaches at Curtis, and for
those who are not American, let me explain that Curtis attracts some of the very finest young talents in the
country, so what happens there is enormously influential. Mr Tabuteau developed a scrape that allowed
for beautiful blending with other members of the
wind section. So instead of the rather reedy oboe in
Johannes Brahms, Violin Concerto, Joseph
Szigety, Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormondy
cond.; Marcel Tabuteau (Columbia, ML54015,
1948; re-released on The Oboe on Record
1905-1955 Oboe Classics CC2012, 2005)
Fig. 7 Marcel Tabuteau being vocal
(!), photograph from XX
ARTICLES
Fig. 6 The Baroque Oboe featuring artwork by Harold
Gomberg
the style of Felumb that we heard earlier, one had this
rich sound which made the woodwind section much
more homogeneous. Tabuteau’s pupils became the
great teachers and players of America. I don’t think
you need to be told: there were the two Gombergs,
Ralph in Boston and Harold in New York, there was
Mark Lifschey in Cleveland, there was John Mack
later in the same orchestra, and Robert Bloom of the
Bach Aria Group, and John de Lancie, who in turn
became the director of Curtis, having been the oboe
teacher and of tremendous influence.
What could be more influential than one man
coming from abroad, and changing a whole nation’s
playing? Tabuteau’s reed scrape was certainly nothing that he learnt while a student of Gillet at the Paris
Conservatoire: it was rather something that arose
from his own imagination. What is so interesting to
me, going yearly to America, is seeing how the pupils
of his pupils have gradually adapted his style without
losing its virtues. We now have pupils of say, Allan
Vogel, and Nancy Ambrose King, and all the other
great teachers like Mr Killmer in Rochester who,
while accepting the legacy of Tabuteau, play with a
freedom, and a suppleness that I didn’t hear from
Tabuteau’s immediate students, such as Harold Gomberg. For the non-Americans here who may not have
heard Tabuteau play the solo in the slow movement
of the Brahms Violin Concerto I wanted to play this
version.
56
ARTICLES
If Tabuteau is a wonderful example of how one man
can change a whole country’s style, there was a similar example in Germany. Karl Steins and then Lothar Koch in Berlin developed a great, warm style of
playing that captured the ears of Europe, and of the
world. The influence of these two was immense. Players came from all around the world to study in Germany. My own colleagues wanted to make “The Berlin Philharmonic Sound.” Conductors like George
Solti insisted that their players make “The Berlin
Philharmonic Sound,” and change their whole reed
and style — by next week thank you! [laughter]. Mr
Steins wrote a book on reed making and passed on a
lot of information to Mr Koch who became his coprincipal. I want to play you, not one of those great
orchestral solos, but instead some chamber music.
Although I want to pay homage to that wonderful sound, I have always had one small hesitation:
could it adapt to the subtleties of chamber music as
well as it did to orchestral playing? So here is Lothar
Koch playing the slow movement of the Mozart Oboe
Quartet.
[Lothar Koch made two recordings of the
Mozart Quartet. The first was with Soloists
of the Berlin Philharmonic (recorded 1975,
Deutsche Grammophon 2535 287, 1976, rereleased on Deutsche Grammophon 429 8192, 1990). The second dates from 1995 with
the Brandis Quartet (Nimbus NI5487, 1996,
re-released on Brilliant 92628/1, 2005)].
This is the sound that rocked the world. I am just expressing a personal opinion when I say that I find it a
little inflexible. I was brought up with the subtleties
of Mr Goossens and so for me Koch’s style was more
suited to the orchestra. Rather unkindly, one of my
colleagues in England said “It’s lovely playing, but it’s
like toothpaste coming out of a tube,” by which he
meant that as glorious as the sound is, there is not
much inflection in it.
The next principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Hans-Jorg Schellenberger, adopted and
modified the Berlin sound. It is still utterly beautiful,
but I think more flexible. I recently saw something
written by him that chimed exactly with my view of
oboe playing. He said there is far too much talk of
this “tone” business. And I have also frequently said
this, and I am going to quote myself for a moment.
If you can imagine an enormous Lothar Koch and a
tiny little lady oboist aged seventeen, Mr Koch will
not make the same sound as the tiny little lady oboist
no matter what reed she uses. But she has fallen in
love with his sound, she wants to make it, and nothing will make her scrape her reeds, because she thinks
that it will spoil the sound. Now, if those two were
singers, no one would expect them to make remotely
the same sound, so why should they make the same
sound just because you stick a bit of wood in front of
them and ask them to blow through it? We are singers, and we have two columns of air: this one [fingering an invisible oboe] which is always talked about,
and this one [tapping his chest] which is frequently
forgotten, and it’s only by the blending of those two
that we produce what we call our “sound.” It is absolutely unfair to make comparisons, saying “Oh, I
reject this player because I don’t like the sound.” I’ll
give you another parallel. Do we go to a concert by
Pinchas Zukerman, with his enormous, warm, rich
sound and say “Now that is a great player” but criticize Gidon Kramer, because his sound may not be as
seductive in itself, even though he puts everything
into his music, always creates musical phrases, is always looking for new repertoire, and has wonderfully
imaginative ideas? The fact remains that they are two
great artists equally to be admired. When I talk about
influences, I’m not just thinking about sound, I’m
thinking about style as well. Schellenberger says the
reed that suits you is the reed that is right for you. Of
course there are certain parameters, but essentially
what is right for you is what will allow you to express
yourself and free your imagination, without the distraction of a struggle in the production of sound. After all, we are singers with a misplaced larynx. We
have the same business of vibrating a column of air
as has a great singer. And I am convinced that this is
the right attitude to have with every piece of music
that we play.
After this what amounts to a tornado hit us all.
When I was about 23, my friend Janet Craxton said,
“There’s a very smart young man coming along, I
think we ought to listen out for him.” I don’t need
to tell you who it was, do I? It was Heinz Holliger.
The effect was much like when Roger Bannister ran
the four-minute mile. Until he did it, the four-minute
mile had been completely impossible, but after he had
done it, the benchmark was set. If you wanted to be
considered a serious runner, you had to be able to do
a four-minute mile. Similarly, Heinz liberated people
from the feeling that the oboe was the lame duck of
the woodwinds. We had had clarinets being cats and
flutes being birds, but the oboe was the duck in the
middle of the pond. From this point on composers
realized that there was no restriction on what they
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Fig. 8 Heinz Holliger: Die Neue Domäne für Oboe (Denon OX-7031-ND, 1975)
Another time he showed me a pair of nail scissors, and told me “This is my reed-making equipment.” He explained that he had to save the time for
more important things than making reeds. So once in
a while he bought some ready-scraped hinges of cane
which he tied on, and then cut off the tip with the
nail scissors. That was the principle he followed at the
Conservatoire working with Pierlot which reminds
me of another anecdote. He told me, “I was so busy
with so many things, I had to sight read all my Gillet
studies at my lessons.” Now I would have been busy
with the Gillet studies rather than anything else, but
he was — and still is — a force of nature, and one of
five or six genii that I have met in the course of my
life. What he taught us was that when you have that
sort of control of the oboe, your imagination is completely free, and that is the object that we all should
have. I know that there are many people who say “Oh,
I don’t enjoy Mr Holliger’s sound” but, as I’ve already
said, there is more to oboe playing than sound. His
influence spread all over the world, and with Hans
Elhorst and Thomas Indermuhle, among his many
ex-students who continue teaching in his style, his
influence continues to spread to this day.
Around this time, I became aware of one of the
most generous of spirits. Any oboist or bassoonist
will appreciate this story. When I arrived in Paris for
a concert and went up to the green room in the Salle
Pleyel I found a large box of cane with a notice “Welcome to Paris. I found some good cane at last—here
is some!” We all know what we do when we get some
good cane: we hang onto it like anything. But here
was a man who preferred to give it to a friend… and,
Fig. 9 Maurice Bourgue preparing Schumann
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could write for the oboe, and the oboe could play it
— or be made to play it. For instance, Justin Connolly wrote a top C for the oboe in his Triad for Oboe,
Viola and Cello. The piece was written as a wedding
gift for Richard Killmer, and I was also given this music to play — in fact I recorded it with the Vesuvius
Ensemble in 1972. When I told the composer that
there wasn’t a top C on the oboe, he just said, “Well,
you’ll have to find one won’t you!” So my colleague in
the English Chamber Orchestra, Jimmy Brown, who
is here today in the audience, and I duly found top
Cs. Both of us were very good friends with Heinz and
one night when he was playing the Mozart Concerto
at the Edinburgh Festival with us, he played a top B
in the band room. Then Jimmy and I proudly played
our top Cs and Heinz was very interested in our fingering. “Which one?” we asked, because we each had
worked out our own fingering. I promise this is the
first and only time that we were able to impart such
information to this superman among oboists, but the
point I wanted to make was that Holliger set a new
standard for us oboists, and we were all obliged to
look at ourselves and improve.
I have so many happy recollections of Heinz.
Another was when, just before going on to play the
Strauss Concerto, he was talking with me in the band
room, and when he heard the applause for the string
piece that had gone before, he simply got his oboe out,
stuck the thing together, put a reed on, and walked to
the stage door, all the while continuing our conversation. What I realized was, if you have his sort of technique, it completely eliminates nerves. There’s nothing to be nervous about when you can play everything.
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58
by the way, it was good cane! The man was Maurice
Bourgue. His generosity, of which this example was
typical, spreads to his playing as well. I find him one
of the most generous spirits, particularly to students.
Remember: we do not “make” or “do” a performance,
we “give” a performance, and whenever I hear Maurice, I think he is indeed giving us something very
special. I worship him in a small way, and this recording which I want to play in full, sums up the
man, and the playing. I hope you enjoy it as much as
I do whenever I hear it.
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Robert Schumann, Abendlied, Maurice
Bourgue, Jean-Bernard Pommier pf,
Schumann Recital (Musikè, 2000)
That’s how to play the oboe, isn’t it? Even bottom Dflat sounds like a beautiful note, and it lies in wait for
you right at the end of the piece. Maurice Bourgue’s
influence is again enormous. Many of the players
reaching their forties whom I admire today have been
influenced by him, and I am thinking particularly of
Jonathan Kelly, who learnt with Celia Niklin and
Maurice Bourgue, and who now occupies the principal position in the Berlin Philharmonic, which is in
itself an enormously influential position. People look
to those players for a lead. Here is Jonathan’s recording of the Mozart Quartet slow movement.
automatic rifles were set up on the borders to keep
the Czech people from leaving, Jiří Tancibudek, the
principal oboe of the Czech Philharmonic, managed
to escape and, with a wife under one arm an oboe
under the other, found his way to Australia. He began playing in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra,
and finally in the Adelaide Wind Quintet. Australians had normally come to Britain to have lessons
and then go back, but suddenly an Australian school
arose, indebted so much to Tancibudek’s teaching
and kindness. He was a really lovely man. I served on
juries with him and became a good friend, and it was
very sad to learn that he had passed away.
[Tancibudek invited Martinů to composer a
concerto for him, which he premiered with
the Sydney Symphony. Archival searches
have failed to turn up any audio traces of the
premiere, but Tancibudek later recorded the
work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů, Concerto (SARAC,
ACR 1002, 1980, re-released on ABC Classics, 461 703-2, 2001)].
Mozart, Oboe Quartet, slow movement,
Jonathan Kelly and Brindisi Quartet (EMI
Classics: Debut CDZ5697022, 1996).
By refining the sound of the previous generation
of great French players, Maurice and his colleagues
and students have made their school of playing acceptable to the Germans. François Leleux had the
position in the Bayerischer Rundfunk – Goodness
me! A Frenchman in the Bayerischer Rundfunk? You
can look around Europe – for instance in the Concertgebouw – and you can find players everywhere
who have been with Maurice.
I mentioned how far-flung some influences have
been. For instance, both Indermuhle and Maurice
Bourgue have had a part in the education of the Australian oboist Diana Doherty.
Agrell, Blues for DD, Diana Doherty with David Korevaar, piano (ABC 465 782-2, 2000).
In Australia there is another example of one man
founding a wonderful school of playing. Just before
Fig. 10 Jiří Tancibudek, from the cover of
LP release of his recording of the Martinů
Concerto
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59
by Mozart with the great Hans Kamesch, the godfather of Viennese players, and Manfred Kautzky, with
Hans Hadamowsky on cor anglais.
Beethoven, Mozart’s Variations on La ci darem with Hans Kamesch, Manfred Kautzky
and Hans Hadamowsky (Westminster,
MVCW-19006, 1954; re-released on The Oboe
on Record, Oboe Classics, CC2012, 2005).
Fig. 11 Hans Kamesch in Saltzburg, 1948,
photo courtesy Laila Storch.
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Now, I’m going to talk a little bit about national
styles and give you what, in my opinion, are some of
the reasons for one of the most interesting developments in the course of the oboe’s history: the tremendous convergence of styles and sound. Over the last
fifty years we have seen practically the end of national styles, and the arrival of what is unkindly called
“Eurosound.”
Of the traditions that have almost vanished, the
Dutch and the Viennese are the most endangered. At
the age of about sixteen, I heard Haakon Stotijn and
I became aware of the influence of Jaap and Haakon
Stotijn in Holland. Now that school is in danger of
dying out. And in Vienna, they play their own oboe
of course, and even if Mahler believed “Tradition ist
Schlamperei” [in colloquial Viennese ‘tradition is
slovenliness’], they have kept to their tradition and
still play the Viennese oboe in the Vienna Philharmonic. This is very difficult for the young students
because there are no real prospects of work beyond
the borders of Austria (or even Vienna). They have
to look at the orchestras and see who is about to die,
and that’s about their only hope. Consequently, in
Vienna the French instrument is now being taught
as well as the Viennese oboe. I’m going to play you a
record I heard as quite a young man, and I was fascinated by the different sound of the Viennese oboe.
It’s Beethoven’s Variations on the theme La ci darem
Even in Vienna there is a slight change of style, and
Martin Gabriel the principal of the Vienna Philharmonic, has a more “European” sound. He still plays
what is charmingly called the “Vienna oboe,” but
the new instruments are made in Japan by Yamaha.
When the Zuleger firm was no longer making oboes,
the Japanese saw a niche market, and their Viennese
oboes are said to be better in tune. Many Viennese
players use them. They may have a Zuleger as well,
but I think the Yamaha model is widely played now.
But these examples of localization of style are virtually things of the past. Now players learn from each
other across national boundaries. They can come
and go with incredible freedom, and they leave their
influences in their wake. The Paris Conservatoire is
still sending brilliant young players everywhere. For
instance, a player no older than about nineteen has
just won the principal oboe position in the Stuttgart
Radio Orchestra. That would have been unthinkable
in former days. It’s an astounding development to
someone like me, who has lived through the period
of Koch and Steins. A Swiss player, Emmanuel Abbuhl, has come to the London Symphony Orchestra.
In the Concertgebouw, the home of the fine Dutch
tradition, we now have Spanish and Russian principal oboe players. So when it comes to oboe playing,
Europe is now a single nation, there are no borders,
and no limit to where one can go. At first sight this
might seem very encouraging for the young, but on
the other hand, I have to say, that of the last eight
jobs of principal oboe that have been advertised in
England, six have gone to players from overseas. One
hopes that young British players will have the same
opportunities that we give others who audition here,
because it is a little discouraging when you teach really brilliant people who then can’t find an opening
in their own country.
To me it’s quite extraordinary how everything
has come together. There are several factors contributing to the fact that we are all embracing one European style. First of all, these days it is much more
common to study abroad. Formerly that was the ex-
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60
ception: on the whole you didn’t travel to study. Then
there are the instrument makers who are all watching each other’s work. As soon as one puts out an improvement, the others are after it, and this leads to a
universal adoption of new ideas and technologies in
instrument production. Then the raising of the Iron
Curtain has allowed people from Eastern Europe to
get fine instruments. Many of them were struggling
with out-of-date instruments, and that has now become so much easier, and the reeds too, of course. I
think the Caucasus produced some cane, but there
was a general feeling that the East was cut off from
what was really going on. Another factor is the existence of on-line databases of job listings where you
can find openings in all countries. Then there are
the European youth orchestras, where people from
all countries are flung together and swap influences.
Here’s another reason: gouging and profiling machines will give you reeds of Mr Schellenberger’s or
Mr Koch’s specifications. Wow, what a privilege for
a young player to have that as a starting point! And
then there’s the tremendous influence of the IDRS
in getting us all together. It’s particulary wonderful
to see so many young players in the program here. I
think it’s absolutely fascinating for them to be in contact with the finest international players. Then there
are the competitions all over Europe that bring people together and finally, but not least, the availability
of CDs. When I think about my eight little Goossens
records — the Romances of Schumann, Handel Concerto Grosso, the Mozart Quartet, etc. — it was such
a small choice I had, but now you can hear the world
on a single CD.
[For instance, Masters of the Oboe released
by Deutsche Grammophone (B0006610-02,
2006) includes tracks by the Swiss Holliger,
Americans John Mack, Ray Still and Ralph
Gomberg, representatives of the Berlin
school Lothar Koch, Hans-Jorg Schellenberger, and British players Celia Niklin and
Neil Black. Brilliant Records anthology of
Romantic Oboe Concertos (99525, c.2002)
includes performances by the Dutch players
Bart Schneemann, Daniëlle Kreeft and Rob
Visser, the Brits Robin Miller and Robin
Williams, the Frenchman André Lardrot,
Italian Francesco Quaranta, Burkhardt
Glaetzner from Germany, and the Hungarian Lajos Lencsés.]
And the process of influence has not stopped.
Oboists we hear as young players at this Festival will
go on to influence future generations, so I’m immensely optimistic that there will be other masters
who will carry on where we leave off. But we must be
aware that we are part of this enormous tradition, and
we must never forget the part played by those whom
Jimmy Brown refers to as Our Oboist Ancestors.
[Mr Black is referring to James Brown’s recent book, Our Oboist Ancestors: A Guide
to Who was Who in the Nineteenth-century
Oboe World, with Biographies of more than
1650 Oboe players, together with Information
about their Teachers, their Orchestral positions and their Solo Repertoire, Malmsbury,
Wilts: the author, 2006.]
POST–LECTURE DISCUSSION
Geoffrey Burgess (GB): I wonder why you chose to
start with the recording by Felumb.
Neil Black (NB): Well, I wanted to start somewhere.
I don’t think the recording was widely distributed.
I certainly didn’t know it. You see, with the war on,
things just didn’t get through.
GB: You made little mention of one of the major
French oboists of the middle twentieth century:
Pierre Pierlot. Was that for reasons of time, or was it
because you did not have as much contact with him?
NB: I actually played on the recording of the Mozart
Oboe Concerto with Pierlot, and served on a jury in
Prague with him, but otherwise I didn’t have a lot
to do with him, although I do admire his playing of
course.
GB: He created quite a sensation when he first
started playing, didn’t he?
NB: His playing derived from all those Morels, and
Lamorlettes, and other wonderful players in the
1930s. Their studies alone show you what they could
do, and when we talk about Heinz being a complete
tornado, if you listen to Pasculli you realize that the
same level of virtuosity was already going on a century before.
GB: I’m only sorry that you left out anything of yourself. I know that people would have loved to hear your
61
THE DOUBLE REED
so I came over anyway.” He was
so selfless like that, and I’ve never
forgotten it.
Fig. 12 Neil Black recording the Bach Double Concerto
with Itzhak Perlman, c.1975.
recording of the Strauss Concerto. When I was preparing my book, I made the effort to listen to every
recording of the work. People would ask me which
was my favourite, and my answer was yours. For me
it’s a beautiful synthesis of styles and influences…
GB: Jimmy Brown told me a little about the
sessions…
NB: (He was playing the cor anglais.)
GB: and how Jackie du Pré was in the studio. Do
you remember?
NB: Of course. We were all playing as a performance
for her sitting alone in her wheelchair in EMI Studio 1. We almost forgot that we were recording the
piece in our anxiety to give her some enjoyment in
listening (her M.S. was well advanced by this time);
so it was done in movement-long takes, with just
two patches, which anyway is the way Daniel likes to
make records. We gave concerts that had more or less
exactly the same feeling. Two days later, in the morning, Daniel came alone to the studio, horribly cut and
bruised after being involved in a road accident with
Jackie also in the car. They had been at the hospital
all night and I said to Daniel, “You look dreadful! You
ought to be in bed.” But he replied, “I knew how disappointed you’d be if we didn’t finish the Concerto,
GB: Was the Woodcock your first solo recording?
NB: My first solo effort may have been the Woodcock, but the Mozart Concerto was the first one with
a big time company. I was greatly helped, as in so
many cases, by being surrounded by my friends. One
of the last major recordings, as far as I can recall, was
the Vivaldi Double Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin
in 1990. Of course, I was already busy recording orchestrally from my early London Philharmonic Orchestra days in 1958, through the 60s when I played
cor anglais with the Philharmonia under Klemperer,
to the bumper years with the Academy of St Martinin-the-Fields in the early 1970s and then the English
Chamber Orchestra from the mid 70s up to 1998. All
of that comes to a nice neat 40 years!
[I’m sure many an oboist has wondered who
was playing those luscious oboe solos on
countless recordings from the Academy of St
Martin-in-the-Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra, so for the record, let me blow
Neil Black’s trumpet for him for a moment,
and plot out the highlights of his recording
career. In addition to the Woodcock and
Strauss Concertos, there are Mozart concerted and chamber works, three versions of
Bach’s Double Concerto with violin … how
many Brandenburg sets?…and so the list
goes on… as does the list of stars with whom
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NB: …with a genius conducting. Every time I would
stop playing, I’d hear the ECO with Barenboim and
that was so uplifting. I’ve played the concerto many,
many times but the record and the shows with Daniel
were so special.
[In subsequent chats, I
discovered this way of
deflecting praise onto his
colleagues, or attributing originality to someone else was very typical
of Neil Black’s modest
demeanor. Still, despite
what he said, Neil Black
certainly did blow his own
trumpet throughout his
prolific career. I first heard
him play on the 1976 album The Baroque Concerto in England, then
freshly released, and the Oboe Concerto by
Woodcock was as new to me as the name Neil
Black.]
62
he played: Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Yehudi
Menuhin, Pinchas Zukerman, Jack Brymer,
Wynton Marsalis… and still, this chronological list mentions only recordings with
substantial oboe solos. Neil Black’s orchestral recordings would add substantially to
its length. Readers can track many of Neil’s
recordings re-released on CD, or available for
download. The titles of some of compilations
give a sense of how popular his performances
have been over the years: More Mozart for
Your Mind: Raise your IQ with Wolfgang
Amadeus… Most Relaxing Vivaldi Album in
the World…Ever!… Goin’ for Baroque… Masters of the Oboe.]
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NEIL BLACK: DISCOGRAPHY OF WORKS WITH PARTS FOR SOLO OBOE
J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerti
Philomusica of London, Thurston Dart cond.
L’Oiseau Lyre, SOL 60005-6, 1959
J.S. Bach, “Qui sedes” from B-minor Mass
Overdubbed with Kathleen Ferrier, London Philharmonic, Adrien Boult cond.
Original Ferrier recording 1952; orchestral dub 1960; re-released on Decca 475 6411, 2004
Manuel de Falla, Concerto for Harpsichord, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Violin and Cello
Rafael Puyana hps, Charles Mackerras cond.
Philips 1964, re-issued on Philips 432 829, 1991
J.S. Bach, Art of the Fugue, arr. L. Isaacs
Philomusica of London, George Malcom cond.
Argo, 1965
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner cond.
Recorded 1971, Philips 6700 045, 65 186-6500, 1972
W.A. Mozart, Sinfonia Concertante K.297b
Jack Brymer cl, Alan Civil hrn, Michael Chapman bn, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields,
Neville Marriner cond.
Philips 6500 380, 1972; re-released on More Mozart for Your Mind: Raise your IQ with Wolfgang Amadeus,
Philips 456597, 1997; Mozart for Everybody, Deutsche Grammophon 000259102, 2004
Justin Connolly, Triad III for Oboe, Viola and Cello
Vesuvius Ensemble
Argo ZRG 747, 1972; re-released on Lyrita SRCD305, 2008
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Ten Blake Songs
Robert Tear ten.
Argo, ZRG 732, 1972
Barry Tuckwell hrn, David Munrow rec, Thurston Dart hps, et. al., Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields,
Philips 6700 045, 6500 186-187, 1973
W.A. Mozart, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra K314
Philips 1973; re-released on Philips 4164832, 1986; Eloquence 4681162, 2000
J.S. Bach, Concerto for Oboe d’amore BWV 1055, Triple Concerto BWV 1063, arr. for Flute, Oboe and Violin,
Oboe Concerto in F major (from Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1053, ed. C. Hogwood
Recorded 1973-4, released on Argo, ZRG 820 & 821, 1976; F-major concerto re-released on Decca 440037,
1993; d’amore concerto and triple concerto on Boston Skyline 1995; Siciliana from F major Concerto on
Aromatherapy 02: The Romantic Bach Eloquence 4666992, 2001, and Ultimate Classical Relaxation, Decca
001079002, 2008
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63
ARTICLES
W.A. Mozart, Concertone K190
Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zukerman vlns, English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim cond.
Columbia, 1973; re-released on Sony 66475, 1995
English Chamber Orchestra, Raymond Leppard cond.
Philips, 1974, re-released on Philips 420 346-2
Antonio Vivaldi, Oboe Concerto in d minor op.8/9
English Chamber Orchestra, Pinchas Zukerman cond.
Columbia M32840, 1974; re-released on For a Girls’ Night In, Decca, 028947610427
J.S. Bach, Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin in d minor BWV 1060
Itzhak Perlman vln, English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim cond.
Angel, 1975; 1st movement available on EMI 67728, 2002
W.A. Mozart, Serenades K375, K388
New London Wind Ensemble
Classics for Pleasure, 1975
Antonio Vivaldi, Oboe Concerto in F RV 456; Concerto for Two Oboes RV535; Concerti for 2 oboes, Bassoon, 2
Horns, Violin RV 574 & 569
Celia Nicklin ob, Martin Gatt bn, Iona Brown vn, Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields,
recorded 1975, re-released on London/Decca, 443476, 1994; Vivaldi Wind Concertos Decca 452943, 1998;
London/Decca 448110, 1997; Decca 000662702, 2006; excerpts on: Vivaldi Adagios, Decca 460950, 1999;
Baroque Adagios, Decca 470460, 2002; Vivaldi Adagios, Decca 001212502, 2008; Vivaldi Wind Concertos,
Decca 452943, 1998
Robert Woodcock, Oboe Concerto; Anon. Concerto Gross for 2 Oboes and Strings
James Brown ob, Thames Chamber Orchestra, Michael Dobson cond.
The Baroque Concerto in England, CRD 1031, 1976; re-issued on Musical Heritage Society, 1981;
CRD 3331, 2009
Richard Strauss, Concerto for Oboe and Chamber Orchestra
English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim cond.
Recorded 1976, Columbia M35160, 1979; re-released on Sony 62652, 1996
Ralph Vaughan Williams, Oboe Concerto
English Chamber Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim cond.
Deutsche Grammophon, 2530 906, 1977; re-released on DG 419748, 1993
J.S. Bach, Ich steh’ mit einem Fuss im Grabe, BWV 156: Sinfonia/Arioso
recorded 1980; re-released on CBS Great Performances 38482, 1990
Franz Joseph Haydn, Sinfonia Concertante
Salvatore Accardo vln, Heinrich Schiff vc, Graham Sheen bn, English Chamber Orchestra, Accardo cond.
Philips 67 69059, 1981
G.F. Handel, Complete Wind Sonatas
George Malcolm hps, Graham Sheen bn
Philips, 1982; re-released on Handel: Complete Chamber Music, Philips 470893, 2003
Joseph Cantaloube, Chants d’Auvergne
Dame Kiri te Kanawa sop, English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate cond.
Decca, 1982/3; re-released on Decca 4756145, 2004
Anton Dvorak, Serenade, op.44
English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble
Angel AE 34448, 1983
G.F. Handel, Trio Sonatas
Celia Niklin ob, Graham Sheen bn, George Malcolm hps
Philips, 1983; re-released on Handel: Complete Chamber Music, Philips 470893, 2003
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64
W.A. Mozart, Quintet for Piano and Winds K452
Murray Perahia pf, Thea King cl, Tony Halstead hrn, Graham Sheen bn
CBS, 1983, re-released on Sony Classical SK42099 & 074644209921, 1986, 1992
Ludwig van Beethoven, Quintet for Piano and Winds op.16
Murray Perahia pf, Thea King cl, Tony Halstead hrn, Graham Sheen bn
CBS, 1984, re-released on Sony Classical SK42099 1990; Murray Perahia 25th Anniversay Edition,
Sony 63380, 1997
Classic Champagne: Salon Music for Wind Instruments by Mozart, Schubert, Böhm, Triebensee, Reinecke,
Debussy and Mendelssohn
English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble
EMI CD-DFP4555, 1984
Geoffrey Bush, Wind Chamber Music
William Bennett fl, Sheen bn, Thea King cl, Robin O’Neill bn, Frank Lloyd hrn
Chandos 8819, 1985
English Chamber Orchestra, Philip Ledger cond.
IMP PCD845, 1986
G.P. Telemann, Concerto in D for Trumpet, 2 Oboes and Strings
Crispian Steel-Perkins tr, James Brown ob, English Chamber Orchestra, Anthony Halstead cond.
Trumpet Spectacular, MCA Classics, 1986
W.A. Mozart, Quintet for Piano and Winds, K452
Mitsuko Uchida pf, Thea King cl, Frank Lloyd hrn, Robin O’Neill bn
Philips 422 592-2, 1986
Antonio Albinoni, Double Concerti in C and G, op.7/2, 8 and op.9/6 arr. for Panpipes, Oboe and Orchestra
Gheorghe Zamfir panpipes, English Chamber Orchestra, James Judd cond.
Philips 420 938-4, 1987
J.S. Bach, Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin BWV 1060
Dmitry Sitkovetsky vl, English Chamber Orchestra, Jose-Luis García cond.
Novalis 150017, 1987; re-released on Sony, 1997
Joseph Canteloube, Trois Bourées
Thea King cl, English Chamber Orchestra, Yan Pascal Tortelier cond.
Recorded 1987; Virgin Classics, VC 7 90714-2, 1988, & Virgin 61120, 1997
J.S. Bach, Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin BWV 1060
Frank Peter Zimmermann vl, English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffry Tate cond.
EMI CDC 7 49862 2, 1989
Ottorino Respighi, Concerto a cinque for Oboe, Trumpet, Violin, Double Bass, Piano and Strings
Graham Ashton tr, Ingolf Turban vl, William Stephen CB, Ian Watson pf, English Chamber Orchestra,
Marcello Viotti cond.
Claves CD 50-9017, 1990
Arthur Honegger, Concerto da camera for Flute and Cor Anglais; F.J. Haydn Lira Concerto for Flute and Oboe
William Bennett fl, English Chamber Orchestra
Recorded 1991-5; Beep Records BP-31, 1999
Alessandro Marcello, Oboe Concerto; Handel, Arrival of the Queen of Sheba
Goin’ for Baroque, Sony A22183, DIDP 073302, 1991; 2nd movement of Marcello on Pachelbel’s Canon,
CBS 38482, 1990; Dinner Classics, CBS 46359, 1991, Baroque: Greatest Hits, Sony 66706, 1995
W.A. Mozart, Quartet for Oboe and Strings K370
Iona Brown vl, Stephen Shingles va, Denis Vigay vc
Philips 422 833-2, 1979; re-released on Philips Musica da Camera 422883, 1989; & Masters of the Oboe,
Deutsche Grammophon B0006610-02, 2006
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Heitor Villa-Lobos, Wind Quintet and Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
William Bennett fl, Janice Knight cor anglais, Thea King cl, Robin O’Neill bn
Hyperion CDA66295, 1987
Johann Ludwig Krebs, Chorales and Fantasias for Oboe and Organ
Peter Hurford organ
Argo 430 208-2, 1989; re-release Decca 430208, 1991
Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto for Oboe and Violin in Bb, RV548
Yehudi Menuhin vl, Polish Chamber Orchestra
recorded, 1990, EMI Classics 85544, 2004; re-released on Most Relaxing Vivaldi Album in the World…
Ever! EMI 53354, 2006
Antonio Albinoni, Oboe Concerto in d minor, op.9/2, Vivaldi Concerto Grosso in a minor
Jose-Luis García vl, English Chamber Orchestra, Ian Watson cond.
Virgin 59656, 1991, re-released Virgin 91378, 2007
Ibert, Milhaud, Tomasi, Villa-Lobos, Wind Trios
London Wind Trio: Keith Puddy cl, Roger Birnstingl bn
IMP, 1991; re-released 20th-Century miniatures, Somm 13, 2000
W.A. Mozart, Quintet for Piano and Winds in Bb (fragment) K Anh 54 (452a)
Mitsuko Uchida pf, Robin O’Neill bn, Thea King cl, Julian Farrell basset hrn
Philips 422545, 1992
J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto no. 2
Wynton Marsalis tr, William Bennett fl, Lin Cho-Liang vln
English Chamber Orchestra, Anthony Newman cond.
recorded 1995, In Gabriel’s Garden, Sony 66244, 1996; The Wynton Marsalis Collection, Sony 77137, 2006
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RUSSIAN MUSIC FOR BASSOON AND LARGE ENSEMBLE AFTER WWII (CONT.)
Russian Music for Bassoon and Large Ensemble after WWII (cont.)
Tama I. Kott, Martin, Tennessee
Olga Haldey, College Park, Maryland
1970s
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he 1970s are one of the most interesting decades in the history of Soviet music. It is the end of an era: the
patriarch of Russian composers, Dmitri Shostakovich, died in 1975. It is also the beginning of an era:
the death of Shostakovich brought into focus a generational shift; a power realignment that was taking
place in the musical community, and the ideological and stylistic battles that accompanied it. The older composers, particularly those of the more conservative bend, became institutionalized, occupying teaching positions
at the Moscow and Leningrad conservatories, and leadership posts at the Union of Composers and its local
branches. Meanwhile, the “unofficial” avant-garde of Edison Denisov, Alfred Schnittke, and Sofia Gubaidulina,
who started attracting notice in the late 1960s, came into its own, despite criticism and the obstacles to performance and publication. However, the picture is far more complex than the conveniently black-and-white “aging
establishment versus youth rebellion” split that it may sometimes seem, as a whole new generation of interesting
and talented composers, some of a more radical persuasion, others of a more traditional one, burst onto the
scene during this time.
Among composers who came of age professionally in the early 1970s, Kirill Volkov (b. 1943) is one of the
most prominent. A graduate of Khachaturian’s class at the Moscow Conservatory, he finished his degree in
1969, and has since taught composition at the rival Gnessins Institute next door. Volkov’s compositional style
has been strongly impacted by his fascination with Russian and Lithuanian peasant folklore, and Orthodox
spirituality,1 his pieces featuring his own transcriptions of folk songs and medieval chants. Given his particular
interests, choral genres predominate in Volkov’s output; and many of his instrumental works are scored specifically for folk instruments and ensembles.2 There are, however, a number of pieces written for more conventional
forces, including a Concerto for Orchestra (1975), and his 1971 Andrei Rublev, a prominent composition for orchestra and wind quintet, to be discussed below. On a more modest scale is Volkov’s 1974 Concertino for Bassoon
and Piano, published four years later in the first of Sovetskii Kompozitor’s bassoon-piano collections mentioned
in our earlier article.3 This is not the only bassoon-piano score we have come across in preparing our concerto
survey, but it is the only piece that was evidently conceived with the piano in mind, rather than representing
a piano reduction of an orchestral score. The reason we have decided to introduce the piece here, rather than
classify it as an example of chamber music, is that the composer treats the work as a chamber concerto of sorts,
as evident from the lively interaction between the instruments (especially in the finale), and particularly by the
presence of a brief, partially accompanied bassoon cadenza. The three movements of this relatively short, highly
dissonant, atonal composition follow without a break. All are essentially through-composed, and are held together by a significant amount of rhythmic cohesiveness, with persistent ostinati haunting both the solo part
and the accompaniment. The piece’s main interest is in its slow movement. Marked Tempo sostenuto, it is dominated by a narrow-range chromatic Bartokian melody introduced by the bassoon. Picked up by the piano, it is
then developed by the two instruments together, with much attention given to the syncopated, unpredictable,
start-and-stop rhythmic patterns. The fast and busy finale also features a complex rhythmic interplay between
the instruments, with frequent meter changes and sudden shifts of rhythmic pulse.
The slightly younger composer and conductor Nikolai Korndorf (1947-2001) shared Volkov’s interest in
Russia’s musical heritage, and both were heavily involved with the “New Folklore Wave.” A talented Muscovite
turned Canadian, whose untimely death at age 54 shocked all who knew him, Korndorf had also established a
reputation over the years as an enthusiastic promoter of contemporary music and a mentor to young composers.
One might therefore expect his works of the 1970s to display the radical, confrontational musical language of
the Soviet avant-garde. However, Korndorf’s Concerto-Pastorale for Bassoon and Orchestra published in 1977
is stylistically a harbinger of his works from the 1980s: Yarilo for piano and tape (1980), the 1985 brass quintet,
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Example 4. Nikolai Korndorf, Concerto-Pastorale for Bassoon and Orchestra
(excerpt: end of opening cadenza and entry of orchestra)
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and other chamber works of the decade. These pieces are informed by Korndorf’s philosophy of pantheism; his
respect for the beauty of nature as a cure for society’s ills. They combine non-functional tonality, influences from
Russian folklore, early music, and minimalist repetition.4
The single-movement Concerto-Pastorale proceeds unhurriedly. As its ideas shift nonchalantly from key to
key, eschewing the need to establish a stable tonic, they are developed via motivic repetition and variation, a
method both typical of Korndorf’s style and appropriate for the pastoral atmosphere of the piece. The pastoral
trope is also evoked by the frequent use of monophony (for instance, the concerto opens with a bassoon solo, followed by the entrance of the orchestra in unison; see Example 4), and textural transparency. Indeed, more often
than not, multiple polyphonic lines seem to exist in a relative independence, moving casually in and out of sync;
this technique lends Korndorf’s score a sense of airiness and space. The bassoon here is a familiar protagonist – a
“shepherd’s horn.” As such, it is often kept in the low and middle registers; careful and skillful instrumentation,
however, ensures that it is never drowned by the orchestra.5
The structure of the concerto is based on several contrasting sections, shaped as a series of “waves,” subsumed by the overall palindromic design. One of its most important musical ideas is the opening bassoon cadenza – a quiet monologue in free meter, with the lyrical arch-shaped phrases and haunting melodic gestures,
often based on a rising triad. Tonality is invoked, but the composer is not beholden to a key; he does, however,
gravitate toward the flat sphere. The cadenza material plays a continually vital role throughout the composition,
both structural and semantic. Thus, its truncated reprise (a semitone up and accompanied) occurs in the first
main section of the concerto, the Allegretto. Another variant, a third down and again accompanied, appears in
the middle of the piece, its presence inaugurating an important new episode. Toward the end of the work, the
cadenza returns yet again, at pitch and unchanged. Its opening phrase then acquires a life of its own: separated
from the rest of the melody, it is repeated again and again, ever more softly, until the last sounds finally dissolve
into silence. Between the returns of the cadenza, Korndorf introduces a series of distinct new musical ideas,
which are then repeated endlessly; inventively varied as they travel through both solo and orchestral parts.
Throughout their exploratory development, the new motives may be accompanied, complemented, or ignored
by numerous countermelodies, and in the process, the essence of this material is revealed, with the listener continuously discovering often surprising affinities among the seemingly unrelated musical thoughts. For example,
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a descending scalar motive that constitutes the thematic core of the opening Allegretto gradually loses its independence and becomes an accompanimental gesture, first utilized in the cadenza reprise; it is later transformed
yet again into an important new theme, marked “espressivo.” Introduced by the orchestra, the theme is then
transferred to the bassoon part for further development, culminating in the next reprise of the bassoon cadenza.
The “espressivo” would also return in the final section of the concerto, just prior to the final appearance of the
cadenza material, thus completing the palindromic double-arch structure of the Pastorale.
The central section of the concerto that follows the first appearance of the “espressivo” is informed by Korndorf’s fascination with Russian folk music. It is a veritable “folk festival” – a collage of contrasting, complementing and colliding musical motives, all derived from a variety of traditional repertories. One can detect the
intonations of the North-Russian wedding songs, whose melodies are built on variations of the minor tri-chord
(minor third-tone, or 0, 3, 5); the spring songs of the Russian South-West, with their distinct tritone base; the
Central Russian lyrical songs, known for their expansive, drawn-out melismatic phrases, often ending in a falling fourth or fifth; and the folk dances of the region, with their traditional duple meter and characteristic stomping rhythms. None of the melodic ideas Korndorf presents appear to be direct borrowings, but all are typical
and recognizable – not only by a professional ethnomusicologist, but also by a lover of Stravinsky and RimskyKorsakov, who both drank from the same well of inspiration that nurtured the Concerto-Pastorale. The treatment of the folk-derived material is commendably sensitive to its traditional models. Motivic cells are subjected
to an endless array of subtle rhythmic and melodic variations. The rhythms tend to turn ostinato wherever possible, while the meter is in flux, with the accents shifting constantly. Yet the temporal instability of the music’s
surface is guided by a steady uninterrupted background pulse, a feature of the composition that makes it both
intensely fascinating and eminently playable. The “folk festival” is followed by the most technically challenging
episode of the concerto, with the passage work in continuous 8ths notes and triplets. This seemingly new material is gradually revealed to be related to and a further development of the folk-inspired motives of the previous
section. This revelation brings back the “espressivo” theme, and the final return of the bassoon cadenza, as we
watch Korndorf’s pastoral vision gently fade away.
The pastoral trope also makes a brief appearance in the 1975 Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings by Sofia
Gubaidulina (b. 1931), perhaps the best known and the most widely performed contemporary Russian bassoon
concerto written by one of that country’s most talented and representative composers. The honor of providing an inspiration for the piece goes, yet again, to the indefatigable Moscow bassoon virtuoso and avant-garde
enthusiast Valery Popov, whose contribution we have addressed a number of times in our earlier work.6 In the
mid-1970s, Popov embarked on his first round of commissions from contemporary Russian composers in hopes
of expanding the modern bassoon repertoire. He set his sights on the controversial 33-year old Gubaidulina
after hearing the Russian premiere of her experimental chamber work Concordanza in early 1974. She, in turn,
became fascinated – “bewitched,” in her own words – with Popov’s musicianship and his mastery of the bassoon.7 She attended his concerts and two studio lessons,8 studying his manner of sound production, performing
mannerisms, and even posture. It has been Gubaidulina’s practice, while writing an instrumental work for a
specific virtuoso, to fuse the image of the performer with that of the instrument – in this case, the concerto’s
protagonist, the bassoon.9 Indeed, her identification of the concerto with its dedicatee became evidently so
complete that for many years the composer found it difficult to encourage performances of the work by other
Russian bassoonists.10
Such “hero worship” is reflected in the narrative structure of Gubaidulina’s concerto; she views the piece
as a representation of a conflict between an artist and the society that scorns him. In an interview with Vera
Lukomsky, the composer described Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings as a “very theatrical” work, in which
“the bassoon represents a lyric hero; the low strings personify the ‘low’ and aggressive crowd, which destroys
the hero. Their pizzicato and col legno sound like ‘pinching’ and ‘beating’.”11 It is questionable whether Valery
Popov, a conservatory professor and the principal bassoonist of the State Symphony Orchestra at the time he
had met Gubaidulina – that is, a Soviet success story if ever there was one – could credibly be cast by her in a
role of an alienated outsider. The composer, however, undoubtedly could have seen herself as such in the 1970s.
Her work was frequently ignored or criticized by influential members of the Composer’s Union; performances
of new works were known to be cancelled or sabotaged; and publication was difficult at best. Yet, performances
did occur; publications did happen; some of Gubaidulina’s elders even came to her defense, making her relationship with the establishment anything but black and white. This ambiguity is also reflected in the concerto’s
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dramaturgy: in the composer’s own words, “the interactions between the soloist and the surrounding instruments are complex and contradictory, as in a dramatic scene full of action. The concerto includes moments of
reconciliation and hostility, tragedy, and loneliness.”12
Indeed, Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings is a very dark work that relies for its effect on the low timbres
of the ensemble: a bassoon soloist, four celli, and three double basses. Neither the score nor its performance
practice thus far suggests the expectation of part doubling; the piece therefore may be viewed as a chamber
work – an octet. However, performers who played and recorded the work, scholars who have analyzed it over the
course of years, and most importantly, the composer herself – as the interview excerpts quoted above make clear
– all thought of the work as a concerto; a genre based on confrontation between a soloist and a larger instrumental group. This view of the composition has been confirmed by our own analysis; as distinct, for instance, from
another “ensemble concerto” of the period, Yuri Falik’s 1972 Concerto for Winds and Percussion, in which no
instrument within the group is privileged (although all have soloistic material to play), and which will therefore
be treated in our forthcoming article on Russian bassoon chamber music.
When Valery Popov commissioned Gubaidulina to write a bassoon concerto, he relied on her reputation
as a stylistic radical, who would deliver a modern composition that utilized the most advanced extended techniques available for the instrument. He was not disappointed, as both the soloist and the strings have plenty of
technical fireworks built into their parts. The bassoon plays multiphonic passages and imitates the timbre of a
saxophone; the strings perform microtones and close-string harmonics; use non-traditional bowings, pizzicato,
and col legno. Aleatoric techniques abound: the composer had been fascinated with the concept of performer
improvisation for some time, and around the time of the concerto’s premiere became a member of Astrea, an
improvisation group led by her friends and colleagues Vyacheslav Artyomov and Victor Suslin (b. 1942), in
order to experiment further.13 Yet, what makes Concerto for Bassoon and Low Strings more than a collection
of virtuoso etudes is the narrative that guides its structure and style. The concerto’s narrative thread quickly
becomes evident even to a listener unfamiliar with Gubaidulina’s comments about the theatrical nature of her
piece. In it, the highly chromatic atonality, with the preferred melodic motion by minor 2nds, is placed in a
striking contrast with the deliberately simple, diatonic, even tonal material; aggressive modernism with swinging jazz tunes. The five movements of the concerto are tightly interconnected by thematic recall, and throughout
it, distinct recognizable “personalities” are continuously adopted by both the soloist and the ensemble.
The first movement, the longest and most complex of the concerto, opens with an unaccompanied bassoon
solo; the strings then enter quietly (pianissimo sul tasto), one by one – a gesture also favored in some of Denisov’s
scores. In a shimmering transparent texture of the opening section, the composer introduces several ideas and
techniques that are utilized throughout the piece, including polyrhythms, harmonics, and glissandi. The following Piu mosso is distinguished by a denser texture, complex polyrhythmic structures, cluster-like chromatic
verticals, and broad-ranged melodic gestures that mix wide leaps with chromatic slides. After a new pattern of
dotted rhythms is introduced in the strings, it begins, gradually and increasingly more aggressively, to invade
the texture in preparation for a fortissimo climax – a uni-rhythmic chordal “march” that the bassoon in vain
attempts to protest with the high-pitched frullato sustained notes. At its shrillest, the march suddenly disintegrates into a much less chromatic, quasi-improvisatory, free-metered new section, in which the parts seem to
develop independently of one another, until the ever more insistent bassoon trills are gradually joined in by the
other instruments. After a short, chromatic, rubato bassoon solo in the low register, the transparent texture and
chromatic, leap-filled thematic material of the opening return, as the members of the string ensemble develop
the same motivic ideas a-synchronically, each at their own meter and speed. Simultaneously, the bassoon part
grows less chromatic and finally settles on a pastoral G-major triad (even the ubiquitous 6/8 time signature
makes intermittent appearances). This pastoral motive becomes the soloist’s obsessive ostinato for the rest of
the movement, as the strings recall the chromatic slides, tremolos, harmonics, and glissandos of the opening
material, and the echoes of the confrontational march rhythms resound.
The antagonism between the soloist and the ensemble becomes increasingly explosive as the piece progresses. The second movement is dominated by the expanding and contracting chromatic string sonorities with
much microtonal writing, while the bassoon interjects only rarely, offering here and there a sustained tone or
an unaccompanied passage of multiphonics. In the third movement, the pastoral arpeggiated bassoon melody
in G-major, a recall of the first movement’s final section, is confronted and eventually displaced by the angry,
aggressive, chromatic new material in the double basses. The bassoon then takes its revenge by practically mo-
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nopolizing (with “comical aggression,” according to the score) the fourth movement, most of which is an elaborate bassoon cadenza. Apart from an array of extended techniques, the cadenza showcases a distinct new “personality” for the soloist, starting with a jazzy passage that utilizes dotted rhythms and wide leaps, and is marked
“quasi swinging.” As the unmetered cadenza progresses, the bassoon character “lets loose” more and more,
finally performing a series of sliding passages (the pitches are unspecified) in the timbre of a saxophone with the
intent, or so the margin note indicates, to sound “more and more hang-over.” The strings enter with chromatic
semitones and dissonant sustained chords; the chastised bassoon can only offer a narrow-range repetitive Dminor tune in the low register. The confrontation comes to a head in the finale that presents both a summary
and a re-interpretation of the material from earlier in the concerto. The movement opens with the double-bass
material from the third movement, repeated ad libitum in both cellos and basses against the “swinging” theme
from the fourth movement in the solo part. This strange duet culminates with the fff marcatissimo presentation
of the first-movement march, at the original pitch and orchestration (including the high-register bassoon frullato), followed by the “drunken saxophone” passage in the bassoon. The duet of the “swinging” bassoon and the
“angry” double basses then returns, finally softening to a pianissimo, and the bassoon’s final multiphonic chord,
as “the hero” gives up the fight. The concerto ends with the growling chromatic tremolos in the low register of
the victorious strings, which repeat louder and faster for a sforzando finish.
Theatricality born of stylistic clashes proved to be one of the more enduring features of Russian music in the
1970s and 80s, and not only in Gubaidulina’s output. Pointing for justification to the late works of Shostakovich
that unleashed on their listeners a barrage of semantically meaningful quotations of “old music,” Schnittke’s
polystylistics was increasingly embraced by his contemporaries. New compositions now commonly had their
narrative arches constructed around a collage of musical images, and openly embraced the trappings of neomedievalism and neo-Baroque. Reviewers of the 1982 Moscow Autumn festival, in their discussion published
by Sovetskaya Muzyka sound exasperated and bored with what they seem to regard as a new cliché.14 One work
specifically singled out for ridicule is the 1979 Romantic Messages for Bassoon, Strings, Flute, and Prepared Piano
by a composer familiar from our last article, committed Moscow avant-gardist Vladislav Shoot (b. 1941). In a
letter to American bassoonist and scholar Jeffrey Lyman that touched on the critical reception of Romantic
Messages, Shoot referred to an “indignant and very rude” article in Sovetskaya Muzyka that thrashed his new
composition, and claimed that a sympathetic review by musicologist Marina Lobanova was rejected for publication.15 While it is difficult to confirm or refute the latter, there appears to have been no stand-alone critique
of Romantic Messages – not in Sovetskaya Muzyka, at any rate. Indeed, to dedicate an entire article to the work
would have been tantamount to taking it seriously. Instead, the piece makes a passing appearance in a larger
discussion on the failures of originality in contemporary Soviet music and its over-reliance on stylistic collage.
The reviewers declare themselves at a loss to find anything “Romantic” in Romantic Messages, and zero in on a
Mozart quotation that is central to the dramaturgy of the work, only to point out that placed next to Mozart’s
original, Shoot’s music, judged to be bland and uninteresting, does not survive the comparison.16
Whether or not the critics were right in their assessment of Shoot’s piece is of course open to interpretation.
For our part, we found Romantic Messages anything but boring. Its three movements, linked together by the
development and recall of thematic material, form a unified, continuously unfolding narrative. The visually
arresting score palpably illustrates Shoot’s handling of his unconventional ensemble, as the instruments are
seen divided into three distinct textural layers. The strings operate as a single unit, sometimes working with
or, more often, against the other players. Their material frequently moves uni-rhythmically. Although dotted
rhythms and syncopation occasionally occur, their rhythmic patterns tend to be deliberately straightforward,
thus balancing the rhythmic complexity of the winds. Meanwhile, the pitch relationships between the string
parts are hardly harmonious, featuring chord clusters, quartal-secundal sonorities, and dissonant doublings,
as well as microtonal writing. The piano does not act as an accompaniment to either the strings or the winds,
instead switching its allegiance or acting independently. It is prepared via an insertion of screws between two
out of three strings of each key above middle C; the lower range of the instrument remains unaltered. The material given to the piano aims to exploit the contrast between the resulting timbres, as its chromatically altered
chords exploit quite intricate (although not prohibitively complex) rhythmic patterns that continually alternate
between the higher and lower registers. The entry of the flute is withheld until the final movement, so the bassoon is the only true soloist throughout the work. Shoot refers to it as the “main character,” thrashing about
in its suffering, as it reaches the peak of its expressive and technical capabilities.17 In contrast to the piano and
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Example 5. Vladislav Shoot, Romantic Messages for Bassoon, Strings, Flute, and Prepared Piano (second movement; excerpt)
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strings that privilege the verticals, the bassoon material is linear in character (despite the occasional use of
multiphonics). Its sharply chiseled melodic gestures are spread over a wide range, but frequently comprised of
closely-positioned groups of pitches, both chromatic and microtonal. With its complex ratios and embedded
elements of aleatorics, the rhythmic profile of the bassoon part is capricious and unpredictable, which lends it
an improvisatory quality.
The “romanticism” of the title, which Shoot’s critics were having trouble recognizing in the piece, declares
itself immediately in the deliberately ostentatious, theatrical motivic profile of the opening Largo, with its dramatic upward leaps. But the actual “message” does not reveal itself until the second movement. It begins with
the strings introducing and developing a slurred two-note motive of a falling minor 2nd. Gradually, the motive
penetrates the bassoon part and, in inversion, the piano and the double bass parts, leading to a nine-measure
quotation, in the original orchestration and at pitch, of the opening theme from Mozart’s G-minor symphony,
K. 550, that starts with the same repeated falling semitone. After the downbeat of its tenth measure, the Mozart
quotation is interrupted by a fermata, and picked up by the solo bassoon in its highest register. As the protagonist struggles to “deliver the message” in a free-metered andante espressivo, it disintegrates into fragments,
reduced to the opening semitone and interrupted by aleatoric passage work (see Example 5). Soon, bar lines
and dissonance return; after a brief bassoon cadenza, the strings again strike up Mozart’s theme, taking over
the struggle. Like the bassoon before them, they attempt to hold on to the message and ultimately fail, forced to
return to the uni-rhythmic block chordal texture and dissonance of the opening movement. After another brief
bassoon cadenza, packed with aleatoric gestures, microtonal slides, and multiphonics, and in its final moments
doubled at a third above by a solo cello, the piano gets its chance at an aleatoric solo. The movement then concludes, pianissimo, with the final set of sliding parallel chords delivered by the sul tasto divisi strings.
The Mozartean falling-semitone motive is further developed in the third movement of Romantic Messages,
where the bassoon is finally joined by the flute. At one point, the flute presents an independent melody, as the
bassoon picks up the traditional staccato accompaniment; more often, however, the flute acts as our protagonist’s companion, doubling or closely approximating its rhythms, but choosing its own pitches, which creates a
dissonant counterpoint similar to that in the strings. In this movement, Shoot tends to treat the flute, bassoon,
and piano as a separate group, a concertino of sorts, at times abandoning the strings to create a transparent
trio texture. Yet the voice of the bassoon is still the most distinct, likely because its part remains the most
rhythmically free, with numerous instances of aleatoric writing. As the end of the piece approaches, the texture
gradually fragments and disintegrates, starting with the loosely coordinated, repeated short passages for each
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performer in the ensemble. Emerging from the aleatoric chaos is the wind duet: the flute and bassoon offer fragments of Mozart’s theme in a close canon. They are interrupted by a melancolico violin solo, then a solo double
bass, followed by the shimmering sliding tremolo chords in the strings. The last wisp of a romantic message
evaporates in the eerie pianissimo piano clusters (the player depresses the keys while hitting the strings), trills
and multiphonics in the winds, and the quarter-tone double bass trill, as the piece ends.
Despite the “Romanticism” of Shoot’s “messages,” delivered as they are in a bottle of Mozartean Classicism,
the orchestration of his piece is decidedly Baroque. Specifically, it recalls a concerto grosso principle that sets a
small, diverse group of solo instruments (in this case, flute, bassoon, and piano) against a larger group of strings.
Another neo-Baroque composition organized in a similar manner that appeared in the 1970s was actually labeled with its original genre designation: Concerto Grosso for Flute, English Horn, Bassoon, and String Orchestra
by Gleb Taranov (1904-1989). A professor at various times of both the Kiev and Leningrad conservatories and
the author of a still-popular textbook on orchestral score reading, Taranov was a well-respected composer of the
older generation – the generation of Saveliev and Levitin. This particular work of his has roots going as far back
as the 1930s: indeed, the Concerto Grosso completed in 1976 is evidently a revision of a work Taranov created
forty years earlier. As the original version of the piece is not available, it is unclear how extensive the composer’s
revisions had been; if they were merely cosmetic alterations, the work may seem out of place in the current
survey that is limited to works after 1945. We thought it may prove instructive nonetheless to include Taranov’s
concerto grosso, if only to illustrate the depth of engagement with the styles of the musical past demonstrated
in the 1970s by composers both young and old.
The six-movement concerto, self-consciously Baroque and dedicated to the memory of Handel, opens with a
solemn Tempo di minuetto. Eighteenth-century stylistic references are clearly recognizable in a stately, chordal
texture, precise accentuation, and traditional I-V-I cadential gestures. Yet the dance is limping slightly, with the
time signature shifting between 3/4 and 4/4; and the cadences arrive just a little too suddenly, as in a similar
minuet from Ravel’s Tombeau de Couperin, one of Taranov’s more recent models. The contrast between the concertino and ripieno groups is carefully observed: the strings present the opening minuet, the soloists dominate
the trio, and the two groups alternate in the da capo reprise. The bassoon fulfills its customary continuo role, but
in the trio it is also paired frequently with the English horn, creating something of a reverse trio-sonata texture
against the flute part.
The Tempo di minuetto serves as a kind of a refrain to the concerto, unifying the composition: truncated
variants of the minuet, both recognizable and mutable like a Vivaldian ritornello, reappear twice, as movements
3 and 6. In the third movement, the minuet is presented almost entirely by the ripieno, with the final cadence
in the dominant, F-major; the refrain returns triumphantly, tutti and fortissimo, in the finale, here cadencing
in the tonic key of B f major. The middle movements include a march in B f minor, the key made ubiquitous by
Chopin’s funereal piano sonata. In Taranov’s second movement, the mood of Chopin’s march is reflected in
the relentless sliding, and chromatic scalar motives spread throughout the texture. These are mixed with the
“martial” dotted rhythms, but the presence of double-dotting and the use of the 4/4 time signature suggests less
a Romantic funeral march and more a Baroque French overture. The double-dotted rhythmic pattern reappears
in movement 4, in E-minor, marked Lento lugubre (Lento, incidentally, is the tempo identification of Chopin’s
“lugubrious” march). The meter in the opening section alternates between the 2/4 of a march and the 3/4 of a
sarabande. The middle section features a softly lyrical cantabile melody, first in the English horn and later the
flute, with the bassoon providing the accompaniment and occasionally echoing the English horn. All three
winds then engage in a contrapuntal dialog, prior to the return of the opening section. The Lento lugubre is followed by a fast scherzo movement, Vivace ma non troppo, incidentally the only movement in Taranov’s concerto
where the bassoon has extended solo passages to play. The humorous main tune in the solo wind lines, with its
classical slur-two/tongue-two articulation, resembles the ballet music of early Shostakovich (such as Polka from
The Golden Age). After the sharply accented middle section, the dynamic reprise of opening material, fortissimo
and marcatissimo, leads attacca into the equally marked reprise of the Tempo di minuetto, which ends the work.
The timbral and textural contrast between an orchestra and a group of solo winds demonstrated in Taranov’s
Concerto Grosso is even more pronounced in a work widely considered at the time of its 1971 premiere, one of
the most important compositions of the new decade: Kirill Volkov’s Andrei Rublev, Concerto-Pictures for Symphony Orchestra and Solo Wind Quintet. Commissioned by the Symphony Orchestra of Halle (former DDR),
premiered there in September 1971 and in Moscow the following year, it generated considerable interest (includ-
THE DOUBLE REED
73
Example 6. Kirill Volkov, “Andrei Rublev,” Concerto-Pictures for Symphony Orchestra and Solo Wind Quintet
(first interlude; excerpt)
ARTICLES
ing a review by Alexander Ivashkin in Sovetskaya Muzyka18) and put the 28-year old composer firmly in the
spotlight for the first time. The five-movement work has a double-arch structure, with three main movements
(marked Parts 1-3) separated by the smaller “interludes” (movements 2 and 4).19 The solo winds, accompanied by
the tubular bells, open the work but then recede into the background, and the larger “parts” of the composition
demonstrate a propensity toward an orchestral texture. The interludes showcase the concerted wind quintet,
augmented near the end of the 2nd interlude by the piccolo that doubles the flute part.20 The composer does
not explain the reasons for turning the quintet into a sextet, but he might be trying to expand the range of the
ringing sonorities that dominate the work, with particular emphasis on the timbres of tubular bells, harp, and
marimba. The bell-ringing effects in Andrei Rublev, its narrow-ranged melodies, and frequent sustained tones
in all instruments contribute to the spiritual atmosphere suggested by its title: the concerto is concerned with
the image of Andrei Rublev, celebrated 15th-century icon painter; perhaps Russia’s greatest of the period. The
work’s spiritual essence is particularly palpable in the opening of the second interlude: a skillfully stylized Orthodox chant melody and the “improvised” polyphony engendered by it.
With its transparent texture, ringing sonorities, and contrapuntal richness, the piece at times almost resembles Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabular works, but Volkov’s approach to pitch organization results in a much more
dissonant style than we have come to expect from his Estonian colleague. Cluster-type sonorities are common,
and chromatic melodic motion is typical. For instance, the main motive of the opening “part” is a descending
chromatic pitch sequence (semitone-semitone-tone); very important to the work as a whole, this motive will
return in the finale. The first interlude introduces a new short motive based on a whole-tone tetrachord (tonetone-tone; see Example 6). Constantly varied metrically, rhythmically, timbrally, and often disguised registrally
(i.e., by placing one of the pitches in the “wrong” octave to alter the melodic shape of the phrase), the motive
gradually penetrates all the instrumental parts. It reappears in the next movement, Part 2, where it is contrasted
with a folksy, diatonic minor tri-chord, introduced by the harp, and later also becoming ubiquitous despite
constant metric and rhythmic variations. Both the contrast of folk-inspired diatonicism and sophisticated chromaticism, and the endless metric and rhythmic shifts of the concerto are distinctly Stravinskian; indeed, some
passages clearly reference The Rite of Spring and possibly Les Noces. Yet the whole-tone, rather than the octatonic
nature of the chromatic motive speaks less of Volkov’s admiration for his illustrious predecessor than of his involvement with the “New Folklore Wave” movement discussed above. Indeed, his in-depth study of traditional
folklore would have put the composer in direct contact not only with the minor tri-chord motives that form
the basis for some of Russia’s oldest ritual songs, but also with the tritone-based whole-tone melodic-harmonic
74
complexes typical of the Russian South-West (indeed, we have observed both pitch complexes in Korndorf’s
Concerto-Pastorale). In addition, the sounds of the Russian folk tradition, no less than the stylized Orthodox
chants and bell sonorities, contribute to the portrait of Andrei Rublev, at least the Andrei Rublev of Volkov’s
imagination.21 Little is known about this legendary figure, but the composer was likely inspired by the 1966
cinematic masterpiece by Andrei Tarkovsky, whose title the concerto shares. The film began to screen in Russia
(with severe cuts due to the ecclesiastical nature of the subject) at the time of the work’s composition. The legendary director portrayed Rublev as both a spiritual and artistic “face” of the Russian people, an interpretation
that would have made the blend of folk song, chant, and bell ringing (one of the central images in the film) in
Volkov’s concerto uniquely appropriate.
ARTICLES
1980s
The 1980s saw the older generation of composers, some traditionalist by nature, others terrified into conservatism by the nerve-wracking Stalinist 1940s and 1950s, almost entirely exit the scene. In the meantime, new
music of the decade included a wide variety of styles and techniques practiced by young composers born during
those terrible years, and their slightly older predecessors, who came of age professionally during the Thaw. It
was an eclectic era, when the neo-traditionalists, who embraced tonality and flaunted their roots in the works
of Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and Bartok, coexisted (and occasionally exchanged ideas) with the unrepentant Darmstadt avant-gardists like Denisov and his followers.
Among the more traditionally-minded composers who wrote for the bassoon in the 1980s is Igor Golubev
(b. 1945), graduate of the Gnessins Institute, vice-president of the Moscow Union of Composers, and current
director of the Moscow Autumn festival. Golubev’s compositional philosophy is based on respect for both contemporary music, including pop and jazz, and his musical predecessors – composers and styles of the past,
as well as rejection of the concept of “avant-garde” and what the composer calls a “deliberate, artificial, and
unnatural” approach to composition.22 His short, single-movement Concertino for Bassoon and Orchestra is a
delight. The 1987 work is a playful Allegretto, unabashedly tonal, yet filled with a Prokofiev-esque quirkiness
that makes it impossible to predict a key area that each new idea is going to resolve into next. Its structure is
equally unpredictable: vaguely palindromic, it also contains elements of a rondo form, intimated by the return
(in various keys and instrumental guises) of the opening motive – a series of scalar staccato runs in distinct
anapest rhythms. The main theme, introduced by the bassoon in the tonic G-major, starting in measure 5, is a
broad, rhythmically “square” melody in 4/4 with an um-pah-pah accompaniment that would have been conventional, were it not for the mischievous grace notes and the anything-but-straightforward 3+2+2 rhythmic
groupings. The rhythm obscures the metric regularity to such an extent that an additional ¼ measure is needed
to round off the tune. A marcato variant of the theme in the orchestra, in Cs -minor, leads to a new theme in the
same key, presented in the bassoon’s upper register. Based on a rocking interval of a third and alternating 5/4
and 4/4 meters, it presents little contrast to the main material. Another series of rollicking anapest runs, starting in B-major, leads to the 3rd theme, introduced by the orchestra in A-major. Its distinct 16th-note triplets,
picked up with gusto by the soloist, usher in a busy neo-Baroque section with bariolage passages in the strings
and equally violin-friendly 16th-note staccato arpeggios and runs in the bassoon part, cadencing in Fs -minor.
Its tonic reinterpreted as the dominant, the second theme returns in the orchestra in B-minor, followed by the
anapest runs that usher in a modulation to C-major, pausing on its dominant for the bassoon cadenza. This is
a cadenza in the old-fashioned sense of the term – an extended cadence that decorates, with runs, arpeggios,
scalar passages and triplet rhythms, the dominant harmony to C-major, the effect reinforced by the chord reiterated by the orchestra half-way through the solo section. Despite such elaborate preparations, the C-major never
materializes, however. The cadenza is followed instead by a fragment of the second theme in A-minor, and then
a truncated recapitulation of the main theme in its original key of G. The third theme then intrudes; it is still in
A-major, oblivious to the tonic key just achieved with such difficulty. Its appearance spurs a final explosion of
triplets in both the bassoon and the orchestra parts. G-major is re-discovered, and the piece ends in a tonguein-cheek triumph.
For a more substantive 1980s composition in a concerto genre that blends solid craftsmanship with respect
for tradition and the echoes of the earlier-generation greats, we should look no further than the 3-movement
Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra by the youngest composer in our current lineup, Evgeni Irshai (b. 1951),
THE DOUBLE REED
75
Example 7. Evgeni Irshai, Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra (1st movement; excerpt)
ARTICLES
who currently lives and works in Slovakia. His style, emotional and intense, with strong Shostakovichian overtones, has once aptly been described as “late post-conservatism.”23 Trained at the Leningrad Conservatory as
both pianist and composer (class of Vladimir Uspensky), Irshai works in a variety of genres, both vocal and
instrumental; the latter include, apart from the bassoon concerto, a virtuosic 1979 piece Improvisations of Kandinsky for bassoon and double bass. The connection with the bassoon has been a personal one for Irshai, as his
older brother Arnold is a virtuoso on the instrument.24 It was this circumstance, the composer recalls, which inspired him to write his Concerto for Bassoon and to do so unusually early in his compositional career: published
in 1992, the work was completed six or seven years earlier, when Irshai was in his mid-30s. The personal nature
of the concerto is not limited to the choice of its soloist: according to the composer, the thematic material of the
finale is derived from a series of phone numbers, encoded in the pitches from middle C to an E a tenth above
it. The phone numbers included were the ones most important to Irshai at the time: his home number, phone
numbers of close friends, and the number of the Union of Composers, 25 to him a symbol both of professional
acceptance and personal identity.
The opening sonata Allegro quickly establishes a dark tone by its preference for flat-infused keys and modes,
and the low to middle register for the solo bassoon. It begins with a solo passage that traverses the entire range of
the instrument, and establishes the main key as natural C-minor with flattened 2nd and 5th degrees of the scale
– the so-called “Shostakovich mode.” The orchestra enters in measure 11 with its main material – a relentless
percussive 8th-note ostinato, later revealed to be an accompanimental pattern for a plaintive bassoon melody
filled with sustained notes, wide leaps, and a variety of triplet patterns (Example 7). The key shifts to E f minor
for the secondary theme, a lightly accompanied, quietly lyrical bassoon cantabile, with quarter-note triplet
rhythms similar to the opening theme. The anxious orchestral ostinato returns in the development, together
with a new theme in the bassoon part, starting in D-minor. The composer then appears to be setting up a mirror
recapitulation: intense 8th-note passages in the bassoon, punctuated by the terse orchestral chords (the clearest
reference to Shostakovich yet – specifically, to the second movement of his Eighth String Quartet), lead to the
reprise of the secondary theme over the 8th-note orchestral ostinato and in the tonic key of C-minor. A development of the theme follows, but is gradually overwhelmed by the ostinato, decorated with chromatic runs in the
bassoon. As the soloist settles on a low-register tonic C, the orchestra drops out for a cadenza. Here, the composer tends to sidestep technical wizardry in favor of a lyrical cantilena, as well as on structural considerations:
the cadenza presents a variant of the main theme in the tonic key, thus completing the mirror recapitulation
started by the secondary theme. While the bassoon continues to develop the primary material, the orchestra
returns with a series of slow chromatic chords, setting up the expectations for a coda. Instead, the key suddenly
shifts to E-minor, the anxious orchestral ostinato returns, and with it, a complete second recapitulation, with
all the themes in their original order and “correct” textures and accompaniments, but in the wrong key. Only
after the unconventional false recapitulation is complete, is the main key of C-minor reinstated for the coda,
dominated by the orchestral ostinato, in which the bassoon now joins.
The dark tone of the concerto continues in its second movement. The main material, presented pianissimo by the orchestra, is a slowly-moving, narrow-range, quietly despairing chorale that echoes the style of
Shostakovich’s symphonic adagios (e.g., third movement of the Fifth Symphony). The natural A-minor mode is
completely diatonic (there is not a single accidental in the opening section!), with the first 33 measures set over
76
a tonic pedal. The rich contrapuntal lines of the chorale texture move mostly by step, incorporating a significant
amount of doubling. When the bassoon enters, it does not assert itself as the soloist; rather, its slow-moving
melody with falling 4ths and 5ths quietly adds another voice to the chorale. Gradually, more active rhythmic
motion is introduced to the orchestral fabric (the bassoon, to the contrary, slows down even more), leading to
the central section of the movement. The new material sets up patterns of quarter-note triplet and repeated-note
quintuplets in the middle voices against the sustained-note chord pedals above and below them – a texture
similar to the tintinnabular style of Pärt. The opening material then returns fortissimo, initially still decorated
with the repeated-note quintuplets throughout the orchestral fabric. These gradually dissipate, as the dynamic
returns to pianissimo and the bassoon enters quietly with its original line.
The E-minor prefaced in the unconventional double reprise of the first movement is established as the main
key in the finale, a well-written sonata-rondo in which the bassoon re-asserts its prominence as the solo voice,
alternating between independence and interaction with the orchestra. The fast, aggressive refrain is even more
relentless than the first-movement ostinato; its repetitive 8th-note pattern is fractured, broken by rests, as the
uninterrupted motion is sustained by other voices. The material of the first episode includes chromatic bassoon gestures of 8th-note passages and sustained notes over the repetitive, pulsing quarter-note chords in the
orchestra, in the C-minor key of the first movement, and a succession of slow, chromatic orchestral chords with
the rhythmic patterns similar to that of the slow movement, set over the “Alberti”-like broken-chord bass line.
After the second presentation of the refrain, the rhythmic 8th-note passages of the soloist are combined with the
slow chords/“Alberti bass” material in the orchestra, before the pulsing quarter-note repeated chord progression returns. Now it accompanies a more defined melodic material in the bassoon part, rhythmically similar
to the primary theme of the first movement. The finale therefore does more than hide the composer’s personal
messages. It also recalls and re-conceptualizes the musical ideas of the previous movements, thus providing a
structurally convincing and satisfying climax to the concerto cycle.
ARTICLES
(to be continued)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[n.a.] “Grigory Korchmar.” Leningrad: Sovetskii
Kompozitor, 1991.
Belyi, P. “Neskol’ko eskizov k portretu.” Sovetskaya
Muzyka 7 (1983): 23-29.
Dolinskaya, Elena and V. Likht. “Dialog o festival.”
Sovetskaya Muzyka 3 (1983): 2-18.
Dubovsky, Iosif, Sergei Evseev, Igor Sposobin, and
Vladimir Sokolov. Uchebnik garmonii. Moscow:
Gosudarstvennoe Muzykalnoe Izdatelstvo, 1956.
Dvoskina, Elena. “Knipper, Lev Konstantinovich.”
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (New
York: Grove, 2001), 13: 695-696.
Fay, Laurel E. “Chaykovsky, Alexander Vladimirovich.” Grove Dictionary of Opera (New York:
Grove, 2005), 1: 827.
Grigor’yeva, Alla. “Chaykovsky, Aleksandr Vladimirovich.” Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (New York: Grove, 2001), 5: 548-549.
Grigor’yeva, Alla. “Levitin, Yury Abramovich.”
York: Grove, 2001), 14: 613.
Grigor’yeva, Galina. “Eshpay, Andrey Yakovlevich.”
York: Grove, 2001), 8: 319-320.
Haldey, Olga. Mamontov’s Private Opera: The Search
for Modernism in Russian Theater. Bloomington,
IN: Indiana University Press, 2010.
Ivashkin, Alexander. “Raznoobraznye resheniya.”
Sovetskaya Muzyka 6 (1973): 43-46.
Kholopova, Valentina and Enzo Restagno. Sofia
Gubaidulina. Moscow: Kompozitor, 1996.
Kholopova, Valentina. “Gubaydulina, Sofiya Asgatovna.” Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
(New York: Grove, 2001), 10: 490-492.
Klimovitsky, Abram. “Falik, Yury Aleksandrovich,”
York: Grove, 2001), 8: 528.
Klimovitsky, Abram. “Opera Yuriya Falika Plutni
Skapena.” In Sovetskaya muzyka 70-80h godov.
Estetika, Teoriya. Praktika (Leningrad: Leningradskii Gosudarstvennyi Institut Teatra,
Muzyki i Kinematografii, 1989): 163-81.
Kott, Tama I. and Olga Haldey. “Contemporary
Russian Music for Bassoon, Part 1: Solo and
Accompanied Sonatas.” The Double Reed 28/2
(2005): 27-40.
Kott, Tama I. and Olga Haldey. “Contemporary
Russian Music for Bassoon, Part 2: Short Pieces
THE DOUBLE REED
kova and E. Fedosova (Moscow: Russian Music
Academy named after Gnessins, 1999): 134-155.
Yampolsky, I. M. “Dubovsky, Iosif Ignatievich.”
Muzykalnaya Entsiklopediya (Moscow: Sovetskii
Kompozitor, 1974), 2: 326.
ENDNOTES
1 P. Belyi, “Neskol’ko eskizov k portretu” [A Few
Sketches for a Portrait], Sovetskaya Muzyka 7
(1983), 23-29.
2 Yury Paisov, “Volkov, Kirill Yevgen’yevich,”
Grove 26: 884-885.
3 Kott and Haldey, “Short Pieces for Solo and Accompanied Bassoon,” 112.
4 Tat’yana Rexroth, “Korndorf, Nikolay Sergeyevich,” Grove 13: 822.
5 It is appropriate to mention at this point that
Nikolai Korndorf was employed for a number
of years as a lecturer on orchestration at the
Moscow Conservatory and its affiliate musical
college, as well as leading the college’s young
composers’ club.
6 See Kott and Haldey, “Solo and Accompanied
Sonatas,” 27, 30, 32, 34-35; and “Short Pieces
for Solo and Accompanied Bassoon,” 103, 111,
114, 116.
7 Michael Kurtz, Sofia Gubaidulina: A Biography (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2007), 116.
8 We are grateful to Arnold Irchai for providing
information about the details of Gubaidulina’s
attendance of Popov’s studio.
9 Kurtz, Sofia Gubaidulina, 116-117.
10 Arnold Irchai, personal communication, June
2009.
11 Vera Lukomsky, “‘The Eucharist in My Fantasy’:
Interview with Sofia Gubaidulina”, Tempo 206
(Sept. 1998), 30.
12 Kholopova and Restagno, Sofia Gubaidulina, 71.
13 Valentina Kholopova, “Gubaydulina, Sofiya
Asgatovna,” Grove 10, 490.
14 See E. Dolinskaya and V. Likht, “Dialog o festivale” [At the Festival: A Dialogue], Sovetskaya
Muzyka 3 (1983), 2-18.
15 Jeffrey Lyman, “After Shostakovich, What Next?
New Russian/Soviet Music for Bassoon,” The
Double Reed 19 no. 4 (1996), 59.
16 Dolinskaya and Likht, “Dialog o festivale,” 8, 10.
17 Lyman, “After Shostakovich, What Next,” 59.
18 Alexander Ivashkin, “Raznoobraznye resheniya”
ARTICLES
for Solo and Accompanied Bassoon.” The Double
Reed 31/4 (2008): 103-118.
Kurtz, Michael. Sofia Gubaidulina: A Biography.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007.
Lukomsky, Vera. “‘The Eucharist in My Fantasy’:
Interview with Sofia Gubaidulina.” Tempo 206
(Sept. 1998): 29-35.
Lyman, Jeffrey. “After Shostakovich, What Next?
New Russian/Soviet Music for Bassoon.” The
Double Reed 19 no. 4 (1996): 53-67.
Mazo, Margarita. “The Present and the Unpredictable Past: Music and Musical Life of St. Petersburg and Moscow Since the 1960s.” International Journal of Musicology 5 (1996): 371-400.
McBurney, Gerard and Michael Norsworthy. “Denisov, Edison (Vasil’yevich).” Grove Dictionary of
Music and Musicians (New York: Grove, 2001),
7: 203-205.
Paisov, Yury. “Volkov, Kirill Yevgen’yevich.” Grove
Dictionary of Music and Musicians (New York:
Grove, 2001), 26: 884-885.
Rexroth, Tat’yana. “Korndorf, Nikolay Sergeyevich.”
York: Grove, 2001), 13: 822.
Schmelz, Peter J. “After Prokofiev.” In Sergei Prokofiev and His World, ed. by Simon Morrison
(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
2008): 493-529.
Schmelz, Peter J. Such Freedom, If Only Musical:
Unofficial Soviet Music During the Thaw. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Schwarz, Boris. Music and Musical Life in Soviet Russia. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983.
Shelokhonov, Steve. “Biography of Lev Knipper”
online; www.imdb.com.
Sokolskaya, Zhanna. “Nikolskaya, Lyubov Borisovna.” Uralskaya Istoricheskaya Entsiklopediya
online; www.ural.ru.
Taruskin, Richard. Oxford History of Western Music,
6 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Teryokhin, Roman. “Kontsert si-bemol’ mazhor dlya
fagota s orkestrom V. A. Motsarta.” In Metodika
obycheniya igre na duhovyh instrumentah, vol. 3,
ed. by Yuri Usov (Moscow: Muzyka, 1971): 92-159.
Teryokhin, Roman. “V klasse fagota: I. I. Kostlan.”
In Mastera igry na duhovyh instrumentah Moskovskoi konservatorii, ed. by Tatiana Gaidamovich (Moscow: Muzyka, 1979): 94-108.
Tishchenko, Boris and Yury Falik. “Boris Tishchenko i Yury Falik o svoei violonchel’noi muzyke i o
nekotoryh problemah tvorchestva.” In Protsessy
muzykal’nogo tvorchestva vol. 3, ed. by E. Vyaz-
77
78
19
20
21
ARTICLES
22
23
24
25
[Varied Solutions], Sovetskaya Muzyka 6 (1973),
43-46.
Interestingly, the layout of Andrei Rublev is
identical to that of George Crumb’s 1974 Makrokosmos III: Music for a Summer Evening for two
pianos and percussion, whose movements 2 and
4 are also marked “interludes.” As it is unlikely
that Crumb was aware of Volkov’s piece, one
wonders if these structural similarities are coincidental or related to some common model.
Musicologist Belyi specifically singles out the
work’s instrumentation as an application of the
concerto grosso principle, naming Bohuslav
Martinu as Volkov’s particular influence in this
regard; see Belyi, “Neskol’ko eskizov k portretu,”
26-27.
In his review, Alexander Ivashkin suggests that
the contrast between the “church” and “folk”
sonorities in Volkov’s concerto (especially in the
second interlude and Part 3) may be representing the struggle of “the earthly and the unearthly” in the soul of Andrei Rublev; see “Raznoobraznye resheniya,” 45.
Igor Golubev, “Music Is an Ideal Reflection of
Our Life Incarnated in Sounds,” online interview; June 2009.
The quotation, without a verifiable source, is included in Irshai’s autobiographical sketch, which
he provided to us via e-mail; Evgeni Irshai,
e-mail to the authors, 7 December 2008.
Leningrad-trained student of Dmitri Eremin
and former principal bassoonist of the Moscow
Philharmonic, Arnold Irchai is currently Associate Professor of Bassoon at the University of
Florida; he has been kind enough to provide a
valuable “insider” perspective that has enriched
our research.
Evgeni Irshai, e-mail to the authors, 7 December
2008.
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79
Living Life for Music: The Story of the Schreiber Bassoon
Janet D. Lein
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
O
ctober 10, 1946: Germany was in ruins. The
economy had collapsed, the infrastructure
was in complete disarray, raw materials and
machinery for production were almost non-existent.
It was on this day in Nauheim (near Groß-Gerau)
that Wenzel Schreiber and his sons, Hugo and Ernst,
submitted an application to found a company for the
production of woodwind instruments. Now, more
than six decades later, this company has become one
of the major actors on the world stage of woodwind
instrument production. As Hugo Schreiber reflected
on these humble beginnings, he said “there was only
one way to go, and that was up!”1 How did the story
of the Schreiber bassoon unfold?
ORIGINS
Johann Adam Heckel
(born 1812 in Adorf)4
Vincenz Kohlert
(born 1817 in Graslitz)5
Gottlob Hermann Hüller
(born 1858 in Hermsgrün near Adorf)6
Franz Oskar Adler
(born 1862 in Markneukirchen)7
Gebrüder Mönnig8
Wilhelm Hans Mönnig
(born 1878 in Markneukirchen)
Otto Fritz Mönnig
(born 1881 in Markneukirchen)
Vincenz Püchner
Wenzel Schreiber
ARTICLES
Since the middle ages, the craft of musical instrument
making has flourished in a relatively small area in
what today is the Vogtland in Germany and adjacent
Bohemia (or Egerland) in the Czech Republic.2 Nearly all of the modern German bassoon manufacturers
originally came from this cluster of small towns and
villages, a notable exception being Mollenhauer3:
After WW II ethnic Germans living in the Sudetenland (northwestern Czechoslovakia) were being
expelled in large numbers. People often had as little
as a day to report to a train station with a maximum
of forty-four pounds of belongings per person. Entire
trainloads of people were then resettled in West German towns that had previously agreed to take them.11
The Schreiber family arrived in the State of Hessia and
began to put their lives back together. Hugo Schreiber,
who was twenty years old at the time, recalls his father looking for a job at the employment center in
80
LIVING LIFE FOR MUSIC: THE STORY OF THE SCHREIBER BASSOON
Hofgeismar near Kassel. A notice on the jobs board
said that refugees were being sought to help establish
the musical instrument industry in Nauheim. Wenzel Schreiber immediately got on the train and went
to Nauheim near Groß-Gerau, a journey that was no
small adventure in post-war Germany.12
ARTICLES
THE WENZEL SCHREIBER ERA
Instrument making has long been a Schreiber family
tradition. Wenzel Schreiber and his father were both
employed in this industry in Graslitz. In Nauheim,
Wenzel Schreiber and his sons would have their own
company; they finally received official approval for
their woodwind instrument company on November
25, 1947.13 The family began by repairing musical instruments and making wooden recorders in a former
laundry room with an area of just over 64 square feet.
The conditions that existed at that time are hardly
imaginable today. There was a shortage of everything, particularly skilled workers. When refugees
from the former Sudetenland music centers heard
that skilled workers were needed in Nauheim, they
flocked to the town.14 This call for skilled musical
instrument craftsmen was historically important, in
that it considerably shaped the character of the town.
The Püchner family of woodwind instrument makers
Wenzel Schreiber, founder of the company.
settled here after leaving Graslitz for much the same
reasons.15
In their application for permission to found a
company, Wenzel Schreiber requested the following tools and supplies through the agricultural office. This was their projected list of needs for the first
month:16
10 liters of spirits of alcohol (solvent)
5 liters of gasoline
2000-3000 kilowatts of electricity
105-132 gallons of natural gas / propane
660 pounds of grenadilla wood (for clarinets)
220 pounds of cocobolo wood (for recorders)
22 pounds German silver (for keys)
44 pounds silver solder (for keymaking)
2.2 pounds of sheet metal
(for bands and tenon protectors)
wire, springs, screws, glove leather, hard rubber,
lacquer
various small tools
These amounts would not be sufficient for even a
day’s production now.17
The fledgling company began with the production of recorders, even though Wenzel Schreiber’s
real passion was the bassoon. By June of 1951, however, the first bassoon had been finished. The local press
reported that it took over 800 man-hours to produce.
This particular bassoon, in fact, was destined for the
American market. Some early Schreiber bassoons
were also distributed unstamped for the American
market by Carl Fischer, New York, the sole agent of
Schreiber for the USA and Canada, and later for some
other private label instruments like, for instance,
Conn, Mirafone and Polisi. Little by little, Schreiber
& Sons would become one of the world’s largest producers of this instrument.18 In 1952 Wenzel Schreiber
received a distinguished service award for special accomplishments from the president of Germany, Theodor Heuss.19
The young company moved into its own workshop in 1953 and in 1961, just ten years after the first
bassoon was produced, the 5000th bassoon left the
factory. This was also the year in which Schreiber
& Sons presented itself at the Frankfurt Music Fair
with their first complete assortment of instruments.20
Wenzel, Hugo and Ernst were a good team: Wenzel
was in charge of production, Ernst in charge of technology and Hugo handled the administrative tasks,
including the international sales and marketing.21
Every company has difficulties at one time or an-
THE DOUBLE REED
81
ARTICLES
other. Schreiber and Sons showed its strengths
and strong leadership on several occasions.
First, unexpected competition emerged from
East Germany in the late fifties. Recorders made
in Klingenthal and Markneukirchen were being sold on the European market for a mere 50
pennies (Pfennige), about 15 cents at that time.
Then, even cheaper plastic recorders from Japan
became popular for elementary school education. (These were called “flute-o-phones” in the
American market.) Eventually making recorders was no longer cost-effective and production
ceased.22
On the 14th of February 1964, the night before the all-important Frankfurt Spring Trade
Fair, the production halls burned down completely due to the spontaneous combustion of
linseed oil rags. This annihilated 80% of their
production, but undaunted, the employees continued to produce instruments in the open air.
Hugo Schreiber recalled that while that was a
colossal setback, there was no discussion about
leaving Nauheim.23
Another ongoing problem with this location
was the relatively high wage level in the Rhine/
Main region. The company turned this into an
advantage, however, by streamlining production
methods with the introduction of computerassisted manufacturing. Even so, the important
final assembly of an instrument has always been
in the hands of a skilled craftsman.24
Despite these serious setbacks, Schreiber
bassoons were becoming very popular in the
American market. School band programs were
expanding rapidly during the sixties; a student
model could be purchased for about $100 at the
time.25 Many, if not most, of the school band
programs had a Schreiber bassoon.
Wenzel Schreiber realized the importance of
marketing if they were to compete internationally. Medium-sized companies had no future in
the emerging global marketplace because they
simply did not have the wherewithal to market worldwide.26 Fortunately, one of the three
most prestigious music trade fairs in the world
is held in nearby Frankfurt/Main every spring.
Schreiber & Sons has always had an attractive
stand at this trade fair to welcome national and
international customers. Marketing and distribution were further strengthened by joining
the American Tolchin Group, among others,
in 1969. This gave Schreiber access to many in-
82
ternational distribution centers. The purchase of the
Tolchin Group by the Boosey & Hawkes Group in
1981 allowed for all member companies to have their
own world-wide distribution network.27 Schreiber
was well on its way to becoming a very important
player in the international market. At that point, 77
percent of Schreiber & Sons instruments were being
exported.28
THE HUGO SCHREIBER ERA
With the death of Wenzel Schreiber in 1972 and the
departure of brother Ernst to become a manufacturer of woodwind instrument mouthpieces, Hugo
Schreiber guided the firm until his retirement in
1992.29 Then the administration of the company was
passed to Michael Winter, who remained in this position even after the Boosey & Hawkes Group was dissolved in 2003.30 Hugo Schreiber remained as a member of the board of directors of the Boosey & Hawkes
Group until his final retirement in 2000.
ARTICLES
Schreiber Family Tree
Wenzel Schreiber
1899 - 1972
Hugo Schreiber
1927 - present
Ernst Schreiber
1930 - 2000
Thomas Schreiber
1958 - present
Hugo Schreiber, son of Wenzel Schreiber,
who directed the company until 1992.
During his life-long involvement with music,
Hugo Schreiber received a distinguished service
award for special accomplishments from the president
of Germany in 1991. He sat on numerous committees
and boards of directors, and he achieved world-wide
recognition for his efforts on behalf of the national
and international music industry. He officially ended
his involvement with the Association of European
Musical Instrument Manufacturers in 1995, concluding a three-year term as president.31 Living nearby, he
still maintains a close interest in the company.
Ernst Schreiber’s son, Thomas, learned the craft
of woodwind instrument making at W. Schreiber &
Sons as well as Buffet Crampon in France. For many
years he was the technical director of the production
facilities in Markneukirchen and Nauheim, particularly responsible for the development of the bassoon.
Approximately 750 bassoons per year were then being produced.32 In 2005 he left the company to become self-employed.33
PRODUCTION MOVES TO THE VOGTLAND
It had become common practice for companies to
out-source production to countries where labor costs
were cheaper. In the case of German industry, the
adjoining parts of Czechoslovakia were attractive for
this purpose.34 German reunification made it possible for Schreiber to “out-source” within Germany
by opening new facilities in the Vogtland. The main
advantage was that many qualified instrument makers had traditionally lived in this area and wages were
somewhat lower than in the Rhine/Main region.35
Further, unemployment in the former East was extremely high after reunification and it was very important to create new jobs. When Schreiber rented a
facility in Erlbach in 1991, they created 13 jobs with
craftsmen using the most modern production methods. Schreiber merged with the saxophone maker Julius Keilwerth in 1997, which was already part of the
Boosey & Hawkes Group since 1989, and production
of Keilwerth saxophones was added to this facility.36
At that point, they were bursting at the seams with 58
employees. They needed more space and Markneukirchen was the next logical move.37 They rented
facilities there and added another 10 jobs, but that
soon proved to be an inadequate amount of space.38
In order to extend production capacity, a new, stateof-the-art factory for woodwind instruments and
components for brass instruments was built in the
business park in Markneukirchen in 2001, with a
production space of more than 86,000 sq. ft.
THE DOUBLE REED
83
Factory in Markneukirchen.
AN HISTORIC TURNING POINT
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Relative to many other instruments, bassoons are
expensive. In American school systems, the more expensive instruments (bassoons, French horns, tubas,
etc.) usually belong to the school system. In Germany,
on the other hand, instruments are purchased by the
individual families. It is important to Schreiber-Keilwerth that these young musicians have high-quality
instruments to play, so in 2007 they announced an
attractive leasing plan which makes it possible for a
young musician to purchase a high-quality bassoon
ARTICLES
After the dissolution of the Boosey & Hawkes Group
in 2003, the manufacturing parts of that group were
purchased by Rutland and continued production under the umbrella name The Music Group. During the
time Schreiber participated in these various groups,
a large number of their instruments were produced
for contract work; that is, they were shipped to other Group companies and sold under their brand.
When these various contracts ran out, it was time for
Schreiber & Keilwerth to become independent, even
though management knew that such a move would
lead to predictable, but manageable losses. Overall
some initial financial losses were indeed incurred,
but they were compensated for by the company’s
ability to manufacture more than 90 percent of their
products in Germany. In 2009 the managing director,
Dr. Armin Eckert, reported that the company had experienced impressive international success over the
last two years.39
Moving the entire production to Markneukirchen,40 which occurred in 2006,41 proved to be a very
positive move, even though it initially engendered
some controversy. An important consideration at
the time was the loss of jobs in Nauheim. For a community-minded company like Schreiber, this was no
small issue. At the Nauheim facility about 30 staff
members are still engaged in the administrative duties, conducting product development, global marketing and distribution. That’s the way it will stay for
the foreseeable future. Moving the administrative
side of the company to Markneukirchen would make
little sense. For international dealers and customers,
the proximity of the Frankfurt airport is a distinct
advantage. Customers would have to reserve an additional day to drive to the Vogtland.42 In Nauheim
there is also a state-of-the-art “try-out” room where
customers, just by pushing a few buttons, can see how
their instrument will sound in a concert hall, a football stadium or a church.43
Important for the preservation of any craft is
the training of apprentices and Schreiber & Keilwerth continues to take this responsibility seriously
in Markneukirchen. Any apprenticeship program is
costly to the sponsoring company, but it assures the
continuation of the high quality for which Schreiber
& Keilwerth is known in the musical instrument
industry.
84
over a period of years at a reasonable interest rate.
For the 2009 Frankfurt Music Fair, Schreiber &
Keilwerth developed a new presentation concept for
their instruments. Marketing assistant Anika Deinert describes how a new “business center” has been
created, providing a quieter area for interaction with
the dealers that come from all over the globe.
Schreiber & Keilwerth continues to use its strong
web presence to make itself a familiar name in the
emerging markets in eastern Europe and in China.
Three years after moving the total production to
Markneukirchen, everything is in place and Dr. Eckert, the managing director of this limited liability
company, feels strongly that they are well-positioned
for the future.44
Wenzel Schreiber would be proud, because this
company he founded more than sixty years ago
continues to exemplify his motto of “living life for
music.” u
ARTICLES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks to Don and Irmgard Dittmar for generously sharing time and information on visits in
1989 and 1998 to the facility in Nauheim. Very special thanks to Anika Deinert, Assistant Director of
Marketing, for supplying me with current articles
and other valuable information about the company.)
Janet Dickey Lein is professor of German at Central
Michigan University. In addition to her articles about
the German bassoon makers, she has published in the
areas of the cultural history of German business and
the methodology of second language teaching. Her
husband, Paul, restores bassoons.
ENDNOTES
1 Friese, Susanne. Es gab nur eine Richtung - nach
oben (Rüsselsheim: Rhein Main Presse: Mainspitze, 1996) 15.
2 Jansen, Will. The Bassoon (Buren, the Netherlands: Frits Knuf, 1978) 23.
3 Lein, Janet D. “The Mollenhauer Bassoon: An
Achievement by Two Families.” The Double Reed,
Journal of the International Double Reed Society.
(Vol. 26, No. 3) 79-82
4 Langwill, Lyndesay G. The Bassoon and Contrabassoon (London: Ernest Benn, 1965) 53.
5 Jansen, 417.
6 Hüller, Gerhard. Festschrift zum 50 jähr. Jubiläum
der Firma. (Plauen, Saxony: Moritz Wieprecht
GmbH, 1928) 6.
7 Weller, Enrico. Musikinstrumentenfabriken und
Fabrikanten im Oberen Vogtland: F. Oscar Adler
(Markneukirchen: Neukirchner Heimatbote 5.1,
1990) 23.
8 Mönnig, Heinrich Wilhelm (Willy). Unpublished
history of the firm, 1994.
9 Joppig, Gunther. 100 Years of Püchner Woodwind
Instruments, Ed. Gabrielle Nilsson-Püchner
(München: Püchner Spezial-Holzblasinstrumentenbau GmbH, 1997) 1.
11 Conversation with Irmgard Dittmar of Schreiber
& Sons, Nauheim. She was a “Sudetendeutsche”
and recalls the experience from her childhood.
12 Schreiber-Keilwerth Firmengeschichte (http://
www.schreiber-harmony.com/en/lebenfuerdiemusik.html) 6 June 2009.
13 Communication from Anika Deinert, Marketing
Assistant, Schreiber-Keilwerth, 6/22/09.
14 Schreiber celebrates their 50th anniversary. Copy
of a press release from November 27, 1996 given
to the author by Donald Dittmar, Director of
Marketing and Sales, W. Schreiber & Sons, June
1998.
15 Lein, Janet and Paul. “The Püchner Family: 100
Years of Craftsmanship.” The Double Reed, Journal of the International Double Reed Society.
(Vol. 20, No. 2, 1997) 23-28.
16 Antrag auf Produktions-Genehmigung für Wenzel Schreiber, Holzblasinstrumenten-Erzeugung:
copy given to the author by Donald Dittmar, Director of Marketing and Sales, W. Schreiber &
Sons, June 1998.
17 History of the company given to the author by
Donald Dittmar, Director of Marketing and
Sales, W. Schreiber & Sons, June 1998.
THE DOUBLE REED
41 Schreiber-Keilwerth Company History (http://
www.schreiber-keilwerth.com/englisch/general/
history_schreiber.htm)
42 Beutel, Rainer. Nach der Zäsur wieder auf Kurs
(Groß-Gerauer Echo, 28 March 2009).
43 This “try-out” room was demonstrated to the author by Don Dittmar, Director of Marketing and
Sales in 1998.
ARTICLES
22 Die Präzisionsarbeit erledigen Computer (Rüsselsheim: Rhein Main Presse: Mainspitze, 4. 11.
1996).
24 Die Präzisionsarbeit erledigen Computer (Rüsselsheim: Rhein Main Presse: Mainspitze, 4. 11.
1996).
25 Conversation with Donald Dittmar, Director of
Marketing and Sales, April 1989.
26 Lein, Janet D. The Changing Face of German Business: Causes and Consequences. Global Business
Languages. (1997) 155.
Asisstant, Schreiber-Keilwerth, 6/22/09.
31 Musik zum Lesen, Ausgabe 7-8/97, S. 45.
32 Schreiber: Porträt eines international erfolgreichen
Holzblasinstrumentenproduzenten
(http://www.schreiber-Keilwerth.com/englisch/
general/pres/press_portrait.htm 6 June 2009.
34 Lein, Janet D. The Changing Face of German Business: Causes and Consequences. Global Business
Languages. (1997) 140.
35 Lein, Janet D. Bassoon Makers of the Vogtland:
Adler, Hüller, Mönnig. The Double Reed, Journal
of the International Double Reed Society (Vol.
22, No. 2, 1999) 11-22.
38 Schreiber-Keilwerth Firmengeschichte (http://
www.schreiber-harmony.com/en/lebenfuerdiemusik.html) 6 June 2009.
(Groß-Gerauer Echo, 28 March 2009)
85
86
AN INDISSOLUBLE MARRIAGE: ITALIAN OBOE PLAYING AND THE HUMAN VOICE. AN INTERVIEW WITH SANDRO CALDINI.
An Indissoluble Marriage: Italian Oboe Playing and the Human
Voice. An Interview with Sandro Caldini.
Andrea Jayne Ridilla
Oxford, Ohio
ARTICLES
Andrea Ridilla (AR): Does there exist an Italian
school of oboe playing and if so, what is its unique
and defining quality? This is the question I posed to
Sandro Caldini, Professor of Oboe at the Udine Conservatory of Music in Italy.
Sandro Caldini (SC): It’s really difficult to give an
answer to this question because in the past, there
was a particular style and school of Italian oboe playing, but today since there are so many possibilities to
study abroad for young Italian oboe students, we are
less provincial. I believe Italian wind playing all began in reference to the voice. If there is one defining
quality, it has to be the lyrical vocal quality.
There is an interesting book on the oboe, written
by Giovanni Bigotti1 [Storia dell’oboe e sua letteratura (History of the Oboe and its Literature)- Zanibon
edition 1989], in which he documented many Italian
oboe schools each teaching a different style (Turin,
Milan, Parma, Bologna, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo). The book was written at the end
of the 1960s and even though revised in the 1980s,
the division of styles between cities remained. During the 19th century there were many differences in
oboe playing throughout the Italian lands.
AR: We all think of Italy as a united country but in
the 19th century it was not the same Italy as we know
today?
SC: This is correct. Italy was unified as a country
between 1859-1870 as a result of the Risorgimento.
Before that it consisted of duchies, republics and
other territories, which made it easy to have divisions
in style in oboe playing. We were, in a sense, quite
regional.
AR: So Bigotti was trying to describe the regional
differences?
SC: Exactly. Bigotti’s list was a fine attempt to divide
teaching and playing in a sort of Harlequinade of
oboe geographical regions. His list was most likely influenced by two famous pamphlets, one by Giuseppe
Prestini 2, Notizie intorno alla storia degli strumenti a
fiato in legno, (Internal News on the History of Wooden Wind Instruments), Bongiovanni Edition 1925, the
other by Ricordano de Stefani 3, Della scuola di oboe
in Italia, (About the School of Oboe Playing in Italy),
1886 in which de Stefani4 separated, starting from
his experience, some players of the Bologna school
from the others. To me this pamphlet was modern
for its day as well as in its conclusions. It holds true
even today for what one may observe in many Italian
conservatories.
AR: How did de Stefani describe the school of oboe
playing in Bologna?
SC: What de Stefani pointed out at the end of the
19th century: “...ed anche modificai l’ancia per aver
visto il famoso Centroni (oboista a Bologna) che, nel
suonare l’oboé, destava un senso penoso nel vedergli
gonfiare le guance e il collo, per modo che gli occhi
sembravano volergli uscire dalle orbite” (“... and also
I modified the reed after I saw the famous Centroni5,
oboist in Bologna, who aroused, while playing the
oboe, a painful feeling when puffing the cheeks and
the throat, with staring, bulging eyes”). From what de
Stefani wrote about Baldassarre Centroni, one of the
most important oboe players in Bologna, we can suppose that this school used very strong reeds and tried
to force the sound with strong biting and intense
muscular involvement (especially in the abdomen
and ribcage). I have verified that the style in Bologna
is the same today despite that our modern instruments are absolutely top quality. De Stefani also criticized the Parma oboe school in its use of unnecessary
force, pointing out “naturalezza” (naturalness) as the
most important thing to do while playing.
Teaching in Udine I had the opportunity to
listen to and meet a former student from the Bologna school (who is now an orchestral player) who
perfectly verifies what de Stefani wrote. What was
noteworthy for me was the lack of understanding of
anatomy and the rules of breathing and the possible
risk of lung pathology by the teachers in Bologna at
that time. Because the human body partners with the
THE DOUBLE REED
oboe to make music, a solid comprehension of respiratory anatomy and physiology is critical for any serious oboe teacher.
AR: Is it true that you considered a career in medicine at one time in your life?
SC: Yes, I studied Medicine and Surgery at the University in Florence while I was attending the Conservatory there. My medical training has helped me
enormously in teaching the oboe. With young students, every teacher has to be aware of the risks related to upper chest and throat breathing in contrast
to low diaphragmatic/abdominal breathing, and the
negative consequences of use of a strong embouchure
so as put tension in the throat muscles in order to obtain a good sound.
AR: How would you describe a “good “ sound, one
that is acceptable in professional circles in Italy?
AR: What about the Bel Canto era of lyrical opera—
has this movement influenced oboe playing in Italy?
SC: In general, during the 19th and the first half of
the 20th century, the concept of sound and the direction of the Italian school were influenced by the so-
called Bel Canto era (lit. beautiful singing), because
opera is the strongest component in our musical heritage in Italy. The Bel Canto style stretched the limits
of the breath in order to execute long lines and hear
pure voice. Words were not always needed because
composers tried to highlight the voice as a musical
instrument. We remember the legendary composers
from our past — Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, masters of Bel Canto, as well as Verdi and Puccini into
the 20th century—so as to understand the milieu in
which so many famous Italian oboists received their
formation. In Italy, we eat, live and breathe opera; babies are even sung to sleep listening to opera arias as
their lullabies. All Italians know how to sing —you
could say it is in our genes!
Various former teaching methods quoted the
voice as something to emulate when playing the oboe.
Here in Italy the standard training for an oboist is
based on many Italian methods, which demonstrate
how “singing” is important. Today many young Italian students are influenced by foreign players all who
prioritize singing as paramount in effective musical
communication: Maurice Bourgue, Heinz Holliger,
Hansjörg Schellenberger, Nicholas Daniel, Ingo
Goritzki, David Walter, Jacques Thys, François Leleux, Alex Klein, only to name a few of them. What
an enormous benefit for the oboe students! One of
the next steps in the internationalization of teaching
will be, I hope, the development of links with other
European schools.
I recall the advice my former teacher gave to me
and to the other students in my class: “Please, sing!”
My teacher, Federico De Sanctis (1910-1980) who
was the most beloved pupil of Giuseppe Prestini,
(one of the leaders in the Italian school of playing)
was the 1st oboe in Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Opera Orchestra from the 1928 to 1968; at the same time
he taught at the Conservatory from 1950 till his death
in 1980. De Sanctis was an atypical oboe player because after his retirement from the orchestra, he went
on to a career as conductor in the AIDEM Orchestra
(today is the Orchestra della Toscana in Florence).
I remember him as a wonderful professor and it is
always a pleasure to evoke the memory of his suggestion to read the music vertically (harmonically)
rather than horizontally and, in the broad sense of
the score. This links him to the great oboe tradition
of the 19th century.
AR: In addition to emulating the voice, what is the
typical formation for young oboists in Italy?
ARTICLES
SC: For many teachers in Italy, it is important to have
a very dark and huge sound, and to be able to blend
with other orchestral instruments, so much so that
the former peculiar oboe sound becomes, little by
little, like the timbre of a clarinet. What a pity that
we Italians are losing our identity of sound! In the
past decades, this trend towards a dark, expansive
tone has continued in many educational institutions
and not only in Italy. I experience many colleagues
who feel hesitant to develop their own original sound
simply because they feel obliged to follow the current
trend.
Fortunately, there no longer exists a tone like the
old bright French school. However oboe tones are
heading in a direction that seems too dark, despite
the blend they may have with the other woodwinds.
The characteristic sound of the oboe with an even
blend of dark sound and bright overtones has disappeared. If a tone is too dark, there are limitations in
shading the tone color with the embouchure to include expressive nuances and inflections as in speaking or singing. My teacher De Sanctis said: the oboe
voice is the mother-in-law in the orchestra…loving,
but can be intense, shrill and nasal.
87
ARTICLES
88
SC: In addition to playing vocally, every Italian conservatorio di musica has its list of oboe methods to
master during the 7-year-course of study. The list of
études requested in the two main examinations (the
5th and the 7th year) include works by Prestini, Pasculli6, Cassinelli7 and Scozzi8. Only Pasculli’s Capriccios are known outside Italy, which is a pity because
his étude books rival the Gillet Studies in difficulty
and originality. Many Italian composers writing for
the oboe were prolific in creating fantasias, divertimentos, concertos based on the most famous themes
of Italian operas by Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and
Verdi. The oboe, during the 19th century, was not
“on fire” like the clarinet and so there is a dearth of
solo repertoire from our most famous composers. As
protagonist, the oboe played a star role during the
Baroque and Classical periods. The nascent 19th century Romanticism aimed to exploit new voices such
as the clarinet and the English horn. Probably only
a few oboists are aware of the quantity of incredible
“solos” for the English horn in the Romantic operas;
all of us know Rossini’s Guillaume Tell and Signor
Bruschino, Donizetti’s Anna Bolena and La favorita,
Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff and Macbeth,
but how many oboists/English horn players know the
solos in Rossini’s La scala di seta (English horn solo),
Tancredi, Sigismondo, Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra
and Zelmira, or in Bellini’s Il pirata and Bianca e Fernando, or in Donizetti’s Maria Padilla?
I recently helped a student at the University of
Venice prepare a thesis dissertation on the most important English horn solos in the operas from Gluck
to Wagner9 and what came out was only the tip of
the iceberg. The period during the life of Simon Mayr
(1763-1845) was exciting for oboists because of his
extensive use of oboe and English horn in his operas and oratorios: Saffo (performed in 1794), David
in spelunca Engaddi (performed in 1795), Lodoiska
(performed in 1799), Ginevra di Scozia (performed
in 1800), Gli Sciti (performed in 1800), Argene (performed in 1801), I misteri eleusini (performed in 1801),
Alonso e Corai (performed in 1803), L’amor coniugale
(performed in 1805), Medea in Corinto (performed
in 1813), Alfredo il grande re degli anglosassoni (performed in 1819) and Fedra (performed in 1820) only
quoting some of them. Bavarian born Mayr spent his
life working in Bergamo and is credited with bringing German orchestration to our gorgeous Italian
melodic line. Mayr was also the teacher of Gaetano
Donizetti; perhaps this explains why Donizetti wrote
an English horn Concertino and many beautiful operatic English horn solos!
AR: What about vibrato? Is there a correlation with
singing in the way you use your vibrato?
SC: Vibrato is absolutely critical for warmth and
emotional expression. The facts above could explain
the reason why it is so important to learn and understand how to execute an excellent vibrato. The topic
“vibrato” probably came out in Italy during the period between the two world wars and flourished just after the second one; I remember my teacher discussing
it, but not on an academic basis, despite that he well
knew how important it was in the projection of the
sound and in the shape of a phrase. Because I am an
oboe professor in an Italian conservatory, I have had
the possibility to speak with many colleagues (both
orchestral players and oboe professors) in Italy. I am
sure only few of them have studied vibrato deeply;
some of them are lucky because they have naturally a
good vibrato or they studied it briefly and then developed it. Many of them have no idea what they are doing to create a vibrato, nor have had any background
in anatomy or physiology in order to better explain it
to their students. I studied it by myself following the
John Williams method and was inspired by Heinz
Holliger, Pierre Pierlot, David Walter, Nicholas Daniel. In Italy there are at least two oboe players who
use it perfectly, Gianfranco Bortolato10 and Pietro
Corna,11 both of whom combine vibrato with nuance,
as only a true expressive artist can.
In his Oboe Method, the English oboist, John Williams describes vibrato very well: one has to begin it
from a short contraction of the abdominal muscles. It
is actually an over contraction because of the necessity to contract the abdominal muscles to obtain sound
(also known as pressure). Moreover, it is critical to
reach a proficiency in the so-called diaphragm vibrato, or low breathing, before attempting this approach.
The goal is to repeat a note or group of notes several
times with different speeds (e.g. many groups of four
16th notes of contractions with the metronome at 6084) and in groups (e.g. two 8 th, three 8th notes etc. at
the same metronome marking). In this manner it is
possible to obtain the vibrato of a string instrument!
Of course it needs time to master, but after a while
the vibrato seems to lift itself towards the larynx to
enter the lexicon of the many nuances available in the
artist-oboist’s color palette.
AR: Many people think of two styles of playing, the
American style of oboe playing and the European
style of playing. How does Italian oboe playing differ from other European oboists?
THE DOUBLE REED
travel abroad frequently to have lessons with various oboists. Also, many oboists gave masterclasses
in Italy. Many Italian oboists tried to obtain the
same sound as Hansjörg Schellenberger, who was
the principal oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic. This
trend put Italy on a path towards a German concept
of sound. Even today it is difficult for many Italian
players to accept a different quality of sound, even
within Europe. In the last few years I have seen more
American oboists working in Europe, which is a sign
that things are gradually changing. The evolution is
apparent throughout the world because it is easy to
find French, Spanish, English or Russian oboists in
orchestras throughout Germany, Italy and Spain.
As more conservatory/university professors develop
teaching exchanges abroad, a more liberal view of
oboe playing will inevitably continue to evolve.
It is clear that we on the path to creating an international oboe sound always with the Italian singing
voice! u
Sandro Caldini is solo oboe in the Accademia Secolo XXI Orchestra in Legnano, Italy. He is professor of oboe at
the Udine Conservatory and taught in
the Conservatories of Milan and Cagliari (Sardinia). He is an active editor
of oboe works for Musica Rara, Doblinger, Breitkopf
& Härtel and Phylloscopus editions. He served as 2nd
Vice-President of the IDRS from 2006-2007 and was
a member of the jury at the Barbirolli International
Oboe Competition, the Fox-Gillet Competition and in
the Young Artist Oboe Competition. Caldini is a Lorée
artist.
Andrea Jayne Ridilla is professor of
oboe at Miami University in Oxford,
Ohio. She recently recorded a solo
CD, L’Amore Italiano…the lyrical
oboe in opera and film, with the Sofia Philharmonic in Bulgaria on the
Helicon/Kleos label. She holds a U.S.
Patent with Udo Heng of Reeds ‘n Stuff in Annaberg,
Germany for the Ridilla Oboe Gouging Machine. She
is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music. Ridilla plays the Lorée Royal
Anniversary Model Oboe.
ARTICLES
SC: This is true—Most people categorize international oboe playing into either the American style or the
European style of playing. However, these distinctions may not be so black and white. When I started
to study oboe, there were not many possibilities to listen to many different kinds of playing the oboe other
than the French school. In the early ‘70s I began collecting recordings from all over the world. Of course,
there were many recordings of American orchestras
available on LP but the majority of solo oboe recordings available on the market featured oboists such as
Pierre Pierlot and Heinz Holliger. Recordings of the
renowned and venerable oboist Leon Goossens from
England recordings were uncommon in Italy.
In the past the concept of the European national
schools was easier to define; many teachers identified the French school as having a bright sound and
the German one with a dark timbre. The American
school was practically ignored by European pedagogues because they didn’t know anything about it
despite that Arturo Toscanini tried to recruit many
Italian oboists to the United States. Among them was
my first teacher who refused to move to the USA. I
recall an anecdote from my youth: one evening in the
latter years of the 1970s, I went to a concert in the
courtyard of Santa Croce in Florence featuring an
American wind quintet (I believe, the Dorian Wind
Quintet). I was incredibly enthusiastic about the performance and had known them only from broadcasted recordings. One of my colleagues from school told
me that the oboist in the quintet played only a few
notes very well.
The issue with many students (and teachers) is
that they focus on listening to only one instrument
instead of the entire ensemble. This type of limitedminded thinking remains today in Italy however,
in different aspects of the musical spectrum. Many
of my colleagues are interested in only a few works
for our instruments (such as the Mozart and Strauss
Concertos for the oboe and few works for the English horn) and on orchestral excerpts considering
them “solo” works and not a “part” of a symphony
or an orchestral work. This is an incredible mistake
because, for me, it is important to know the piece as
a whole and the oboists’ tone quality when, for example, Poulenc wrote his Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and
Piano or Brucker when he wrote a symphony. I cannot divide the background of a musical composition
from the background of the timbre of the oboe in the
composer’s ears.
Much changed in Europe, and in part in Italy, at
the end of the 1980’s because more oboists began to
89
90
ARTICLES
ENDNOTES
1 Giovanni Bigotti was oboe professor in the Conservatory of music in Ferrara till late ‘80s (for a
while he was the bassoon teacher too!); he studied
with Antonio Gallesi.
2 Giuseppe Prestini (1877-1955), was born in Brescia and studied with Ciro Tramontano (18501909) and with Gustavo Gastelli (fl. in 1873); he
gave the name to a particular kind of oboe system and taught at the Conservatory of music in
Venice from the 1911 to the 1915, and then at the
Conservatory of Music in Florence till 1950. He
wrote: Concerto for oboe and piano (Bongiovanni
edition), 12 Studi su difficoltà ritmiche for oboe
(Bongiovanni edition, 1909), 12 Studi sul cromatismo armonico for oboe (Ricordi edition), 30
Studi sugli abbellimenti for oboe (Bongiovanni
edition, 1961), 6 Grandi capricci for oboe (Fantuzzi edition, 1910), Esercizi giornalieri for oboe
(Bongiovanni edition), Metodo for oboe (1936,
Pucci edition ), Raccolta di studii for oboe (Ricordi edition, 1944).
3 Ricordano de Stefani (1830 or 1839-1904) was
a pupil of Luigi Beccali (oboe and bassoon professor in Parma from 1840 to 1886); he taught at
the Conservatory of Music in Ferrara and in the
Conservatory of Music in Parma after Beccali. He
wrote an interesting Oboe method in three volumes (op.1 , unpublished), Memoria della scuola
dell’oboe in Italia (published in Florence in 1886),
Notizie e precetti utili allo studioso dell’oboe
(published in Parma in 1899), Dell’esercitazione
pratico normale per gli’istrumentini a fiato (published in Parma in 1900), Fantasia on Il Trovatore (Verdi) for oboe and piano (Ricordi edition
1856), Divertimento on Attila (Verdi) for oboe
and piano (Ricordi edition 1856), Fantasia on I
Lombardi alla prima crociata (Verdi), for oboe
and piano (Ricordi edition 1856), Romanza senza
parole op.2 for oboe and piano, 6 Melodie op.3
for oboe and piano, Elegia op.4 for oboe and piano, Adagio,tema e variazioni op.5 for oboe and
piano, Concertino in F major op.6 for oboe and
piano, Concertino in C major op.7 for oboe and
piano, Adagio e Polacca op.8 for oboe and piano,
Duetto op.9 for 2 oboes and piano, Capriccio fantastico op.10 for oboe and piano, Barcarola op.11
for oboe and piano, Tarantella op.12 for oboe and
piano, Capriccio in A major op.13 for oboe and
piano, Capriccio in G major op.14 for oboe and
piano, 18 Studi op. 15 for oboe, 20 Studi in forma
di capricci op.16 for oboe.
5 Baldassarre Centroni (fl. in XIX century); we
have few information on his life; he studied in
Bologna, probably with Sante Anguillar (oboe
professor in Bologna from 1804 to 1820). He
taught at the Conservatory of Music in Bologna
from 1820 till 1860. He was famous for his huge
volume of sound.
6 Antonino Pasculli (1842-1924), probably the
most amazing oboe player and known as “The
Paganini of the oboe”. He wrote extensively for
the oboe and was oboe professor in the Conservatory of Music in Palermo. There are many
dissertations on him and a good quantity of his
works are published by Breitkopf, Ricordi, Universal, Hofmeister etc.
7 Aristide Cassinelli (1871-1929) studied with Ricordano de Stefani at the Conservatory of Music
in Parma; he became oboe professor in the same
Conservatory in 1905, after the death of de Stefani. He wrote various works and, between them,
6 Studi for oboe (published by Ricordi).
8 Riccardo Scozzi (1878-1955) studied in Venice
with Natale Fabbri (1862- ?); he was appointed
oboe Professor in the Conservatory of Music in
Trieste in 1904 and then moved to the Conservatory of Music in Rome in 1910. In the same year
he was appointed first oboe in the S. Cecilia Orchestra in Rome.
9 Michela Bugno, thesis dissertation Il corno inglese nella letteratura operistica da Gluck a Wagner – 2008 University Ca’ Foscari in Venice.
10 Gianfranco Bortolato, first oboe in Opera in
Rome orchestra.
11 Pietro Corna, oboe professor in the Conservatory of Music in Novara.
THE DOUBLE REED
91
In Their Own Words with Albrecht Mayer
Interview by Aaron Grad
John de Lancie was the one who was responsible for
the composition. But the new sources would rather
refute this, that de Lancie would really be the reason. Later in his life, Richard Strauss said he didn’t
know anything about an American oboe player who
influenced him. Either way, John de Lancie was, later
in his life, a very influential and fantastic musician.
So even if it is only five percent true what he really
achieved with his words with Richard Strauss, then
we can still be more than happy that he was there.
Albrecht Mayer (AM): The oboe was the solo instrument in the Baroque era. We do have a lot of oboe
concertos from the Romantic period, too, but not
from the big star composers. Strangely enough, in the
orchestra repertoire we are still big hits with Brahms,
Schubert, Schumann and so on. So it is very difficult
to understand why the oboe lost its standing as a solo
instrument. The clarinet stole our role in the 19th
century, and later in the 20th century we got the role
again, with people like Heinz Holliger really pushing
composers to write new oboe concertos for us. I try,
with Heinz Holliger as my model, to push the oboe in
the repertoire a little bit further.
AM: He was a complete master of instrumentation,
which is very rare in music, I think. Even from the
very start—from the First Horn Concerto, where the
oboe is important as well, to the Second Horn Concerto, which was written so much later in his life—you
can see he always loved the oboe. The oboe was one
of his favorite instruments, next to the French horn,
which was the instrument of his father. And the Oboe
Concerto is an extension of the possibilities of the
oboe. The beautiful long lines should sound effortless, but they are still really difficult. He knew exactly
how he could write for the oboe, what would sound
good, but he really pushed to the edge of the abilities
of the oboe player.
AG: Speaking of the influence a single musician can
have, what do you make of the story of oboist John de
Lancie’s encounter with Richard Strauss?
AG: Strauss was, of course, an exceptional opera
composer. Do you think his ability to write for voice
also carried over into his oboe writing? Or, to put it
another way, do you consider there to be an especially close affinity between the oboe and the human
voice?
AM: I was raised with the legend of John de Lancie,
that he met Strauss in Garmisch and influenced him
to write an oboe concerto. And later, I met some very
old musicians, and they said they always heard that
AM: In all interviews, I am asked if the oboe is an
equivalent to the human voice. Funny enough, every
instrumentalist, even a timpanist, would say, “My
instrument has the resonance of the human voice.”
ARTICLES
Aaron Grad (AG): The oboe has great solo literature
from the Baroque era and the 20th century, but it is
hard to name a significant work from the Romantic
period. Why do you think the oboe’s role as a concerto instrument has fluctuated?
AG: As the Berlin Philharmonic’s principal oboist,
you surely encounter Strauss’ orchestral music often, including the famous tone poems written some
fifty years before the oboe concerto. Is there a consistent style or quality that marks Strauss’ oboe writing
across these different periods and genres?
92
IN THEIR OWN WORDS WITH ALBRECHT MAYER
The fact is that Johann Sebastian Bach regarded the
oboe as an equivalent to the vox humana, the human
voice. And a composer like Richard Strauss, who
was fantastic at writing for the human voice, really
knew something about lines and phrasing. The opposite of Richard Strauss is Beethoven. Beethoven
had absolutely no idea how to write for the human
voice. Of course Beethoven was one of the greatest
composers ever, but he had no idea about the human
voice. Richard Strauss did. The big oboe solo in the
slow movement of the Horn Concerto, for example, is
one of the best lines ever composed. It is so beautiful
and so perfect, but even then it is pushed so far. It is
really an extension of the human voice, because he
was writing phrases that no singer could sing. I am
quite sure that he knew some oboe players who could
do circular breathing perfectly. Because later, when
oboe players tried to play the concerto, everybody
was complaining that it is nearly unplayable because
of the breathing problem.
ARTICLES
AG: Can you explain that term, circular breathing,
for people who may not have encountered it before?
AM: Circular breathing, or “permanent breathing”
as its called in German, is a very old technique, something like 2,500 years old. It is a technique whereby
you blow air into an instrument and at the same time
take air in through your nose.
AG: Will you be doing circular breathing in your
performance of the Strauss Concerto?
AM: It is absolutely essential. If you can’t do circular
breathing and you play this concerto, by the end you
are dead. u
THE DOUBLE REED
93
An Interview with Franck Bichon
Ronald Klimko
McCall, Idaho
C
hances are, if you are
a wind instrumentalist, single or double
reed, you probably are using
at least one product from the
woodwind supply company
BG France. Based in Lyon, BG
France is one of the leading
producer of woodwind accessories, featuring over 300 items in their catalog,
which incudes straps, swabs, stands, and many other
items essential to the “care and maintainence” of our
musical instruments. This is the 25th Anniversary of
BG France, and I had a chance to write to Franck and
conduct this interview via the internet in order to fit
in best with his busy schedule.
Franck Bichon (FB): Yes! Since I was student, I knew
I was going to have my own business and to travel
worldwide. I just didn’t know in which field. Indeed
in my life I have worked for someone else for only
1,5 month. I simply knew it wasn’t for me ! At first,
I started first by organizing disco events, and then I
created my own advertising agency.
RK: Did you grow up in Lyon?
FB: I was born in Paris, but fortunately I was raised in
the countryside, Poitier, and finally grew up (if I ever
did!) in Lyon. But I am not a typical French person in
my mind. I love my country, the food, the wine, the
cheeses, the fashion: we have it all! But I am more a
combination of “European” for culture and business,
“American” for service, and an “Asian” for the mind.
RK: How did your music business actually begin?
What were your first products?
RK: Yes, the products I have used from BG France
are of good quality. What do you do for quality
control?
FB: I hate buying expensive clothes with unfinished
parts (felt on buttons,etc.). All my BG products are
hand inspected after production and we hand cut the
felt before burning to ensure long lasting BG quality. We have to show respect to the musician for their
investment. (Our only complaint from dealer is products last for too long!) My policy with my BG employees is that they have full authority to reject any product if they have any doubt about it. We only sell what
we want to buy. It is simple and logical, perhaps not
economic in the short term, but it pays back in the
long term. We have to show respect to the musician
for their investment. Our only complaint from dealer
is products last for too long!
ARTICLES
Ronald Klimko (RK): Franck, let us begin by asking
you a bit about your youth and the factors behind
your interest and relationship to music. Did you
have any idea that you would end up as a business
person in those early years?
FB: My dad was a bassoon player in his early years,
but he ended up as a saxophone teacher because there
were no jobs available at that time for bassoonists.
(Indeed he was a very successful saxophone teacher.
One of his students was Claude Delangle, who is now
the sax teacher at the Conservatoire Superieur in
Paris.) He developed a ligature to improve the sound
of the saxophone by allowing more free vibration to
the reed.
I had no clue how to produce it, and I did spend
a lot of time training myself and meeting specialists
in various fields to get the best components and to
achieve the best know-how. I discovered then that I
love thinking and designing products to fit all kind
of demands. After designing ligatures I extended my
production to straps and cleaning swabs, hence my
diversification to double reed market. One must keep
in mind that 25 years ago there was no “comfort market “- just “basic function products”. So there was a
gap to fill.
I love quality and design. Fashion was a natural
evolution of our offerings with 100% pure silk swabs
of nice design, and not just ordinary plain color.
94
AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANCK BICHON
RK: I noticed on your website that in some cases you
have a wide variety of options available. The ones
that caught my eye were the four different neck strap
and two seat strap options for the bassoon. How do
you go about developing and/or improving your
products?
ARTICLES
FB: My first success in the double reed market, also
still our “signature” as of now, came with the harnesses at the IDRS Conferences. It is easier to develop
specific products when you don’t play the instrument.
You have no specific “true definition of what people
need”. Instead you keep your mind open and try to
offer best answer to each specific need. Since then we
have designed seat straps with stable, quality leather
and neck straps with additional comfort. Most U.S.
double reed dealers also have home-made products.
So fashion, style and design, together with brand recognition has to make the difference. My philosophy
is to stay open mind and my strategy is to offer the
largest range of accessories as designer and producer
worldwide. “Details make the difference”. This is my
motto. Also, anyone can come to me and ask for a
prototype. I am open to any design and improvement
that can match the demand.
RK: You also mentioned in our correspondence that
you spend a great deal of time traveling to conventions, conferences, and exhibitions all around the
world. You are, of course, a fixture at the IDRS Conferences. How long have you been doing this, and
about how many events do you attend a year?
FB: I exhibit at all three international fairs: Shanghai, Namm, and Frankfurt. I also exhibit at major
national fairs like Yokohama, Paris, and so on. I assist my agents at their booths as best I can. In the U.S.
I do the IDRS, the National Flute Association, the
International Clarinet Symposium, the Oklahoma
Clarinet Symposium, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the Midwest for band and orchestra. I
would love to do the repairman on, it is NAPBIRT, I
believe. But it is too close to the Frankfurt fair. I also
do trips to visit major customers in Asia, Europe and
America. We just launched a show room for saxophone at Roberto’s in New York. Altogether, I am “on
the road again” at least 4 months of the year. For efficiency, Jessica Watts assists me in the USA during
exhibitions. She does most of the shows with me and
takes care of the BG France Facebook pages.
I visit all events that I consider as useful for the
development of new concepts and the researching of
new components. For instance, I am thinking of developing a Pad Dryer of universal shape, to replace
cigarette paper, made of BG fabric which doesn’t
leave a residue, perfect for sticky pads, washable and
convenient for concerts for fast use. Also, how about
an Oboe Warmer made of microfibre, polar wool,
and silk, or nylon, with all the options? This could
protect from the cold, perfect on stage and at home.
RK: Do you have any final thoughts or feelings about
your relationship to the IDRS?
FB: I want to take this opportunity to express my
thanks -among other nice dealers - Justin Miller and
specially Barbara Nielsen and her mother for their
continuous good advise on design. I listen not only to
musicians - no matter their level - but to all pro dealers and of course their repairmen - the key guys who
care only about quality.
RK: Thank you, Franck, for this opportunity to talk
to you about your business career and BG France.
Happy 25th Anniversary, and hopefully you have
at the very least 25 years more before you. I’ll look
forward to seeing you at the 2010 Conference in Norman, Oklahoma. u
THE DOUBLE REED
95
Interview with Udo Heng of Reeds ’n Stuff
Richard Rath
Tulsa, Oklahoma
it a try, rented an oboe and had the first lesson. From
the first lesson it worked out well, I had what they
called a natural embouchure and that was the start
of the oboe.
Udo Heng (UH): I started the oboe really late. Where
I grew up, the oboe was not to be found. It was in the
Frankfurt region, but the local music school did not
offer oboe. So when I was very young, six or seven
years old, my parents made me play the piano. The
piano teacher came to teach my sister piano, so my
parents decided Udo should take lessons also.
I was not really amused about that, but I accepted it and learned the piano. I was a little lazy, but I
was good at sight reading. A little later I started the
trumpet, but I always had the sound of the oboe in
my mind and it was something that fascinated me.
One day, when I was about 18, I read in the newspaper that the local music school was offering oboe and
that an oboe teacher was coming to the music school
and they were renting oboes as well. So I said I’ll give
RR: The only German oboist I know was a gentleman I first heard at the IDRS convention in Lubbock, TX. His name was Liviu Varcol and he played
a marvelous recital. We got to know each other at
that meeting and he gave me the two reeds he played
on the program.
UH: He was my former teacher and he was the one
who had the greatest influence on my career. As I said
I started at the local music school and after one and
a half years I changed to Liviu Varcol. So there are
no coincidences in life because you come to Germany
and he is the only German oboist you have met in
person. You ask me if I know him and he is my teacher. That’s very funny for me.
ARTICLES
Richard Rath (RR): Mr. Heng, prior to establishing Reeds ‘n Stuff, you were principal oboist of the
Annaberg-Bucholz Opera. How did you get started
playing the oboe?
96
INTERVIEW WITH UDO HENG OF REEDS ’N STUFF
machines to do reeds and we got to talking. I was
very impressed with the quality. What started you
to make you first machine and how did that lead to
the start of Reeds ‘n Stuff?
ARTICLES
UH: I was always “not amused” about tools I had to
make reeds. Especially at the time I started my orchestra career, I had a lot of students. I was teaching
two afternoons, so I had to make a lot of reeds and I
was never really satisfied with the machinery I could
get. I thought we are flying to the moon, but there
is no way to get accurate, precise, repeatable results.
But I was only thinking about it. One day, a couple
of years later my orchestra was in danger of getting
eliminated. I would lose my job, so I put all my money
together and I hired an engineer, hired some people
who could do the machining for me. We started with
some of my ideas.
The main reason I started was, that my job was in
danger. I needed a kick in the butt like that otherwise,
I probably would never have started doing all this.
RR: I recall you mentioned when you were younger,
auditioning for different jobs. How is it that you got
the position and ended up playing in Annaberg?
UH: That happened by accident, I was principal English horn at Altenburg Opera House. It’s a bigger opera house, with an intense Wagner tradition, but I felt
it is not my thing to play the English horn. One day I
went to Annaberg, because they called me, they had
a concert and they needed somebody to “jump in”, so
I did. I thought, wow that is a nice city and in fact it
is one of the nicest smaller cities in the former East.
Coming from the West the cities in the East looked a
“bit clumsy” a “little dirty” to me, but when I came to
Annaberg, I saw this beautiful city in the mountains
and I was impressed with it.
A couple of weeks later someone called me and
said we have the principal oboe job open and we have
an audition and we would like to have you there if
you want it. So I auditioned and they picked me out.
RR: So you were principal in the opera house for
how many years?
UH: I did the job for 16 years.
RR: I first met you at the IDRS in Provo, UT and
saw the machines you make. I was looking for some
RR: You started with the oboe, developed all the
double reeds and now are working with some clarinet machines. Right now we are on our way from
Annaberg to Leipzig, and tomorrow you go to St.
Petersburg.
UH: Yes, we are having a master class for clarinet reed
making. Which, by the way, is more popular in the
former eastern part of Germany, than in the western
part. In the eastern part of Europe, absolutely popular. People have the tradition, have the skill to make
their own reeds. So if you buy a box of reeds today,
say from a producer with a “V”, everybody knows the
name. Clarinet players tell me that out of a box of 10,
they may get one or two good reeds. It is totally different if you make your own reeds. You have the choice
about the cane you are using and you have the choice
about the profile you are using. This traditional reed
making is very intense in the former eastern part of
Europe. So we are invited, Professor Maeder from
Leipzig and me, to do a master class about reed making for the clarinet.
By the way, because it is interesting, it is not only
reed making for the oboe, bassoon and clarinet, but
bagpipe players are more and more urging me to
make machines for them.
RR: This is my second trip over here and it seems
that every time I see you, you have added innovations to your current machines, not just leaving it
THE DOUBLE REED
the same, but always improving them. What drives
you to keep improving your machines, rather than
just selling the same machine?
UH: Well, just doing something like everybody does
it, it is not interesting to me. When I do something,
it’s my oboe background. When you go on stage, you
just can’t play 90% of it, it has to be a 100% or it’s
not enough and it’s the same attitude I have with my
machines. When you travel a lot you get in contact
with so many musicians with different needs and different ideas. I get a lot of input from these musicians.
They say, have you thought about doing it this way,
or I would rather have it that way and all that keeps
my brain going to make sure I keep my customers
satisfied.
RR: As a teacher I have always made a lot of reeds
for my students and I find a lot of teachers do the
same. Your machines certainly help.
RR: Do you do any playing now?
UH: I have totally stopped playing. Since I got over 40
I had the feeling it is harder and harder for me to give
a 100% in concert or opera at night.
After a hard day working to develop and improve
double reed machines, it is sometimes very nice to
do something totally different like playing Mozart
at night. But I feel I can best contribute to the players/teachers success by meeting their needs. We can
find a lot of oboists who can do the job, but my main
profession now is to be a producer of reed making
equipment.
RR: I noticed in your shop today that you have added at least two more machines to produce your reed
making equipment.
UH: The machinery to build the machines. Yes, when
you try to build a machine that is highly precise, let’s
say “Murphy’s law” is the problem. When you have
a machine with ten parts and each one is 100th of a
millimeter different, then all of these differences add
up. The differences may compensate for each other
theoretically, but in reality all these differences add to
create a problem. So we have almost a zero tolerance
for errors and that is the reason I did not buy some
machinery that was less cost, but I bought the best.
These machines come from Switzerland.
RR: You travel to a lot of meetings, like the IDRS and
meet with many different double reed players. Do
you see any big changes, or have any observations
about what is happening in the double reed (orchestra) world.
UH: Do you mean musical instruments?
RR: I mean about playing, the numbers of players,
are there less or more and is there a greater need for
better equipment.
UH: Generally the job has gotten much harder and
the people, especially conductors demand more than
ARTICLES
UH: Basically you can buy some cane and make your
reeds, but time is a factor and the quality of the product is also a factor. So if somebody is teaching a lot he
needs the best equipment available, to have enough
time for himself. Usually I would say making an oboe
reed, if it is good, takes at least 20 minutes for a teacher. You have to pre-gouge, gouge, shape and make the
reed, break it in. Give it 20 minutes per reed, that’s
a lot and with good machinery, you can reduce this
time.
97
98
INTERVIEW WITH UDO HENG OF REEDS ’N STUFF
they did ten or twenty years ago. The demands are as
high in a rehearsal now, as they were for a concert, ten
or twenty years ago.
RR: That certainly makes it harder to get and keep
a good position.
UH: It is. It is. You see, when I started at the Musikhochschule you needed to audition and there were
two days of auditioning and there was only one seat
available. I auditioned and played Haydn, now when
you audition for a place to study like that, you have
to play Strauss. So the demands are much more each
year.
ARTICLES
RR: Do you think this is because the orchestras, like
yours are more endangered and you have more people auditioning.
UH: No, No. The teachers get better. The skills of the
teachers get much, much better. The quality of the
instruments gets much better. When I think about
my first oboe, it was a “piece of crap”. I don’t tell the
brand. I had to go by bike to the music school and
there was this cobblestone road, how do you say, it
was very uneven, bumpy. I arrived at the music school
and I had to re-adjust the oboe, because driving over
these bad roads, I lose the screws, the adjustment.
Now-a-days students don’t have these problems. If
you see the reed rooms of many universities, they
are fully equipped, with the finest equipment. So it is
easier to play at a higher level.
RR: You told me when you first started building your
business, the Opera came back, but you had decided
to build your business. That the last five years you
continued to play in the Opera and take any extra
work you could to get the money to put into your
business so when you decided to quit you would be
ready.
UH: Yes, my oboe playing paid for the development
of the business. At the beginning I had a dream. I
thought I will not be a little producer who does just
five or twenty or thirty machines. When I start I will
do something very good, I have to employ people to
make a professional approach. So necessarily, I have
to hire somebody. At that time it was putting money
into the business, then more money into the business and manpower. So almost every night I did a gig
somewhere which paid, not for me, but it paid for the
business and my employes.
RR: Are there any thoughts that we have not covered, that you would like to share.
UH: There is one thing that gets on my nerves. If
people are ignorant, if teachers tell their students you
have to use exactly this and they do not have an open
mind. It’s all about trying in life, making your own
experience. I always thought the best teachers gave
you the freedom to find out what suits you best and
what I have found, the very best musicians are always
open for new ideas.
RR: Thanks for sharing and we’ll look forward to
seeing you at the next IDRS meeting. u
99
THE DOUBLE REED
Some Notes Comparing the Reed Making Practices of
Louis Skinner and Leonard Sharrow
H. Gene Griswold
Towson, Maryland
MEASURING UNITS
Skinner – all metric – used 6” metal ruler calibrated in millimeters
Sharrow – all inches – used 6” metal ruler calibrated in 16ths of an inch
REED DIMENSIONS
Skinner – Skinner developed numerous reed models with different dimensions. Here are dimensions for three
models from the 1960s and 70s. Note that these fixed measurements are from the butt end of the reed:
Year
1964 1969
1973
Model
Short Gouge
Guetter
Hungarian
Collar
3.1 cm
2.6 cm
3.0 cm
1st Wire
2.7 cm
2.5 cm
2.8 cm
2nd Wire
2.0 cm
1.7 cm
1.9 cm
3rd Wire
.7 cm
.7 cm
.7 cm
Total Length
5.6 cm
5.5 cm
5.6 cm
RECOMMENDED BOCALS
Skinner – recommended Heckel No. 1 bocals for his reed dimensions.
Sharrow – recommended Heckel No. 2 bocals for his reed dimensions.
ARTICLES
Sharrow – In 1965 Sharrow provided a
sketch of his reed. The corrections are his.
Note that the two fixed measurements are in
front of the 1st wire, not from the butt end of
the reed. If the butt ends did not match after
folding, Sharrow simply clipped the longer
butt end with a pair of nippers rather than
trying to slip the fold. Note that he used the
abbreviation, “approx.” for all measurements
behind the 1st wire in his drawing.
100
SOME NOTES COMPARING THE REED MAKING PRACTICES OF LOUIS SKINNER AND LEONARD SHARROW
GOUGE THICKNESS
Skinner – 1.25-1.30 mm
Sharrow – 1.30 mm
GOUGE ADJUSTMENT
Skinner – gouge adjustment and its measurement were central to Skinner’s reed making—he used scrape wheels to
modify the inside of the gouged cane.
Sharrow – lightly sanded the inside of gouged cane with #400 grit sandpaper.
SHAPING
Skinner – shaped dry cane before profiling (see below); used a Knockenhauer or Fox #2 STRAIGHT SHAPER
along with an x-acto knife.
Sharrow – shaped soaked cane after hand profiling (see below); used a FOLD-OVER SHAPER (designed by himself
and manufactured by Fred Pfeifer) along with a Schick Injector Blade inserted into an x-acto holder. Sharrow
insisted on using extremely sharp cutting blades for shaping — he not only reversed the blade in the x-acto holder for
each cut but he discarded each Schick blade after shaping only one reed.
SHAPER DIMENSIONS (The following diagrams are available at www.foxproducts.com)
Sharrow
ARTICLES
Skinner
NOTE: These diagrams are used here with the permission of Chip Owen at Fox Products Corporation.
PROFILING AND FOLDING
Skinner – hand profiled DRY cane AFTER shaping—see below.
Sharrow – hand profiled the SOAKED cane BEFORE shaping. He soaked the gouged cane for at least an hour in
a flat butter dish on his reed desk. He then hand profiled the cane by first marking the gouged cane with a knifeedged file. At a point of ¾ inch from the center file mark he stripped the cane down to the center with an x-acto
knife. Next, he thinned the cane down with a large crossing file with “up and across” motions. He then replaced
the center line with a file and folded the cane over a straight edge before shaping.
USE OF PROFILERS
Skinner – In 1963 he was profiling by hand (see below). Ten years later in 1973 he was using a machine profiler
which tapered .90 mm down to .40 mm at the tip. After profiling he did further hand profiling and scored the
THE DOUBLE REED
101
center of the cane with an x-acto knife before folding.
Sharrow (quote) – “When I started making reeds seriously, I bought my cane in tubes, yes. I bought a gouging
machine and used to split the tube into four pieces, I think, if the tube was large enough, and proceed from there.
Later on I got a profiler. The thing is, when I first started making reeds, profilers were not as extant as they became
later. And when we first started using them none of us had the feeling—at least I didn’t—that you’d run the profiler
over the reed, shape it, fold it, cut off the tip, and boom—you had a reed. Not so! The profiler only helps you get
to a point where you have to work on the reed by hand. It gets you there quicker and with a little more accuracy
than if you were working by hand. So you have a little more consistency, one piece of cane compared with another.
That’s the advantage of the profiler.”1
COLLARS
Skinner - created reed models with or without collars. For example, his Guetter, Meckler, and Hungarian models
had very little or no collars, while his Munich and Knockenhauer models utilized substantial collars of 2 to 4
millimeters. He occasionally curved the collars (similar to the collars on the original Knockenhauer reeds).
Sharrow – the reeds he played on in lessons utilized a straight collar “approximately” 1/8 inch above the 1st
wire—see his drawing above. According to Sharrow, “when a collar is used, the reed is thinner and responds better
for staccato.” However, Sharrow did indicate to me that he had made and performed on reeds with and without
collars.
BEVELING THE TUBE
Skinner – Skinner flattened the right side and “turned in” the left side in order to “free the lows in the crow”.
Sharrow – used very light bevels (“remove just a hair”) starting behind the 2nd wire in order to form the tube.
ALIGNMENT
Skinner – side-slipped the upper blade to the left before wiring.
Sharrow – insisted that blades be in exact alignment before and after wiring.
WIRE GAUGE
Skinner – 21 gauge soft brass wire
Sharrow – 22 gauge soft brass wire
WIRING AND FORMING THE TUBE
Skinner – applied 2nd and 3rd wires AFTER inserting forming mandrel into folded cane wrapped firmly with
cotton cord.
Sharrow – applied 1st and 2nd wires BEFORE inserting forming mandrel into folded cane wrapped firmly with
heavy “roast beef ” cord. He inserted his Lynx and Long forming mandrel ¼ inch beyond 1st wire, removed the
cord and applied the 3rd wire. Then he “rounded” the tube behind the 2nd wire with pliers.
Both Skinner and Sharrow advocated twisting wires counterclockwise. Sharrow put a lot of emphasis on wire
stress. He stated: “where the wire is knotted, there is strain and stress on cane—on French reeds wire twists are on
the same side while German reeds have the wire twists on opposite sides.” Sharrow’s drawing above shows the wire
twists on the same side. However, the reeds he allowed the present writer to play on had twists on opposite sides.
ADJUSTMENT NOTCHES
Skinner – created 24-30 adjustment notches with a 3-cornered file between 2nd and 3rd wires.
Sharrow – did not use adjustment notches between the wires.
ARTICLES
SCORING THE TUBE
Skinner – BEFORE applying any wires he used an x-acto knife to score two sets of three parallel lines starting at 3
mm from each side of the tube (a total of 12 score marks).
Sharrow – AFTER applying 1st and 2nd wires he used a medical scalpel to score as “many scores as possible” half
way between butt end of reed and the 2nd wire.
102
PLACQUES
Skinner – used Fox Arrow Placques.
Sharrow – used flat blue steel placques only. Sharrow adamantly discouraged the use of arrow plaques because
they “distorted the natural tip opening of the reed”.
ARTICLES
REED CROW
Skinner – evaluated the crow in terms of specific pitches to be achieved. He defined the crow pitch as “the overblown
fundamental sound of the reed” (his words). The goal was to achieve the fundamental pitch by placing the lips in
front of the 1st wire and then placing the lips between the 2nd and 3rd wires. The fundamental pitch was then related
to given linear measurements in front of the 1st wire. The correction below in my 1964 notes is Skinner’s:
Sharrow – evaluated the crow in terms of specific tone quality to be achieved. When asked whether his reeds
crow on a specific pitch, Sharrow replied: “I don’t know; I never checked them that way, though I know that many
players do. I would crow the reed as I was making it just to see how it sounded—what the quality was like—and
I wanted be sure that it did not sink on the E natural—also that I could get a good E flat without using any other
keys. If I could get a good, well controlled E flat without using the right hand, and if the E would hold up, then I
had the beginnings of a good reed [see example below]. Then it was just a matter of making sure the quality and
response were what I wanted.”2
An example:
THE DOUBLE REED
103
REAMING
Skinner – used 11/64 inch and 13/64 inch drill bits (twisted clockwise) and file reamers (twisted counterclockwise)
up to a depth of 18mm.
Sharrow – insisted that the reed fit 3/8 inch on to his No. 2 Heckel bocal. Using a Linx and Long reamer, he reamed
the reed only when dry and after it was wrapped. When he reamed the reed, he turned both reed and reamer
and pressed on all sides of the reed. He also indicated that there was 1/8 inch difference between the numbers on
Heckel bocals. If a reed leaked after reaming, he used a small amount of cork grease on a mandrel, inserted it into
the reed, and twisted the mandrel in order to stop the leaks.
DRYING
Skinner – carried out most of the blade scraping before folding, wiring, and forming the tube. He allowed the reed
to dry for TWO DAYS before tightening the wires and making the final trim.
Sharrow – all blade scraping was done after folding, wiring, forming the tube, and allowing the reed to dry for ONE
MONTH.
9) create a moon shape at the very tip; and 10) soak the score and fold the cane (lined up the collars if needed).
Nine years later in August of 1973 he indicated that “more dumpf” (dampened low partials) could be created in the
sound by thinning sides all the way back to the collar. Skinner stressed other factors influencing the sounds created
by reeds included the FOUR RESILIENCE FACTORS: 1) diameter of the cane; 2) the gouge of the cane; 3) the reed
shape; and 4) the fulcrum or elevation of the wires which add or diminish resilience of the reed by controlling the
strength of the tip opening.
Sharrow: All trimming took place after the reed was assembled and dried for at least one month. Trimming was
done in two or more scraping sessions. For the initial trim he tightened all the wires and soaked the entire reed
for a half hour before making the initial scrapes. After the initial scraping he allowed the reed blank to dry for
another 24 hours before tightening wires 2 and 3 and making the final trim(s). He put on a coat of Duco Cement
directly on the tube behind the 2nd wire after the second trim in order to prevent tightening wires again. Scraping
took place over several days. Sharrow allowed the reed to dry thoroughly between each scraping session. He first
worked on the tip by alternating knife and file. When scraping tip corners, he would first scrape the right corner,
then he moved the reed (not the knife) to scrape the left corner. He would constantly dip the reed in water, go over
the knife work with a file and/or sandpaper, and then remove the cane particles and shavings with a toothbrush.
After filing, he continued again with the knife. During this process he would continually check the crow of the
ARTICLES
SCRAPING TECHNIQUE
Skinner – Skinner did most of his trimming and scraping while the cane was dry and before the reed was assembled.
In 1964 he introduced the following steps for his trapezoid scrape: 1) score the collars; 2) remove the bark (both
epidermis and dermis) between the collars; 3) scrape a flat streak down to .84 mm between the collar lines—this
will make the middle of the cane thinner than the sides; 4) blend in the sides by means of scraping and the use of
a light so that the sides had the same transparency as the middle; 5) score the very center of the cane so that when
held against the light, the score could be seen from the opposite side of the cane; 6) with a compass, measure and
place marks at 3.8 cm from the butt ends on each side of the cane (a total of four marks); 7) thin the sides from
the 3.8 marks toward the tip, i.e. scraping down into the score line at the center of the cane; 8) create the trapezoid
scrape by scraping 1/8 inch from the center score down to .50 mm; 2/8 inch from the center score down to .55 mm;
3/8 inch from the center score down to .60 mm, etc. until the trapezoid measured .85mm in the back at the collar
down to .50 mm down to the score at the middle of the cane;
104
ARTICLES
reed. Unlike Skinner, he did not use a micrometer or dial indicator. He worked for a crow which was quite smooth
and mellow with a balance between highs and lows—much like a well balanced Oboe or English Horn crow but
lower in pitch. For the most part, Sharrow checked his reed scrapings and adjustments aurally rather than with
measurements. He checked the reed visually in his reed lamp and explained that he was looking for blades that
were the same shading throughout except for the very tip. In one of our reed making sessions he brought several
unfinished reeds and said he was going to work on “tips only” that day. On his reed desk he had a small box
containing precut #400 grit sandpaper strips which he folded and inserted between the reed blades at the very
corners in order to achieve “a darker and smoother tone quality.” A cycle of soaking, scraping, and drying took
place over several days. He explained that this cycle gave his reeds much greater longevity. Regarding longevity
of reeds, Sharrow explained with the following quote: “A reed would last me quite a while because I was always
making them; there was a replacement process. But here is something I always told my students: I would have
a box of, say, six reeds in my case, all of which played. I would not use reed number one exclusively, but would
alternate them, because if you use number one all the time, eventually it is going to just give out, since it’s organic
material. Well, if you’ve been playing only number one, you’re not worried when it fails because you have reed
number two in the background. OK, fine: number one gives up, you go to number two, and YOU CAN’T USE
IT! It’s not that number two has changed, rather that number ONE has been changing over time, and you’ve been
changing with it; you’ve been favoring it, and now number two doesn’t feel right. So the idea is to play on all of
your reeds and gradually replenish them so that you don’t get that sudden change like when you’re wearing a size
8 shoe and suddenly have to put your foot into a size 6!”3 I once asked him if he ever was forced to make a reed in
one or two days for an upcoming performance. Sharrow answered, “yes, but that the reed was not usable after that
one performance.”
PHOTOS OF FINISHED REEDS
Photos of Skinner’s reeds may be found in the book entitled The Bassoon Reed Manual—Lou Skinner’s Theories and
Techniques by James KcKay, Russell Hinkle, and William Woodward. A photo of Sharrow’s reed may be found at
the IDRS’ WWW Reed Project: http://idrs2.colorado.edu/reed/Reeds.html
EMBOUCHURE AND TONE QUALITY
Skinner: Lip cushioning around the reed blades and lip placement (distance) on the reed blades were important
factors in his reed making. For example, the variance of lip cushion on the reed affects highs and lows—a firmer
lip cushion squeezes the two blades together slightly on the sides for high notes and a relaxed and more open
embouchure allows the tip opening to favor low notes. In order to attain this type of control, Skinner’s embouchure
tended to be more circular around the reed. (For actual photos of Skinner’s embouchure, see the photos on page
xxiv of James McKay’s book entitled The Bassoon Reed Manual—Lou Skinner’s Theories and Techniques).
Sharrow quote: “when I play, my upper lip is further out on the reed than my lower lip—like Andy Gump. Remember
him in the funny papers? Underslung lower jaw. My upper lip gets fairly close to the wire, and if I do any bearing
down at all, it’s with the top lip, and the lower lip is sort of pulled away—so it’s not an ee sound but an oh sound
. . . . . I hate the term reediness, but there has to be some of that to enable the sound to carry. Whatever reediness
the sound has is dissipated within ten feet, but it helps the sound to carry—to ring. Whereas a very dark sound
Skinner
Front View
Sharrow
Side View
Andy Gump
THE DOUBLE REED
105
will not carry through the modern orchestra. You shouldn’t be in a position where you have to blow like the top of
your head is going to come off. Playing should always be comfortable; exerting tremendous effort to produce your
sound means something isn’t right.”4 The advantage to the Andy Gump embouchure is that the player has more
linear contact with the lips on the reed i.e. a greater length of the reed blades is being controlled by lip cushion.
CONCLUSION
Louis Skinner’s students learned a lot about the acoustical analysis of bassoon sound as related to the interior
space of each reed model. His approach to reed making required considerable measurement during the entire reed
making process. Over the years, his reed making practices appeared (to me) to be in a continual state of evolution.
This was especially evident years later when I hosted Skinner’s reed making sessions at Towson University in the
80’s and 90’s.
Leonard Sharrow relied heavily on an aural approach to reed making. Measurements were minimal except for
the basic measurements he provided for blade length and wire placement. He taught students to make intuitive
adjustments in their reed making and to make adjustments based on the sound and response they experienced
with each individual reed. I was fortunate to have my family home near Indiana University in Bloomington which
afforded me opportunities to take lessons with Leonard Sharrow from 1965 to 1974.
Since these notes were taken nearly a half century ago and since at that time there were many other students
studying with these two great bassoon teachers, I would appreciate notification from readers regarding any known
inaccuracies contained therein. gene@bassoonreedsetc.com.
ENDNOTES
1
2
3
4
Kaplan, William, “Leonard Sharrow: An Oral History”, The Double Reed 1998, Vol 21, Issue No. 3, p. 104.
Op. Cit., p. 1
Op. Cit., p. 104
Op. Cit., p. 113
ARTICLES
GENE GRISWOLD, is professor emeritus of music at Towson University where he taught bassoon and woodwind
pedagogy. He has performed as first bassoonist with the Baltimore Opera Orchestra, the US Navy Band in
Washington, D. C., the Richmond Symphony, and the Knoxville Symphony. Besides IDRS contributions, his writings
have been published in musicological reference works including Recent Researches in Music of the Classical Era
and The Symphony 1720-1840 as well as articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. His most
recent book, Teaching Woodwinds, is presently being marketed and sold worldwide. He is presently active as a
freelancer, teacher, and reed maker in the Baltimore area—see http://bassoonreedsetc.com.
106
FLUTTER-TONGUE
Flutter-tongue
Dr. Jacqueline Leclair
Bowling Green, Ohio
The notion that flutter-tonguing requires a “knack”
or a genetically endowed skill is incorrect.
Any wind player can flutter-tongue.
lective best interest. Being very flexible and imaginative in our playing will only help live musicians compete with non-live music alternatives.
he tongue is a remarkably agile, sophisticated
and sensitive organ made up of four muscles,
lots of nerves, and taste buds galore. It is perpetually performing all kinds of important jobs for
us, most of which go completely unnoticed as we eat,
speak, play our instruments and generally go about
life. The tongue is an impressive virtuoso of our anatomy, right up there with our hands.
The way the tongue is very different from our
hands is that most of what we do with our tongues we
accomplish without paying much attention. We can’t
see our tongue work as we can see our hands work.
This can make our tongues a little mysterious to us
when we try to do something new with them. Consciously trying something new with your tongue can
feel funny and be a little baffling. But that is understandable because it is so unusual for us to try consciously to learn something new with the tongue.
One can read in orchestration books that fluttertongue is impossible on some wind instruments, especially the oboe. This is incorrect. One also hears
that flutter-tongue is genetic, i.e. one can either flutter or one can’t. This is absolutely incorrect. I have
searched for any basis of this genetic claim, and there
is none. Also, one hears that there are “two kinds
of flutter-tongue: the tip of the tongue and the back
of the throat.” This is also incorrect. None of these
restrictions exist in reality. Read on! There is every
reason to believe you and your students can learn
flutter-tonguing.
Flutter-tongue has been written for woodwinds
since the late 1800s in pieces such as Strauss Don
Quixote (1897) where the clarinets flutter-tongue,
and Stravinsky le Sacre de Printemps (1913) and
Varèse Octandre (1924) that both have the oboe
flutter-tongue.
Like many unusual techniques, flutter-tongue is
called for with increasing frequency today as music
styles mix and wind players are expected to produce
an increasing variety of effects. To do so is in our col-
Flutter-tongue is a useful color or tool for a musician
to have available to serve music.
ARTICLES
T
THE MECHANICS OF FLUTTER-TONGUE
Flutter-tongue is created by allowing some part of the
tongue, soft palette and/or uvula to relax and create
turbulence in the airstream, producing a fluttering
effect.
The three basic ways to produce flutter-tongue
1) Fluttering in the back of the mouth with the back
of the tongue and possibly the uvula or soft palate
creating the flutter.
- This is the “growling” technique which can
work fine. In some people it produces a weaker flutter effect than is desired. Its disadvantage is that it lacks flexibility (the ability to
vary flutter intensity and quick starting/stopping ability). Its advantage is that the “growling” technique does not interfere with the
embouchure.
2) Fluttering in the front of the mouth with the tip of
the tongue creating the flutter.
- This technique interferes with the embouchure and articulation control. In the case
of oboe, the player usually must allow air to
escape around the reed. The flutter effect is
usually pronounced, but the sound of the air
escaping is often noisy and loss of playing
control is substantial. For other wind instruments, tip-of-the-tongue flutter-tongue can
be all right, but it tends to be clumsy to start
and stop smoothly; and there tends to be only
one intensity.
THE DOUBLE REED
3) Fluttering in the front of the mouth with the front/
middle of the tongue creating the flutter (the tip of
the tongue stays motionless).
- This is the technique I recommend. It produces a strong flutter that can start and stop
easily. This flutter works at any dynamic in
any range, and one can vary the intensity
of the flutter effect from weak to extremely
strong.
- The tip of the tongue stays motionless. The
flutter occurs about where the tongue would
be articulating to say the word, “cat.” The
point of flutter is close to the opening of the
reed, thus one can move the point of flutter
closer to the reed to intensify the flutter, and
farther away to decrease the intensity of the
flutter.
- Since the tip of the tongue and the embouchure remain in their normal playing positions, the player’s control remains virtually
unaffected by the flutter-tongue.
- The player can articulate normally (up to a
certain speed) while flutter-tonguing.
107
4) When you can do that comfortably, gradually start
to direct the flutter into the reed/mouthpiece, but do
not form a normal embouchure. That would probably
stop the flutter. Concentrate on maintaining the flutter-tongue and gradually directing the flutter into the
reed to make a noise…not like normal playing. That
will come later. For now, make any sound at all. Your
only objective is to get the flutter into the reed.
5) Do Step 4 with your reed/mouthpiece in the instrument. Avoid “normal playing mode” which tends
to stop the flutter-tongue in its tracks. Focus on the
flutter and getting it into the instrument. Make any
silly noises you want. This is not the moment to produce a beautiful tone. Blow lots of air, make loud
sounds without a normal embouchure and keep that
flutter going.
6) Once you are making flutter sounds on your instrument, form a normal embouchure gradually
while retaining the flutter-tongue. Over time, refine
your flutter-tonguing skills.
TEACHING FLUTTER-TONGUE
1) Produce a flutter effect with your tongue: Pretend
you are about to say “cat” and make a flutter sound
with your tongue in that position. It is the same basic
effect as one makes at the beginnings of the words
“chutzpah” and “ jalapeño” and maybe some other
non-English words you know. The flutter sound is
also similar to some “joke” sounds one might make,
for example when theatrically pretending to get ready
to spit, or when talking the way Donald Duck talks.
Play around with it to find a flutter that works for you.
(Keep the tip of your tongue in contact with the inside of your lower teeth to ensure it stays still.)
2) Practice the flutter effect. Make sure you keep the
tip of your tongue motionless (in contact with the
backs of the lower teeth is generally effective).
3) When you are comfortable producing the flutter
sound, take your reed or mouthpiece. (Brass players,
do a modified version of the following that makes
sense to you): Open your mouth, put the reed/mouthpiece on your lower lip and then flutter-tongue, not
into the reed/mouthpiece, just with the reed/mouthpiece on your lip, mouth open…fluttering over the
reed/mouthpiece, not playing it.
Any persistent wind player can learn to flutter-tongue
on his/her own using the above approach. There are
more examples every day of wind players fluttertonguing on recordings and on YouTube. As a teacher, simply explaining to a student how flutter-tongue
works and how to learn it is sufficient. I have taught
people to flutter-tongue without demonstrating the
technique. It is fine to demonstrate, but not necessary. The most important elements for the teacher to
present to the student are the specific information
(above) and encouragement.
FLUTTER-TONGUE TIPS
• Flutter-tongue does not require more air than
normal playing. Flutter-tonguing is actually
very similar to normal playing, once one gets
the hang of it. Flutter-tonguing doesn’t feel
like a “big deal.” I mention this because some
people expect flutter-tonguing to be more difficult than it is or to require a lot more air than
normal playing; and these misunderstandings
can slow down the learning process.
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LEARNING FLUTTER-TONGUE
108
FLUTTER-TONGUE
• Each time you practice flutter-tonguing, begin at a step of the process where you are 100%
confident.
• Practice flutter-tonguing frequently, every time
you practice, if only for a few seconds. (If you
practice flutter-tongue just once in a while, it
will be harder to learn.)
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• One can flutter-tongue anywhere on the instrument at any dynamic. One can start and stop
the flutter-tongue at will, even on a long tone.
By moving the flutter forward or backward in
the mouth (closer to and farther away from the
reed’s aperture), the flutter intensity can be increased and decreased in order to achieve the
desired effects. u
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109
A Comparative Study of W. A. Mozart’s
and J. C. Bach’s Bassoon Concerti
James Massol
Boulder, Colorado
T
ARTICLES
his article examines the stylistic relationship between J. C. Bach’s Bassoon Concerto in E f major and
Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B f major K. 191. It is important to emphasize from the start that the goal
is not to prove that Mozart was borrowing specific material from Bach’s E f major concerto or intentionally modeling his work on Bach’s. There is no concrete evidence that Mozart was aware of Bach’s bassoon concertos, and it would be imprudent to go down that road without primary-source documentation. The two concertos nevertheless exhibit certain resemblances that Jan LaRue might call “family resemblances” in the sense
that they belong to the same general stylistic tradition, which is made up of a consistent vocabulary of building
blocks that one finds throughout the works of both composers. These similarities are most apparent through a
comparative analysis of form, style, thematic and motivic resemblances, and technical aspects of bassoon scoring. When taken altogether, these resemblances demonstrate that the works show stylistic similarities that are
sometimes in contrast to the works of their contemporaries, placing them in the tradition of the early-classical
galant style.1 The general stylistic connection between Bach’s and Mozart’s early music has become somewhat
of a truism in Mozart studies. Therefore, the point is not to dwell on that issue any more than necessary here,
but rather to demonstrate in clear terms how it exists in the two bassoon concertos. I will conclude with some
practical ideas for how to incorporate this study into a pedagogical method. In order to provide some statistical
background and context for certain comparisons there are references to Antonio Rosetti’s bassoon concertos
because he was another significant composer for bassoon from the mid-eighteenth century.
In order to prepare the historical context, a brief review of the background on the personal relationship
between Bach and Mozart is useful. In 1764 Mozart traveled to England with his father and sister where they
became acquainted with Bach. During a fifteen-month stay the young Mozart took lessons with him and went to
concerts. After just four weeks Leopold Mozart commented in a letter that Wolfgang had improved enormously
since they left Salzburg, which Heinz Gärtner attributes largely to Bach’s tutelage.2 Gärtner believes that while
in London Mozart had access to the scores of some of Bach’s trios, his six symphonies op. 3, and likely heard
some of the Vauxhall songs and wind symphonies performed in the outdoor Vauxhall concerts. Nannerl described one of Mozart’s lessons with Bach: “Herr Johann Christian Bach, music master of the queen, took [Wolfgang] between his knees. He would play a few measures; then [Wolfgang] would continue. In this manner they
played entire sonatas. Unless you saw it with your own eyes, you would swear that just one person was playing.”3
Bach apparently made enough of an impression on Mozart that after Bach died in 1782, Mozart famously wrote
in a letter to his father: “Have you heard that the English Bach has died? What a loss for the world of music!”4
Although some of these anecdotes should be read with skepticism, after taking all of the evidence into account it
seems fair to say that Bach and Mozart had a close teacher-student relationship in London and Mozart retained
significant respect for Bach throughout his life.
After leaving London, Mozart continued his study of Bach’s music by arranging three of Bach’s op. 5 piano
sonatas as the early piano concertos K. 107, probably in 1772. This exercise gave Mozart an opportunity to work
first-hand with the formal and stylistic conventions of the day and to experiment with the concerto genre, which
he would cultivate extensively throughout his career. James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy assert that from
1775 onward Mozart’s original concertos became more complex as he continued to expand the genre.5 Thus,
they connect his bassoon concerto, composed in 1774, to the more conventional concerto style that he acquired
from arranging Bach’s sonatas, thereby providing a good foundation for this comparison between the bassoon
concertos of both composers.
The genesis of Mozart’s and Bach’s bassoon concertos is far less certain than that of the piano-concerto
arrangements, and no one has been able to make any definitive conclusions. There are, however, a few good
hypotheses. Keith Warren Sweger and Richard Maunder both argue that Bach could have written his two
concertos for the well-known Mannheim bassoonist Georg Wenzel Ritter, for whom Bach definitely wrote an
110
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF W. A. MOZART’S AND J. C. BACH’S BASSOON CONCERTOS
ARTICLES
Example 1: J. C. Bach, Bassoon Concerto in Ef major, 1st movement, mm. 52–5.
Example 1: Mozart, Bassoon Concerto in B f K. 191 major, 1st movement, mm. 35–42.
obbligato part to an aria from Temistocle during his stay in Mannheim.6 To support this claim, they both point
out that the two extant sources for Bach’s E f concerto and one of the two for Bach’s B f concerto are in Berlin,
where Ritter worked after leaving the Munich orchestra in 1788. If this is the case, we can date Bach’s concertos
to around 1772 while he was in Mannheim. Maunder agrees that this date is one possibility, but he also proposes
the earlier date of 1770.7 In any case, the early 1770s is a reasonable assumption. Mozart almost certainly wrote
his concerto in 1774, two years after having made the piano-concerto arrangements, and that date comes from
a hand-written note in the André-Verzeichnis. Therefore, scholars agree that both concertos come from roughly
the same five-year period and Mozart’s was written after Bach’s.
On first listening the most obvious similarities are overall structure, form, style, and topical content.8 Both
are scored for solo bassoon, strings, oboes, and horns and follow the typical fast-slow-fast movement order, beginning with a sonata-form first movement, followed by a sonata-form middle movement, and concluding with
a concerto-type sonata-rondo menuetto. The particular formal designs of each movement are only remarkable
insofar as they are consistent with the patterns that both composers utilized, largely conforming to the formal
norms of the day. A close comparison of the forms does not serve this discussion, but other aspects of the pieces
will be addressed in the context of their formal location.
The topical content demonstrates a more significant resemblance that is apparent on first listening.9 Both
concertos exhibit a back-and-forth of singing-allegro and brilliant styles in the first movements, Italianate
opera-aria-style slow movements, and menuetto third movements. Much has been made of Bach’s “singingallegro” melodic style, which Mozart apparently learned from him. This particular feature distinguishes the
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111
galant from baroque instrumental music, which generally put more emphasis on arpeggios, virtuosic figuration,
sequencing, and counterpoint. Singing-allegro, though, describes a lyrical melody in a fast tempo that is accompanied by repeated notes and is associated with the simple, mostly diatonic harmonic idiom of the galant. The
primary theme of Bach’s concerto is a clear instance of singing-allegro, with its largely conjunct melody over
repeated notes in the bass line, creating a transparent melody-accompaniment texture (Example 1). Mozart’s
primary theme is more disjunct, but it still contains a lyrical sense of motion overtop a similar repeated-note
accompaniment. Although other bassoon concertos from contemporaries like Kozeluch, Rosetti, Vanhal, and
Pleyel often employ this style, it is the music of Bach and Mozart which exemplifies it.
In addition to the singing-allegro, both opening movements also exhibit the “brilliant style” for a similar
energetic affect. One passage from each demonstrates this point. In Bach, following eight measures of virtuosic
repeated sixteenths in the second violins, the firsts conclude with a Bb-major scale gesture, and Mozart used a
scalar passage in Bb, also preceded by repeated sixteenths, to conclude the orchestral exposition (Example 2).
Example 2: Bach, 1st movement, mm. 34–5
Example 2: Mozart, 1st movement, mm. 32–3
Example 3: Bach, 2nd movement, mm. 30–7
Example 3: Mozart, 2nd movement, mm. 7–10
The second movements display a strong opera-aria topic in the primary themes (Example 3). With largely
conjunct melodic lines containing no more than one leap in a row, they could convincingly function as idiomatic vocal lines without alteration. Mozart’s melody even bears a small resemblance to the opening of the aria
ARTICLES
The back-and-forth of singing-allegro and brilliant style in these opening movements conveys the same liveliness throughout, making the two movements sound like “style siblings” in terms of their mood and topical
content.
112
ARTICLES
“Porgi Amor” from the Marriage of Figaro, which came about a decade later. Although sometimes the significance of this brief similarity is overstated, the two do share a general affect, which justifies the opera-aria label of
the instrumental work. The second movement of Bach’s concerto also shows some likeness to a few of his opera
arias from the 1760s, such as “Figli, addio; restate in pace” from Carattaco, to pick just one. Like the concerto,
“Figli, addio” is in major-mode and triple time with the tempo marking Larghetto, not far off from the concerto’s
own Largo ma non tanto. In the cases of both concertos, their resemblance to particular opera arias supports
the claim that Bach and Mozart frequently incorporated operatic styles in their instrumental music, which is no
surprise since they were both prolific opera composers and wrote for some of the same singers throughout their
careers.10 Like the first movements, these second movements exude a similar affect with expressive depth that
could bring to mind the emotional content of either aria they resemble.
Of all the topics in the two concertos, the third-movement menuetto topic is the clearest and most consistent
(Example 4). Menuettos were common in many of Bach’s concertos and concertantes for winds, and Mozart
employed it in his bassoon concerto, the contemporary Concertone K. 190 for two violins, and his Flute Concerto
in G major from 1778. It is notable, however, that few bassoon concertos by other contemporaries, and none
of Rosetti’s, contain menuetto movements, usually favoring instead the 6/8 or 2/4 rondo. The similarity in the
overall mood of these concertos is difficult to overstate. The final movements with their cosmopolitan dance
style, for example, release the tension built up by the contrast of buoyant singing-allegro movements and the
emotionally rich slow movements. Unlike Rosetti’s concertos, which contain shorter folk-style slow movements
that provide less contrast with the third movement rondos, both Bach and Mozart seem to have incorporated a
dramatic musical narrative into the overall structure of their concertos. This broad emphasis on the narrative
flow could be attributed to their experience with opera, but that is not within the scope of this paper.
Example 4: Bach, 3rd movement, mm. 33–40
Example 4: Mozart, 3rd movement, mm. 107–14
Resemblances also appear on the level of themes, gestures, and motives. It is easy to go overboard and get
too wrapped up with small, insignificant similarities, so a hierarchical approach of most significant to least is
necessary. The following analysis is based on LaRue’s system of thematic classification, in which he describes the
differences between coincidental and significant relationships, dividing analysis into three aspects: 1. melodic
contour, 2. rhythmic function, and 3. harmonic background.11 He argues that the majority of eighteenth-century thematic resemblances are coincidental because of the homogeneity of material.12 The term “family resemblances” seems the most useful in understanding any coincidental occurrences, while an “exclusive relationship” would be a significant resemblance that cannot be traced to the style at large but only one other work.
The primary themes from the first movements of both concertos exhibit the closest resemblance, deriving
from the three aspects of analysis that LaRue outlines. This comparison includes the first five measures plus one
note of Mozart’s theme because the last two measures are a cadential addition to the first tutti statement of the
primary theme and the first four measures of Bach’s theme because the second half is a repetition of the opening gesture followed by an extension (Example 1). First, the themes show a background similarity in melodic
contour and harmony, beginning on scale-degree one, descending to five, and returning to one (Figure 1).
Mozart’s theme has the wider span of a sixteenth compared to Bach’s span of a sixth. But the middle of Mozart’s descends to scale-degree five a second time in the lower octave, which should be classified as a repetition
through octave equivalence, making the fundamental contours more alike. Second, the themes repeat a similar
rhythmic pattern that in fact permeates both opening movements.13 In the twenty-three measures of primary
and transitional material of Mozart’s solo exposition, this second-beat syncopation or accent exists in thirteen
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113
Figure 1: Bach, 1st movement, mm. 52–5
Figure 1: Mozart, 1st movement, mm. 35–40
ARTICLES
of them, and in the analogous area of Bach’s it occurs in sixteen of the thirty-one measures, which is roughly half
in both cases. This rhythmic figure, combined with dotted-eighth-sixteenths in Mozart and Lombard snaps in
Bach, has a lively and cheerful character. It strongly announces the primary themes, while both second themes,
in contrast, are lighter and more graceful. After a brief look at the statistical background for this rhythm, it becomes clear that Bach used it in some of his arias from contemporary operas and his Symphonie Concertante in
F major for Bassoon and Oboe. Therefore, this rhythm is not exclusive to these two concertos, but it is nevertheless a defining aspect of the primary themes and the overall musical character. Third, the functional harmonic
content is nearly identical, moving from tonic to dominant and then progressing through ii, IV7, and cadential
6/4 to dominant before returning to tonic (Example 1). Interestingly, the subdominant is ornamental in both
cases as scale-degrees one and three pass over scale-degree four towards the cadence. Certainly this is not an
exclusive relationship insofar as this harmonic pattern is very common, but the two themes do conclude with an
identical melodic and harmonic pattern typical of both composers. Finally, to add a fourth criterion to LaRue’s
three, the two themes convey the same affect through their topical content, a not insignificant similarity that
has an immediate impression on the listener. Drawing a conclusion from this analysis can be difficult because
of the subjectivity involved. According to LaRue’s guidelines the two themes are remarkably similar and bear
the closest functional resemblance of any aspect in the works. If one were to argue that Mozart knew of Bach’s
concerto, which is unknown, then these two themes would certainly support that claim. At this time, however, it
seems more important to remember that the two men were close musical relatives who shared many style traits
and let this analysis reinforce that more reasonable conclusion.
There are other motives and gestures in the two works that show some likeness but are less significant than
the two primary themes and belong to the family type of style resemblances. It is helpful to think of motivic relationships in a pyramid scheme where they occupy the bottom, foundational level. Acting as building blocks for
the musical language, these many small similarities reinforce the underlying stylistic consistency in the music
of both composers. While no one resemblance is significant and could certainly seem accidental, the sum defines the musical environment. If one were to remove this aspect, taking away the bottom level of the pyramid,
there would still be a pyramid, just smaller and less imposing. The B f -major scales from both first movements
are interesting because they function similarly in each case by preparing significant structural articulations
(Example 2). In Bach’s opening tutti statement it precedes a perfect authentic cadence (PAC) before the secondary material, and in Mozart it sets up a PAC before the first solo entry of primary material. Moreover, both pas-
114
sages are highlighted through a shift to unison and wind punctuations. Two more passages include the triplet
figurations from the menuettos, located after statements of the primary rondo-refrain themes (Example 5).
Example 5: Bach, 3rd movement, mm. 53–63
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Example 5: Mozart, 3rd movement, mm. 21–8
In Bach’s work this could be labeled a sujet-libre transition, which introduces a new thematic idea at the start
of the transition.14 Mozart’s menuetto is more ambiguous because the bassoon enters with a passage that could
either be a surplus idea to the first rondo refrain or the sujet-libre transition as a part of the sonata side of the
form. But since this is the first material that the bassoon plays, sounding like the start of something new, sujetlibre seems like the more convincing analysis. Therefore, the two menuettos contain a similar triplet passage at
a comparable point in the form. Another figure is an arpeggiated eighth-note pattern that descends by step over
the course of a few measures (Example 6).
Example 6: Mozart, 1st movement, mm. 141–2
Mozart’s is a more condensed version of Bach’s, progressing at a faster harmonic rhythm, and Bach’s has contrapuntal suspensions in the accompaniment where Mozart used simple imitation. But the leaping between the
tenor and bass registers on the bassoon produces a similar contrapuntal effect as both figures descend stepwise
in passages preparing structural dominants. There is one final sixteenth note gesture used in virtuosic passages
in the first movement of Bach and the third of Mozart (Example 7).
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Mozart, 3rd movement, m. 130
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They are not identical and would probably go unnoticed to the listener, but they are nevertheless a similar pattern. Certainly these small incidences are individually insignificant and could seem like mere coincidences, but
taken together they demonstrate a stylistic connection between the composers insofar as both employed similar
building blocks in their compositional vocabulary.
This type of study has a historical emphasis, but there are also practical performance-practice and pedagogical components. Mozart’s bassoon concerto is the most important that exists for bassoon and is a part of nearly
every orchestral audition. Establishing at least a basic stylistic relationship supports the idea of studying Bach’s
music to better understand the precedent for Mozart’s—although the value of Bach’s music is certainly more
than just didactic. It is important to remember that Mozart’s style was rooted in the musical culture of Austria,
Germany, and Italy, as was Bach’s, and that Mozart learned his craft from certain contemporaries whom he
held in high regard. Stanley Sadie makes the point that Mozart’s relationship with Bach introduced Mozart to
a brand-new style that “must have struck a chord in Mozart, whose own music was to move in similar directions.”15 If a student learns Bach’s concertos before beginning Mozart’s he will already be acquainted with the
musical style and even some similar motives and gestures, allowing him to develop a style-specific approach to
performance practice.
Aside from style, the treatment of the bassoon is another aspect to performance-practice that can inform
the teaching of eighteenth-century concertos. During this period the bassoon was becoming more and more
of a solo instrument and its capabilities and range were expanding. Bach’s concerto utilizes a span from E f2 to
A4, and Mozart’s span is a full three octaves from B f1 to B f4.16 As was common with many bassoon concertos
from the baroque and classical eras, Bach added timbral contrast by using leaps as wide as a twelfth in the melodic line, and in his B f -major bassoon concerto he even wrote a few leaps of two octaves and a third. Mozart
employed similar effects. In his slow movement, for example, there are five two-octave leaps and another leap of
two octaves and a fifth. Tessitura is another area in which we see similarities. As was the norm, both works contain many passages in the tenor register—a flexible and smooth-sounding part of the range suitable for cantabile
playing. Significantly, however, they often extend down into the lower register as well, adding depth to the sound
and giving the bassoon a wider timbral palette. This use of different registers and wide leaps demonstrates both
composers’ skill in scoring for the bassoon because the normally quiet instrument has a better chance of being
heard when it is moving between the registers, which brings attention to the timbral shifts. It is worth pointing
out that Rosetti was less consistent with this technique, and in some of his concertos the range is more limited.
In conclusion, this approach to style and scoring, along with further research, could help to distinguish
between the concertos of Bach, Mozart, Karl Stamitz, Rosetti, Kozeluch, Pichl, Pleyel, Danzi and others, all of
whom composed in the same forty-year period but in slightly different stylistic idioms. When incorporated into
a pedagogical method the similarities in bassoon scoring and style would give students a firmer understanding
of the musical context regarding eighteenth-century concertos, thereby making them more literate interpreters
of classical styles.
116
James Massol holds a BM in bassoon and a MM in both bassoon and music history from the University of Cincinnati’s
College-Conservatory of Music, and he is currently working on his doctorate in bassoon performance and pedagogy
at the University of Colorado at Boulder. During the 2007–2008 academic year he studied classical bassoon repertoire
and performance practice at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, Germany on a Fulbright scholarship, for which he
received a Konzert Diplom. His primary teachers have been William Winstead, Yoshiyuki Ishikawa, and Albrecht
Holder. He is equally active in performance and music research and presented a lecture recital on ornamentation
practices in late eighteenth-century bassoon solos at the recent IDRS conference in Birmingham. He and Mr. Holder
are currently finishing work on a new edition of Mozart’s Sonata for Bassoon and Cello K. 292 with a new realization
for keyboard accompaniment to be published by Accolade: expected 2010.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gärtner, Heinz. John Christian Bach: Mozart’s Friend and Mentor. Portland: Amadeus Press, 1994.
Hepokoski, James and Warren Darcy. Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the LateEighteenth-Century Sonata. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
LaRue, Jan. “Significant and Coincidental Resemblance between Classical Themes.” The Journal of Musicology
18, no. 2 (Spring, 2001): 268–82.
Portowitz, Adena. “The J. C. Bach—Mozart Connection.” Israel Studies in Musicology Online 6, no. 2 (December
2006), 89–104, http://www.biu.ac.il/hu/mu/min-ad/ (accessed March 15, 2009).
Ratner, Leonard G. Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style. New York: Schirmer Books, 1980.
Sadie, Stanley. Mozart: The Early Years, 1756–1781. New York: Norton, 2006.
Sweger, Keith Warren. “The Bassoon Concertos of Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782): A Historical, Stylistic,
and Performance Analysis.” D.M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990.
Warburton, Ernest, ed. The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach 1735–1782. Vol. 30, Symphonies Concertantes I: Eight Symphonies Concertantes, ed. Richard Maunder. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985.
________, ed. The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach 1735–1782. Vol. 36, Woodwind Concertos: Five Solo
Concertos for Woodwind Instruments, ed. Richard Maunder. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985.
ENDNOTES
1 Adena Portowitz has done similar work with a comparison between J. C. Bach’s and Mozart’s symphonies:
Adena Portowitz, “The J. C. Bach—Mozart Connection,” Israel Studies in Musicology Online 6, no. 2 (December 2006), 89–104, http://www.biu.ac.il/hu/mu/min-ad/ (accessed March 15, 2009).
2 Heinz Gärtner, John Christian Bach: Mozart’s Friend and Mentor (Portland: Amadeus Press, 1994), 206.
3 Ibid., 206−7.
4 Ibid., 332.
5 James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the
Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 467.
6 Keith Warren Sweger, “The Bassoon Concertos of Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782): A Historical, Stylistic,
and Performance Analysis” (D.M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1990), 41. Ernest Warburton,
ed., The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach 1735–1782, vol. 36, Woodwind Concertos: Five Solo Concertos for Woodwind Instruments, ed. Richard Maunder (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1985), ix.
7 Ernest Warburton, ed., The Collected Works of Johann Christian Bach 1735–1782, vol. 30, Symphonies Concertantes I: Eight Symphonies Concertantes, ed. Richard Maunder (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.,
1985), ix.
8 I distinguish between styles and topics as referring to macro and micro musical structures respectively.
9 Leonard G. Ratner, Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style (New York: Schirmer Books, 1980), 9–30.
10 J. C. Bach wrote Temistocle for the Mannheim court orchestra and singers, including the tenor Anton Raaf,
and Mozart wrote Idomeneo for the same orchestra and Raaf after the Mannheim musicians had moved to
Munich. Gärtner, 278.
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11 Jan LaRue, “Significant and Coincidental Resemblance between Classical Themes,” The Journal of Musicology 18, no. 2 (Spring, 2001): 268–82.
12 Ibid., 268.
13 This short-long-short pattern is sometimes called alla zoppa, which Ratner describes as a “limping figure,”
but the hiccup effect of the zoppa rhythm is often negated by a smooth contour and texture, making that
label less appropriate in this case. Ratner, 85.
14 Sujet-libre refers to a theme with a transition function, appearing between the primary and secondary sections. The transition in the first movement of Mozart’s bassoon concerto (m. 45) is a clear example that
Hepokoski and Darcy cite in their explanation.
15 Stanley Sadie, Mozart: The Early Years, 1756–1781 (New York: Norton, 2006), 88−9.
16 This numbering system assigns 4 to the octave from middle C up to B. The octave above B4 is C5 to B5, and
the octave below C4 is C3 to B3 and so on.
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118
THE CONTRABASSOON AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL
The Contrabassoon as a Pedagogical Tool
Michael Burns
Greensboro, North Carolina
ARTICLES
I
n my position as a college bassoon professor I
offer not only lessons on the bassoon but also
on the contrabassoon to my students. Over the
years I have found that students taking lessons on the
contra have had some areas of their bassoon playing
improve as a result and wanted to offer this article as
a documentation of my observations.
As anyone who has played both contra and
bassoon can attest, while the two share a family
background and many similarities, the contra is not
merely an oversized bassoon. I advocate to my students
that they approach it foremost as a totally new and
different instrument and then celebrate as a bonus any
similarities when those are found. At the end of this
article I have included a listing of what I consider to be
the most essential differences for a bassoonist to note
between the bassoon and contra.
In many regards the contrabassoon exaggerates
issues also found on the bassoon:
• Pitch/Tuning is variable on the bassoon and must
be accounted for to play in tune but the contra
takes pitch variability to a much higher level with
many fingerings able to produce notes within
a range of a minor third or more! Also, because
the sounding pitches of the contra are so low
they often go well beyond a players’ singing range
so they need to learn to still mentally ‘sing’ the
notes they wish to play (in fact it is perhaps even
more crucial than on the bassoon) but they have
to employ displacement of an octave or perhaps
several octaves above where the contra will sound.
I find this to be a really important skill and also
one that I employ on the bassoon despite my own
voice matching the range of the bassoon fairly
well.
• Voicing1 is important on the bassoon (in my
opinion) to help focus pitch and tone, to facilitate
slurs and leaps, and to differentiate registers. All
of these issues become amplified, larger and more
critical on the contra.
• Low Register playing on the bassoon requires
the player to have an ‘open’ setup in their voicing,
embouchure, etc. in order to not accidentally
•
•
•
•
jump up into harmonic partials instead of the
fundamental. This also is more pronounced on the
contra. As the contra’s role is usually to play as the
bass and lowest voice of the woodwinds (and often
of the entire ensemble) this ability to truly ‘center’
the low notes is crucial.
Flicking/Venting on the bassoon is considered
by many to be an extremely important element of
technique to clarify the notes at the top of the bassclef staff. As the contra does not have a hole in the
Bocal and a whisper key to help facilitate these
notes the keys on the wing joint above the Cs key
are not for flicking or venting but actually become
true octave keys, often referred to as octave keys
one and two (OK1 and OK2—with OK1 being the
lower one immediately above the Cs key and OK2
above it.) These MUST be held down for those notes
to function (vented) as opposed to just touching
and releasing (flicking.) of course, neglecting to do
anything with the octave keys will almost certainly
not produce the desired response for these notes.
Incidentally, just as the flicking/venting system is
under further investigation on the bassoon with
such innovations as the Weisberg no-flick system,
the contra has also been investigated in a similar
way with systems to address the issue by Arlen
Fast, contra player in the New York Philharmonic
and by Allen Savedoff in California.
Counting! Contra parts are often less active and
more sparse than bassoon parts so counting rests
and being aware of what the parts surrounding
the player are doing also becomes more crucial.
Contra players also learn that bringing a good
book to rehearsal can be advisable!
Alternate fingerings. On the contra, many notes
need to have altered fingerings to facilitate tuning,
response and stability (see below.) These changes
can alter with different reeds, bocals, instruments,
etc. and a contra player needs to become quite
flexible and even sometimes creative in their
fingering choices to suit the conditions present at
any point in time in the music.
The bassoon has a big bore. The bore of the
bassoon is large and it requires a lot of air to play—
THE DOUBLE REED
particularly to play loudly in the low register. The
Contra bore is even larger and longer and requires
a LOT of air.
1. 2. 3. The contra has no whisper key
The contra has no open finger holes
(tone holes)
The contra has no fork fingerings2
The majority of differences in fingerings stem from
these three facts e.g.:
•
•
•
Ef in the staff would be a forked fingering on the
bassoon, on the contra you finger D and add a
special Ef key. Likewise E and F above the staff
you play a forked left hand on the bassoon but do
not on the contra. The simplest contra fingerings
are just to finger a first finger LH e and ‘open’ f
(like an octave lower) but with the OK2 held
down.
Because there are no open holes it is impossible
to 1/2 hole, therefore on the contra you leave off
the first finger for Fs/Gf and for G natural. For
Gs/Af you may also leave off the first finger but
it is often more stable if instead you close the first
finger and hold down the first octave key (see
below)
Because there is no whisper key you have to
remember NOT to hold down the bottom key for
the left-hand thumb--it is the Cs key!!!!
Also you can’t open the whisper key for the
register above the staff so you must hold down
the appropriate octave key (equivalent to the
bassoon flick keys) the first octave key above the
Cs key is held down to play Af, A, Bf, B, and C.
The second octave key is held down for D, Ef,
E, F. On some contras there is an optional little
button above the Cs key which operates the
second octave key to enable you to play the high
Cs more securely.
The contra is notorious for sounding out of tune
and ugly. Contra players have learned some tricks
to try and combat this. One is to find alternate
fingerings that improve intonation, tone, or stability
on certain notes. One of the more commonly used
techniques is to use the low D key as a kind of whisper
key replacement. On many instruments this will help
stability of pitch and tone on many notes--be careful
not to add it when playing a low E though!! Adding
low C, B or Bf is also possible and especially helps with
playing at softer dynamics or when needing to leap to
or from these notes. Another common change is to add
fingers of the right hand to notes that normally only
require the left (e.g. D, Ef, E, F in both middle octaves)
different combinations of fingers may have better
results on different notes on different instruments
and with different reeds--experiment a little. A good
starting point with these notes is to try adding the
2nd, 3rd, and 4th fingers of the right hand, and also
the thumb on the Bf key.
Just like on the bassoon the lower jaw has to be
really low and relaxed in order to get the contra low
notes to come out cleanly. Most people underestimate
ARTICLES
All of these elements listed above combine to make
the contrabassoon a challenging instrument to play and
especially to master, yet, it can also be a lot of fun. I see
again and again that when a bassoonist takes on these
challenges that on the contra are so pronounced and
obvious that there is a corresponding improvement in
those areas on the bassoon where they may have been
somewhat more subtle. Their sensitivity to pitch is
often improved and sometimes they have had to learn
new strategies to deal with pitch issues on the contra
that they then find they can apply on the bassoon (the
octave-displacement mentioned above as a possible
example.) Their level of voicing usage and control
is also often enhanced on the bassoon after dealing
with the more critical issues on the contra. Their low
register clarity is usually improved. They often become
better and more consistent about flicking and venting
on the bassoon after the necessity of holding down
the octave keys on the contra. They learn to count and
listen more actively and can also become more flexible
if alternate fingerings need to be employed on the
bassoon for some reason. Finally, the air management
skills required on the contra for its large bore can also
be really beneficial on the bassoon.
All of these benefits were side-effects of learning
to play the contra but all of them also enhance the
students’ bassoon playing in my experience. I have
reached the point that I may introduce contra playing
to students that exhibit any of problems listed above
on the bassoon so that by experiencing the issue in its
more exaggerated form they can become more aware
of it, learn to deal with and overcome it and then
reapply this same knowledge to the bassoon.
Below are my Contrabassoon Notes, a handout I
have developed for bassoonists when they are asked to
play contra for the first time covering what I consider
to be some of the essential differences to note:
What are the differences between bassoon and
contra?
•
119
120
THE CONTRABASSOON AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL
how low they need to make the jaw. Really drop it
down and lower your tongue position as much as
possible but you must also really focus the airstream
or it may come out flat and flabby.
Contra has the ability to play with a very wide
dynamic range–much larger than the bassoon’s.
Practice controlling the volume at both extremes, loud
and soft, and always focus and direct the airstream.
Don’t allow the sound to get blatty.
The contra is twice as long as the bassoon–
16 feet. Fill it with air!!!
ARTICLES
The Contra sounds one octave lower than
written (like the doublebass).
Michael Burns is associate professor of bassoon at
the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and
the bassoonist in the Eastwind Trio d’Anches, the
Cascade Quintet and the Blue Mountain Ensemble. He
also performs as principal bassoon in the Asheville
Symphony, The Opera Company of North Carolina
and the Carolina Ballet as well as playing regularly
with the North Carolina and Greensboro symphonies
amongst others. He has a recently released CD album
Primavera: Music for Bassoon and Piano by Bassoonists
on the Mark Masters label that is receiving critical
acclaim. Previously he has held positions teaching
bassoon at Indiana State University, playing principal
bassoon in the Midland/Odessa Symphony Orchestra
and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. He has also
played contrabassoon and bassoon in the Cincinnati
and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. Burns is
a Yamaha performing artist. He is also an active
composer with many of his pieces being published by
TrevCo Music and frequently performed throughout
the country and internationally. Burns has published
articles and reviews in The Double Reed, the TBA
Journal (Texas Bandmasters’ Association), the NC
Music Educator for which he served as Woodwind
Notes Editor, Notes (the journal of the Music Library
Association) and on the Yamaha Educator Series online.
His mentors include William Winstead, Sherman
Walt, Leonard Sharrow, and Colin Hemmingsen. He
is archivist for the International Double Reed Society
and was co-host for the IDRS 2003 Conference in
Greensboro, NC. For more information please see his
website: www.michaelburnsbassoon.com
ENDNOTES
1 For a more detailed description of my thoughts
on the topic of voicing on the bassoon please see
my previous article “Response Issues on the Bassoon” in the Double Reed Vol. 30 No. 4, 2007,
pages 71-75
2 This is an oversimplification. There are some possible contrabassoon fingerings that use a forkfingering.
THE DOUBLE REED
121
Improve Your Bassoon Technique Through Repetitive Patterns
Marc Vallon
Madison, Wisconsin
A
lthough this article uses examples from the bassoon repertoire, it also could be possibly useful to oboe
players, since the concepts presented are aimed at building up technical foundations in general. In a
broad sense, melodic repetition is one of the most common tools used in musical composition. From
simple folk songs, three-minute pop tunes to massive symphonic works, it is present at different levels of sophistication in every musical piece that includes a kind of development.
During the classical era, composers have started to use melodic repetition in a more condensed form: the
repetition affects then a simple motivic pattern of only a few notes, and its rapid occurrences creates a striking
effect of virtuosity. Mozart and Haydn, for instance, have used this type of material profusely. Later composers
have pushed further the exploration of this very effective type of figuration: Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherazade
cadenza, is perhaps the most well-known examples of the 19th century bassoon repertoire, but composers like
Ravel, Bartok , Stravinsky, and more recently Ligeti, have also been very fond of the repetitive patterns and their
possibilities.
Repetitive patterns are often linked to virtuosic effects, and the accumulation of rapid similar finger movements often pose interesting challenges to the performer. Pick up your bassoon and play the following segment:
Then, play this excerpt from Stravinsky’s Pribaoutka:
If you played this excerpt successfully at the given tempo, you probably don’t need to read the rest of this article.
But, if it was not as easy as it looked, keep your reed moist and try this:
ARTICLES
Now try this:
122
IMPROVE YOUR BASSOON TECHNIQUE THROUGH REPETITIVE PATTERNS
Now this:
Finally, play the beginning of this famous excerpt from the last and often furiously fast movement from
Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G:
ARTICLES
Now, if this proved to be a bit challenging, keep reading.
Let me guess what might have happened to you while trying these different segments: In both examples, you
played the first group easily, the two first groups with a bit more trouble, and, logically, the entire excerpt proved
to be the hardest one in terms of evenness and smoothness. One might wonder why: how come the repetition of
a musical pattern seems to increase its difficulty? If I can play it once, why not three times, and even more strikingly, how come it seems harder to play the more I practice it?
The beginning of some answers to these questions came while watching myself and my students play and
practice these tricky “finger twisters”. At first I noticed a very illogical phenomenon: At each repetition, the
fingers seem to move further away from the body of the instrument, increasing the amount of muscular energy
needed. Also, it looked like the fingers evolve from a relatively relaxed state in the first statement of the pattern,
towards uncomfortable as the pattern develops, to finally end up out of control in the following repetitions.
Finally, looking closer at the way some students operate the keys, I also noticed that the ones using the natural
curvature of their fingers by using the three joints were generally more technically able than the ones pressing
the key with a flat third phalange.
In order to win the fight against the technical challenges that are part of the bassoonist’s life, I came up with
a couple of exercises that I believe promote favorable conditions to a healthy and efficient technique. They deal
with the elements mentioned earlier:
Finger relaxation
Finger individuation
Finger shape.
The first one is called Negative Fingerings. Here’s how it works:
Play:
Now gently wiggle all these fingers that don’t press on a key or cover tone holes. If you play the regular F fingering, you should be starting a little dance with the thumb and middle finger of your left hand and the thumb,
ring finger and pinkie of the right hand. The idea behind this is to release digital tension and hence allow your
brain to register more thoroughly the finger pattern associated to a note. Now, try to get as much sensation in
these dancing fingers than in the ones actually involved in the fingering. Remember that, for any fingering, you
need to pay attention to all your fingers, not only the ones that do something like pressing a key or plugging a
tone hole.
THE DOUBLE REED
123
Try this on a top D or top E. Be aware that chronic tension in your fingers can quickly create a destructive
chain that spreads to your elbows, shoulders, neck and throat and your rib cage. (That’s why the practice of these
negative fingerings can also have a positive impact on your sound quality).
The Super Glue exercise aims at better individuation and independence of the fingers. Now, imagine that
you have super glued your left hand pinkie to the low E f key. It rests on the key without pressing it. Now play
the following segment:
In a similar way, super glue your right hand pinkie on the low F key and play:
Try to keep the super glued finger motionless on the key. It’s not easy at all, and there’s a physiological reason
to this. Although thumb first and second digits have their own complete set of tendons, the 4th and 5th digits
share one of the flexor tendons, which is why their independent movement is difficult. Expect spending more
time on fingering combination that involve these two fingers.
Rub your keys.
Although there is no medical evidence to support the idea, but it seems just good common sense that using
the natural curvature of the fingers is the easy way of pressing keys on a bassoon.
Play:
Haydn, Symphony 104
ARTICLES
When your right hand ring goes down on the G key, rub the key from its end towards the center. Repeat this
with other fingerings checking that you keep your fingers slightly curved, using all the joints. This is another
step towards technical smoothness.
Because they require extremely controlled finger motion, these RP’s are a great way to improve your technique. They make you work on a limited number of movements and allow you to work them in depth by analyzing how your fingers work on the instrument. There is limitless supply of them in symphonic repertoire. Here
are a couple of examples graded by difficulty.
After you are done with the Ligeti excerpt, I am sure that the Sheherazade solo won’t look so scary anymore.
Enjoy!
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IMPROVE YOUR BASSOON TECHNIQUE THROUGH REPETITIVE PATTERNS
Mozart, Cosi Fan Tutte Overture
Ravel, Rhapsodie Espagnole
ARTICLES
Stravinsky, Petruschka
Ligeti, Piano Concerto
THE DOUBLE REED
125
A Bassoon Lite, Please...
Fine Print
Alan Goodman
Bedford, Wyoming
N
two-dollar shot of whiskey that seemed to never get
down to empty.
“Trouble with you boys is you ain’t never got
enough culture to know good from bad, and this here
note I’m a holdin’ is bad!” With that Slick pulled the
F# out of his hip pocket and brandished it over his
head. “But I got taste, and whut we got here is a artistic
malterfacation of sorts.” Then he walked over to the
stage where I was keeping my reed wet for the second
movement of the Mozart Bassoon Concerto. Ben Kep,
the banjo player who was providing accompaniment,
stuck his hand out and said, “Here, Slick, lemme see
that Fs fur myself. You know even the pro-Fesh-ionals
make mistakes now and agin’. This here Mozart stuff
ain’t exactly a walk in the park, and me n’ Al here
haven’t had but one rehearsal fur this gig.”
Slick Hanover slapped the bad note into Ben’s
hand, turned and stalked back to make a place for
himself at the bar. Just before he wedged himself in
between Roper Robinson and Jake Larue, the music
critic for the Thayne Thistle – the town’s paper – he
called back over his shoulder, “Never heard a dropped
note on the Metropolitan Opery Show, and they’s
pro-Fesh-ion-Als fur sure!”
Kep leaned in close and said, “Old boy’s got a
point. Iffin’ we want to keep our gig here at the town’s
cultural center, we can’t be droppin’ Fs’s like this.” He
glanced towards the bar and handed me the offending
note, “Bad enough we got the music reviewer here
and all, but next week Jug Handly told me they wuz
thinkin’ of having a Country and Western band play
here Saturday night.”
Jug Handly ran Dad’s Bar and Grille, doubling up
as the bartender. He was a big man, maybe six-footfive, and easily three-hundred-and-fifty pounds. If
Handly decided the place was going to drop classical
music and experiment with Country and Western,
then that would be that. Anyone who argued with Jug
Handly would be lucky enough to live and tell about
it, let alone protest one of his decisions.
The week before, Dad’s Bar and Grille had hosted
the Cinncinati Symphony Orchestra, and they had
gotten a rave review from Jake Larue. “Them boys
could done brung it!” he exclaimed in the paper. “Let’s
ARTICLES
ational Note Insurers, Inc. has a slogan, “We
pick up the notes you drop.”
According to the brochure I received in
the mail, service is prompt, courteous, and guarantees
to protect the bassoonist against wrong notes. Seeing
as how I have a propensity – if not a fondness – for
wrong notes, I sent in a check for a year’s coverage.
That was a year ago and, although I’ve dropped a
few notes now and again, most of them have been in
my basement, and none of them was what I considered
life-threatening. Last week was an exception, however,
as I had – in the process of contributing to the town’s
cultural milieu – dropped a note.
Slick Hanover has been herding sheep in the hills
south of town for as long as most people can remember.
He comes into town on occasion to renew his stock of
canned beans, coffee, salt pork, and tobacco. Marty
Halverson, who owns the grocery store, told me she
tried getting Slick to invest in some vegetables. He
told me, “If God had wanted me to eat vegetables, he
woulda’ made into a Godamnned rabbit!”
Anyway, here I was plying my bassoonistic
prerogatives in the downtown cultural center, Dad’s
Bar and Grille, when I dropped a note. As odd as it
sounds, and with all the cowboys bellied up to the
bar at the time, Slick Hanover was the only person
to notice. “Dammnnnn,” he said, at the sound of the
offending clam, “I hear the Metropolitan Opery every
week. Comes in on my Sirus Radio, it does. And those
boys don’t drop no notes.” He bent over to pick up the
offending note, an F sharp, and turned it over a few
time before stuffing it in his back pocket.
“Gents,” he announced to the assembled audience,
who were facing backwise to the stage, “What we got
here is an imperfect performance, a concert with a
wrong note. Whut we gonna’ do about it. Take it lying
down?”
“Shut the hell up, Slick,” an old hand, Roper
Robinson from the Bar 7 Wranglers, hollered out
over his shoulder. Can’t you see we’re busy,” he
nodded his Stetson at the assembled concert goers
imbibing along the bar. Slick Hanover shot a dark
stream into the spittoon near Robinson’s high-heeled
boot, but Robinson had already turned back to the
126
A BASSOON LITE, PLEASE... FINE PRINT/MEANING OF MUSIC
ARTICLES
hope next week’s venue with the Mozart Bassoon
Concerto can measure up!”
And here we were, me and Ben Kep, faced with
a wrong note, a miscalcified Fs where there shoulda’
been an Fn. “We’ll get ‘em in the second movement,”
I whispered to Ben. “Nobody can resist Mozart’s
second movements. Besides, I’m not worried, I took
out note insurance. Even if we get canned, I should
have enough money comin’ in from the policy to tide
us over ‘till the next gig.”
I was on the phone no more than an hour
when a nice lady identified herself as a company
representative, and asked, “How can I help you?”
“Sure nice music you got playing while on hold,”
I told her. “Real classy stuff. Too bad you had to get
on the phone so fast, I was really getting’ into it by
the time that orchestra got to the last movement of
Mahler’s Second Symphony.”
“Can I have your policy number, please,” she
said.
I gave the information she needed, and mentioned
I had dropped a note at my last performance, an
Fs, which should have been an Fn. She listened to
my problem and assured me the company was one-
hundred percent behind me. But, she did notice that
there were two problems, the first being that my
policy covered every note but Fs, and the second that
the National Note Insurers, Inc. was concerned for a
precondition issue.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Says here in our records,” the nice young lady
said, “that you played quite a few wrong notes in
1954.”
“But that was my first year of taking bassoon
lessons,” I said.
“We’re sorry, but apparently you weren’t
completely truthful in your application form. It took
our researchers a while to discover this deception.
I’m afraid your claim is denied.”
When I called Ben Kep, he said, “That’s alright,
I been talkin’ with Jug Handly. He tol’ me those
Cincinnati boys wanted a special dressing room fur
their conductor. Jug said he’s ready to take a break
from classical music. Maybe brung in a symphony
orchestra only once a month instead of every week.
And then, Jug asked me iffin’ you could handle a
guitar, and owned a Stetson …” u
A Bassoon Lite, Please...
Meaning of Music
Alan Goodman
Bedford, Wyoming
T
he man sat before a large drum. It was painted with bright primary colors and decorated with plumes of feathers from exotic
birds. The large drumstick beat slowly and steadily
with hypnotic regularity against the stretched buffalo skin. Beside him the flutist sat cross-legged, eyes
closed, fingers waving languorously over the holes of
his instrument.
The drum and flute could be heard above the din
of chanting, shuffling dancers. Men and women in
colorful costume spun and bounced lightly on moccasined toes in an open area surrounded by the members of the Dakota tribe.
Everyone swayed in time to the drum. Their
voices ebbed and flowed with the plaintive call of the
flute.
Fletcher materialized slowly about five feet in
front of the flutist. It was, he thought, disconcerting standing in the midst of strangers, smiling and
otherwise trying to look friendly… while waiting
for your legs and feet to appear. He envied the newer
model time machines that had eliminated these types
of inconveniences.
“Like everything else,” he mumbled to himself,
“they require money.”
By the time all of Fletcher had materialized in
the flesh, the drum and flute had stopped playing.
Everyone in the tribe had frozen in his or her tracks.
He didn’t blame them. Appearing out of thin air like
he had just done was more than most pre-time travel
peoples could fathom.
“I am a musicologist from the future,” He an-
THE DOUBLE REED
ing image of ‘He Who Looks’.
The wrapped stick struck the buffalo head.
It’s singular throb brought ‘The People’ back
from their wonderment.
Slowly, slowly the drum repeated the familiar
pattern. The tempo increased gradually.
When the familiar song of the flute rose above
the reassuring beating of the drum, individuals felt
the tug of the Spirit.
The Great Spirit had visited them. He was strange,
but they had seen stranger in their time. Was not all
of life a wonder?
The drum reassured them. It swept forward,
beating like the collective heart of ‘The People’.
They danced.
They sang. u
ARTICLES
nounced to thirty or forty astonished faces, “I am
here to research a paper on the meaning of music.”
The first person to move was a youngster, maybe
eight or nine years old. She walked up to Fletcher and
stuck her hand out as if to reassure herself that he was
real.
“What is music?” she asked him, poking at his leg
with her finger.
All eyes followed the girl’s gesture as she stood
before Fletcher.
“Well, music is what you were just doing,” He replied, “the sympathetic, regularity of vibratory sound
waves coalesced into a repetitive pattern identifiable
as form. Intellectually speaking, these vibratory
pat…”
A large impressive looking man replaced the
young girl before him. The man stood about six feet
tall. He carried a certain weighty dignity, an authoritative demeanor. His eyes stared into Fletcher’s as if
searching for a clue as to who Fletcher was, and where
he might have come from.
His hands rose, palm out in front of him.
“I am ‘He Who Looks’,” the man said.
His words were measured.
“Has the Great Spirit sent you to us in this way?”
he asked.
Fletcher smiled and held his hand up, palm out,
in a manner imitating the Chief’s.
“No sir,” he answered politely, “I’m a musicology
student doing research on the origins and intellectual justifications for music. Fletcher of the Polyhedral
Technical Institute of Music at your service.”
“What is it you wish?” the Chief asked bluntly.
Fletcher took a big breath to calm himself. He
explained his theory that certain intellectual stimuli had to be fulfilled as a pre-requisite to satisfying
man’s understanding of the music he was hearing.
The Chief stood immobile, without speaking.
Fletcher taking this as a sign of interest in his theory, explained that he was a Doctoral Candidate, who
was writing a book that would show that emotional
response was inhibitive to true intellectual understanding of the meaning of music.
He felt more than saw the circle of Dakota closing slowly in around him… when his beeper went off.
“Yes?” he answered into his cell phone.
“Fletcher,” the angry voice of Professor Drybone,
his Doctoral advisor, crackled over the phone,” where
in Hell are you? You better not have snuck back in
time again! This could be expulsion for you!”
Fletcher flipped the phone closed, activated his
time travel accelerator, and smiled at the disappear-
127
128
REVIEWS
Reviews
REVIEWS
Bassoon
RECORDING
REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY RON KLIMKO
McCall, Idaho
ENSEMBLE RECORDINGS INCLUDING
BASSOON
(Editors note: The Executive Board of the IDRS has
requested that I no longer rate the recordings with
“Crows”. This review will comply with their request,
but I would like to hear from you whether or not you,
as the readers of these reviews prefer them or not.)
CARL NIELSEN: MUSIC FOR WIND AND
PIANO.
New London Chamber Ensemble (Lisa Nelsen, flute;
Melanie Ragge, oboe; Neyire Ashworth, clarinet;
Stephen Stirling, horn; Meyrick Alexander, bassoon)
Assisted by: Michael Dussek, piano; Pierre Doumenge,
cello; Leon Bosch, double bass; Helen Hooker and
Sophie Middleditch, recorders.
Meridian Records
PO Box 317, Eltham, London, SE9 4SF, U.K.
Website: www.meridian-records.co.uk
CDE 84580
1914, which translates as “My Jesus, make my heart
to love thee”.
Needless to say the recording is flawless. I especially loved the Variations, in which each of the artists have an opportunity to shine, individually and
brightly. The horn variation is incredibly beautiful,
and Meyrick Alexander’s interpretation of the solo
bassoon variation is also breathtaking (literally!).
Taking a cue from the old Melos Ensemble’s recording featuring bassoonist Bill Waterhouse, who
first astounded us all by circular breathing his way
through the entire variation, Meyrick gives us only
one audible and very logical breath at the very middle
of the variation (no doubt to allay the fears and wonderment of all the bassoonists who would be “breathing” with him while listening to the recording). The
other two long sections probably employ circular
breathing, or if not he must have the lungs of a channel swimmer!! Bravo, Meyrick!
Ah but this is only beginning of this CD. The
next work is the unspeakably beautiful Serenade in
Vano for Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn, Cello and Double
Bass. Once again Nielsen wins one over with his lush,
lyrical style. He is an absolute master of the use of
“horn fifths”, and they are always presented in a very
harmonically innovative manner that I have long admired. This all-too-brief ca. 7 minute work receives a
simply gorgeous reading in this recording.
The other works on the CD are the Fantasy for
Clarinet and Piano, an early (ca 1881) work, Fantasy
Pieces for Oboe and Piano, Op. 2, also an earlier work,
which, like the clarinet work, is written in studentlike, much less individualistic romantic style. The
Canto serioso for Horn and Piano is closer to Nielsen
later style, however, and once again one can hear his
characteristic use of “horn fifths”. It is a lovely work
that surely hornists would enjoy performing.
Next on the disc are two Fantasy Pieces. The first
is for flute and piano entitled The Fog is Lifting, and
the second is a lovely piece for solo flute called The
Children are Playng. Again these are two beautiful
compositions probably not well known in the flute
world. Three Piano Pieces Op. 59 follow next. These
are, as one might guess from the late opus number,
more in the mature Nielsen style: more dramatic and
quite experimental harmonically. A cute, but harmlessly short Allegretto for Two Recorders concludes
the chamber music offerings on the disc.
What follows, however, makes for very fascinating listening. It consists of three different interpretations of three sections from the original score to the
Quintet, which are different from the earlier record-
REVIEWS
This is a wonderful new CD by some of the UK’s finest woodwind stars. Featuring the music of Danish
composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931), the recording begins with a definitive reading of the highly-renowned
Quintet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon,
Op. 43, which utilizes in part interpretations based
on the new Carl Nielsen Edition of the work. This
new edition came out just as the group was finishing their recording. In perusing it, they noticed, as
the excellent program notes point out, that Nielsen
had a curious practice of using two parallel lines right
before any tempo change. Apparently he used these
not to indicate a kind of pause—the usual use for this
symbol, but more simply to show exactly where the
tempo changes occur, since his markings are quite
freely drawn in the manuscript (ll), rather than in
the usually strict manner (//). As a consequence, the
group subtly changed their interpretation accordingly. Another “revelation” that the program notes
bring out are that the final variations are based on a
Chorale theme that the composer, himself, wrote in
129
130
THE DOUBLE REED
REVIEWS
ing (since, as mentioned above, was already almost
completed when the new Nielsen Edition of the work
came out).
The group decided to re-record these sections as
Nielsen probably intended for them to be interpreted, based on the manuscript score. They are: 1) the
opening of the second movement Minuet with the
articulation for the bassoon closer to Nielsen’s original indications, which are decidedly different from
the printed score; 2) a faster tempo for the Chorale
theme of the Variations, based on the phrasing indications of 2 four-bar phrases in the clarinet part.
A faster tempo would enable the ensemble (and presumably a congregation needing breath sooner!) to
play (or sing) each phrase on one breath; and 3) the
final Chorale using the English horn rather than the
oboe. Nielsen apparently originally wanted the English horn here as well as in the initial Chorale statement before the Variations, but changed the score
to the oboe and rewrote the part when it appeared
impractical to switch from oboe to English horn in
the three short measures of rest prior to the final
Chorale. The program notes also reproduce illustrations of these three passages from the manuscript. It
is very interesting listening to switch back and forth
between these three tracks and the ones in the complete recording to hear the effect of changes in the
interpretation and the scoring.
High, high marks to this recording for bringing these chamber works to light by the great Carl
Nielsen. The recording technique of the entire disc
is of the highest quality as well. Admittedly, some
of these works are more “studentish” and probably
will not be performed much in the future. But the
Quintet, along with the 3 different “interpretations”,
and the Serenade in Vano alone make this recording
a must have in any woodwind artist’s CD collection.
Highest recommendation.
ANTON REICHA: WOODWIND QUINTETS
OPUS 100, NOS. 1 AND 2, VOLUME 10.
Westwood Wind Quintet (John Barcellona, flute;
Peter Christ, oboe; Dileep Gangolli, clarinet; Charles
Kavalovski, horn; Patricia Nelson, bassoon)
Crystal Records
28818 NE Hancock Road, Camas, WA 98607, USA
Email: info@crystalrecords.com
Website: www.crystalrecords.com
CD270
As reported in the previous issue of The Double Reed
(Vol. 32, No. 4, pp 49-50) the Westwood Wind Quintet
recently completed their historic series of recordings
of all the woodwind quintets of Anton Reicha (17701836) in 12 CDs. This edition constitutes Volume 10
and contains Quintets 1 and 2 from Opus 100.
The first work is the Quintet in F Major. This one
is a particularly busy one for the bassoon, and Patricia Nelson shines brilliantly throughout. Beginning
with a Lento introduction, Reicha “introduces” each
instrument individually with a short, descending triadic solo which, when inverted, then begins the following bright and vibrant Allegro con brio in sonata
form. As with all the Reicha quintets, the writing for
the winds is busy, and both technically and musically
interesting.
With all the brightness of the first movement behind it, the somber opening in D minor to the second
movement Adagio is somewhat of a surprise. Over a
pulsating “heartbeat” of a harmonic background, the
flute and the bassoon alternate very somber phrases
before a second theme in F major somewhat brightens the mood. However, the opening D minor theme
inevitably returns with the flute and bassoon again
swapping mournful phrases, before the movement
concludes with horn, oboe and clarinet and finally
flute solos in the coda.
The fast, and again sprightly Menuetto that comes
next quickly blows away the D minor gloom, and the
brilliant Allegro vivo finale solidifies the overall upbeat and positive character of the entire composition.
Although every instrument is kept busy in this Quintet, I would recommend that you bassoonists push for
playing this composition with your ensemble. It has
a lot of great bassoon solos and “licks” throughout!
As if he knew that the bright mood of the previous Quintet needed a more somber work to follow
it, one would initially assume that Reicha would follow his F Major Quintet with a more serious second
composition. Despite the key, the Quintet in d minor
turns out to only partially “fill the bill”. Following a
short Adagio introduction, the first movement Allegro in sonata form begins in somber D minor, but
quickly turns to F Major for a secondary theme and,
almost self-consciously, spends generally more time
in this major key than the minor one. The D minor
recapitulation returns, however, but the secondary
theme, now in D Major, once again dispels the gloom
and enables the composer to bring the movement to a
“happy” D Major ending.
The lovely A Major second movement continues the surprisingly bright overall mood of this “socalled” D minor Quintet. And the third movement
Menuetto in D Major (!) maintains this character
REVIEWS
even more so. To be sure, the Allegro vivace finale begins in D minor but in about the time it takes to state
the first theme, the second theme in A Major reveals
the truth at last: this is a quite positive and joyful
composition cleverly disguised in a minor key! The
D Major ending cements this conclusion by bringing
the work to a brilliant close.
As with all the previous Reicha CDs of this series,
Volume 10 is excellent throughout: well performed,
finely recorded with a nice “concert hall” sonority,
and sounding very much like works that I, myself,
would loved to have performed. As an added note,
this recording again uses hornist Charles Kavalovski, former principal of the Boston Symphony under
Ozawa. I personally consider Charles and a former
mentor of mine, the late John Barrows, to be the finest hornists I ever have had the priviledge of hearing.
Charles’ excellent playing in this recording underlines my admiration for his work. Once again, Bravos, to the Westwood Quintet, and a personal highest
recommendation for this wonderful CD!
THE NEW ISRAEL WOODWIND QUINTET
(Eyal Ein-Habar, flute; Dudu Carmel, oboe; Yevgeny
Yehudin, clarinet; Chezy Nir, horn; Mauricio Paez,
bassoon; assisted by Itamar Golan and Ohad BenAri, piano)
Meridian Records
CDE 84568
on his own Sextet.
Opening with the Beethoven, the ensemble immediately sets a very high standard of artistry and
musicianship. Bassoonist Mauricio Paez sounds absolutely wonderful and is particularly stellar in his
interpretation of the beautiful bassoon solo of the
slow movement with its lovely subito piano, so difficult to play with both skill and musicianship finely
executed. All performers do very well. Their wide
spectrum of dynamics is in turn both impressive and
exciting to hear.
To me, the Poulenc Sextet, that follows, however,
is much less satisfying. The tempo of the first movement is faster than I have ever heard (or played) before! Because of this, I felt it lacked a lot of clarity that
one would obtain with a slower-but-still-fast tempo.
Consequently, the opening theme was pretty much of
a garbled blur as far as expression goes. To my relief,
the slower middle section was very nice and expressively done. Again the dynamics were very impressive. Ah but then the garbled fast section returns. For
my taste, just because one can push all the correct
buttons down at a hellishly fast tempo doesn’t mean
that one should. I would have been much more impressed if they hadn’t.
To be sure, the second movement begins beautifully, but again (though not as extreme as earlier)
when the tempo increases in the middle, there was
once again a “frenetic” quality to the playing at a
tempo that fast. Pity to have such beautiful playing marred by an insistence on inappropriately fast
tempos. (I wonder who the ‘culprit’ in the group is
who insisted on the fast tempos.) The last movement,
though still quite fast, is the best played movement of
the work. The “frantic” quality isn’t there, replaced by
solid performance and impressive expression, and its
warm, rich, Ravel-like ending.
The two other works on the CD, the Strauss/Carp
arrangement of Til, and the Sextet by Ohad BenAri, were new to me. Using the piano effectively to
‘fill-out’ the sonorities of the original, David Carp’s
arrangement of the Strauss classic fits the ensemble
very well, with the well-known soli of the original
score retained in the transcription. The program
notes also mention that Strauss’ brilliant original orchestration contained no less than 34 different wind
parts, which inspired Carp to create this nicely crafted arrangement for woodwinds and piano. The ensemble performs it with very convincing expression
and musicality that catches the sarcastic character of
the original very well.
The final Ohad Ben-Ari Sextet is a single move-
REVIEWS
Founded in 1993, the New Israel Woodwind Quintet
consists of members from the Israel Philharmonic
Orchestra and the Israel Chamber Orchestra, among
others. Based primarily in Israel, the ensemble nevertheless has an international flavor, with clarinetist
Yevgeny Yehudin originally from the Soviet Union
and bassoonist Mauricio Paez originally from Costa
Rica as members of the group. Moreover, they have
performed on many occasions both at home and
abroad.
Their repertoire for this recording consists of
two of the most popular compositions for piano
and winds: Beethoven’s Quintet in E flat Major, Op.
16, for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon; and
Poulenc’s Sextet for piano and wind quintet. The
other two works are Richard Strauss’ Til Eulenspiegel’s lustige Streiche, Op. 28 arranged for piano and
wind quintet by David Carp, and a piece new to this
reviewer: the Sextet for piano and wind quintet for
Israeli composter Ohad Ben-Ari. The pianist on the
Beethoven and Poulenc is Itamar Golan, and composer/pianist Ben-Ari performs on the Strauss and
131
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ment, multi-sectioned 15+ minute work in an expanded tonal style. The opening section is a wispy allegro in compound duple meter. A series of dark soli
in transition lead to a lyrical slower theme, beginning
with a piano solo that contains a strongly tonal and
romantic style. This in turn leads to a more marchlike third section that builds dynamically and dramatically to another slow return of the earlier romantic section before eventually turning again to faster
music and a final coda initiated by the piano that
brings the work to a fast and dramatic conclusion. All
in all this is an interesting composition of generally
romantic tendencies, that to me unfortunately lacks a
sense of overall cohesion.
The New Israel Woodwind Quintet is a fine ensemble, and this is a nicely recorded CD. The disappointingly fast first and second movements of the
Poulenc along with the cohesive vagueness of the
final new work by Ben-Ari, however, keep me from
giving it my strongest recommendation despite many
sterling qualities.
BATACLAN!
(Denis Plante, bandonéon; Mathieu Lussier, bassoon;
Catherine Perrin, harpsichord)
ATMA Classique
ACD2 2581
REVIEWS
Perhaps the best way to describe this disc is in the
words from the program notes by bassoonist Mathieu Lussier:
“Bataclan: noun, French (1761; onomatopoeic).
Trappings, baggage, paraphernalia; Compare:
junk, stuff, gear…
Ba-ta-clan. (1855, Paris). Name given to the
national anthem of an obscure Chinese province
in a comic operetta by Jacques Offenbach. A
caberet-style music hall would be erected in
Paris bearing the same name, whose musical
troupe world, among other achievements, tour
South America in 1922.
Bataclana: noun, Spanish (1922, Buenos Aires).
Woman purported to be singing or dancing but
who essentially does little more than flaunt her
body.
It is thus in keeping with the history behind the
French term ‘bataclan’ that this project came into
light. That an onomatopoeic word would turn out to
be a Chinese anthem and subsequently the name of a
voguish Parisian cabaret and then finally mutate into
a slightly sardonic Argentinean qualifier seems just
as unlikely as a musical encounter between a bandonéon, the harpsichord and the bassoon.”
In other words, I can’t explain this CD either! It is
just a lot of fun music, decidedly Latin American, decidedly delightful to hear, and decidedly beautifully
played by three decidedly talented musicians.
Matthieu Lussier needs no introduction as one of
Canada’s finest bassoonist /composers. Denis Plante
on the traditional Argentinean bandonéon, with
which the Tango is so closely linked, and harpsichordist Catherine Perrin, along with Matthieu, have
no “history” or “tradition” to fall back on. Like the
original meaning of Bataclan, they are all “trappings”
of different musical traditions thrown together in a
truly interesting CD to hear for oneself.
All the works are Latin-flavored, many by Astor
Piazzolla, Hector Ayla, Eduardo Falu with arrangements by Denis Plante. Another is by Villa-Lobos
arranged by Matthieu. Two others are compositions
by Matthieu himself, and two more are by Denis.
Altogether they comprise a very lovely, highly listenable recording of beautiful Latin-inspired music. I
particularly like the Melodia sentimentale by VillaLobos/Lussier which is very Bach-like and begins
with a neat solo by the harpsichord. It is fun to hear
the harpsichord being played in such a “non-harpsichord” manner in this recording. Matthieu’s bassoon
playing is very lovely as well. He plays with a rich sonority which he seems to have made even richer and
warmer to fit the popular character of the music.
This is a light, engaging CD which could serve
both as party background music, or even better as a
nice diverse listening experience for anyone looking
for music that fills the space between ‘classical’ and
‘popular’ without 1) tearing your ears off a la rock
n’ roll, or 2) assaulting your intellect with its lack of
musical interest as some new-age music does. I really
liked this recording, and I recommend it strongly for
your enjoyment.
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REVIEWS
Bassoon
MUSIC
REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY DANIEL LIPORI
Ellensburg, Washington
MUSIC FROM IMAGINE MUSIC
P. O. Box 15, Medina, NY 14103
http://www.ImagineMusicPublishing.com
MCALLISTER, JAMES.
Three Miniatures, for Woodwind Quintet.
IMS 081 ($20)
TRACY, JOSEPH.
Psalm, for Bassoon Choir.
IMS 084 ($12 hardcopy; $10 download)
Here is a very short and simple work for three parts.
It is homophonic and diatonic throughout and uses
mostly quarter notes and half notes in a moderately slow tempo in a duple meter. The ranges are not
extreme, with the top part extending up to g1, the
middle part only going up to d1, and the bottom part
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
Ballade, for Bassoon Quartet.
IMW 062 ($12 hardcopy; $10 download)
This piece is an arrangement of the middle movement
of Baldwin’s Neoteric Suite. It is a slow love song, and
the melody is passed between the top three parts,
which is mainly a quarter note idea, sometimes ornamented with eighths and sixteenths. The accompaniment is fairly simple, and does get in the way of
the melody. The top bassoon line goes up to b f1, the
second part goes up to g1, the third part goes up to
e f1, and the bottom part only goes up to a f. I would
give this work a grade of III-. Not to sound biased,
but I like the sound of this arrangement a little better
than the original instrumentation.
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
Midwest River Fantasy, for Contrabassoon with
Bassoon Choir.
IMW 071 ($50)
This is an incredibly difficult piece. The contrabassoon part is very virtuosic and covers the entire range
of the instrument, going up high d at one point, and
also has several high c’s. You will certainly need an
experienced player on this part. While the eight bassoon parts are largely chordal, there are many difficult passages for them as well. A few parts have some
fast, repeated A Major arpeggios, or go back and forth
between a and c s1 very quickly, for example. Movement one is in a slow duple meter and is in a basic
ABA form. After the contrabassoon plays the opening melody, it then moves to an obligato line, while
the first bassoon part takes over the melody. The B
section has a bit of interplay between the solo and accompanimental lines. The second movement is in a
moderately slow duple meter, and the solo line plays
a variety of rhythmic ideas throughout, over a mostly
chordal accompaniment. The final movement begins
in a moderately fast compound meter, with a syncopated quarter note line in the solo voice, and those
awful arpeggios in the bassoon parts. It then moves
to a triple meter section, that is somewhat of a call
and response between the soloist and choir. A middle
duple meter section then follows, using long chordal
notes below a mostly quarter note melody. A short
cadenza brings back the opening two sections, which
REVIEWS
The first movement is titled ‘Drunk Monk’ and
uses a syncopated ostinato pattern in a 10/8 meter
throughout, primarily in the bassoon in a moderately fast tempo. The main melodic ideas are based
off of this pattern. There are many entrances on the
offbeat or on a weak sixteenth note, which helps give
the ‘drunk’ feel to the movement. Movement two is
titled ‘Ghost Waltz’ and is in a moderate triple meter
throughout. The main melody is a quarter note idea,
usually preceded by a longer, held note, with a basic
waltz accompaniment beneath. The marked tempo to
me seems quite a bit slow, but perhaps that is part of
what gives the ‘ghost’ title to the movement. The final
movement, ‘March’ is in a faster pulse in a compound
meter. The opening melody is a moving eighth note
line that passed between all the voices. This is later
contrasted with a longer dotted half note idea. To
me, the flute part often gets lost in the texture, as it is
mostly playing in its lower register, but that perhaps
could be due to the recording that I listened to. The
bassoon line extends up to c2 once, and I would give
it a grade of III+. With a little work, a younger student
group should be able to play this piece.
stopping at f. I would give this piece a grade of I+. This
is a pretty sounding work, that would be great for a
young group of students.
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conclude the movement. The piece is more than deserving of a grade of V. If you have the numbers to
play this piece, it would certainly be a big contrast to
the other works on your next program.
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
River of Light, for Bassoon and Piano.
IMW 094 ($12 hardcopy; $10 download)
This work is meant to be a musical depiction of a
painting by Frederick Edwin Church titled ‘El Rio
de Luz’ (The River of Light). It is in a slower andante
tempo in a duple meter throughout. The piano is accompanimental throughout, and mostly plays block
or arpeggiated chords. After a short introduction, the
bassoon enters in a mid register melody in D f Major. The middle section moves to E Major, and is a bit
more animated, with faster moving notes and some
syncopations. It then returns to the opening idea,
back in D f Major. The bassoon range extends up to
b1 and I would give this work a grade of III+. I think
it would have been helpful to have included Church’s
portrait in the score, but it is easily found on the internet. This is a pretty piece, which might make a nice
contrast for a recital program.
AGINCOURT SONG.
REVIEWS
An English Folk Song, arranged for Oboe, English
Horn, Bassoon, and Contrabassoon by Matthew
Morris.
CMS 071 ($20)
This is a pretty well known battle song from the early
15th century, which describes England’s victory over
France in the Battle of Agincourt. This arrangement
for double reed ensemble works quite well. It is mostly homophonic, and has many fanfare-like motives
throughout. What struck my ear the most was all
the parallel fifths throughout the piece, but of course
that was a very common harmony back at that time.
The ranges are not extreme, with the bassoon part
extending up to a f1 and the contra part only going
up to f above the staff. The contra part could easily
be playing by a bassoon if there was no instrument
available, and there would not be any adjustments of
octaves needed either. I would give this work a grade
of III. This piece is only a few minutes in length and
would be a nice concert opener for your next recital.
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
The Rose Chronicles, for Oboe, English Horn, and
Bassoon.
CMS 072 ($30)
This piece was written for the Pear Tree Trio, and
was premiered at the 2006 IDRS convention. The
four movements are loosely based on poems by Leslie Baldwin, the composer’s father. The first movement, ‘Opening of a Rose,’ starts with a short, slow
introduction before the main allegro begins. There
is a regular rhythmic ostinato pattern that is used
through most of the movement, which is a syncopated eighth note idea. This movement has a very happy,
upbeat feel to it. The melodic material is passed fairly
equally between the three parts in all the movements.
Movement two, ‘Reaching to Rose,’ is in a moderately slow tempo, and begins with a solo English
horn, before the other voices enter. It has somewhat
of a reflective mood to it. The third movement, ‘The
Rose’s Call,’ is an Irish folk dance, in an ABA form.
The A sections are very rhythmic and articulate, and
use a recurring ostinato pattern, while the B section
is more lyrical. The final movement, ‘Roses Movin’
In,’ uses a different syncopated rhythmic ostinato
through much of it. The melody against this is a longer note theme, which contrasts the rhythmic pattern
quite well. Once you have a feel for the rhythmic patterns this work is not too difficult, so I would give it a
grade of III+. The bassoon line goes up to d2. I would
have liked to have the poems from which this piece is
based included within the score. If you have a regular
double reed trio, this work might be a nice contrast
for your next program.
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
Los Nubis (The Clouds), for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet,
Horn, & Bassoon.
CMS 077 ($25)
This piece is in a basic ABA form. Both A sections
are in a moderately fast tempo, and use a recurring,
syncopated ostinato in the accompaniment, mostly
in the lower instruments. The main melody is a longer note idea, and is passed between the oboe and
horn, while the flute (and sometimes clarinet) play
an obligato sixteenth note line over it. The A sections have a very majestic and heroic sound to them,
and are primarily in E f Major. The B section is a bit
slower, with the flute playing a longer note melody,
with an arpeggiated accompaniment beneath, and
is mostly in C Major. This is not an overly difficult
135
REVIEWS
work, and I would give it a grade of III. The bassoon
line is mostly accompanimental, and only goes up to
e f1.
quite well. I would like to hear more works for this
combination.
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
MUSIC FROM ITCHY FINGER PUBLICATIONS
Neoteric Suite, for Bassoon, Horn, and Cello.
CMW 061 ($30)
Weaver’s Cottage, 10 Warminster Road
Beckington, Somerset BA11 6SY UK
http://www.itchyfingers.com
This work was a commission by the Neoteric Trio,
in residence at Southern Illinois University. The first
movement is titled ‘Rhapsody’ and is in an ABA
form. It begins with a 16th note ostinato pattern in
the cello, while the bassoon and horn alternate the
melody above in a moderate tempo, in somewhat of a
call and response form. The middle B section consists
of slower, homophonic, block chords. The A material
then returns, but this time in the major key, instead
of the minor of the opening. Movement two which is
titled ‘Ballade’ is a slow, love song. All three voices get
a chance to play the melody, which is mainly a quarter note idea, sometimes ornamented with eighths
and sixteenths. The accompaniment is fairly simple,
and does not get in the way of the melody. The final
movement is titled ‘Dance’ and opens with a melody
that is supposed to represent a bullfight, which then
moves to the main Spanish dance. It begins with a
solo cello, followed by horn, before an ostinato pattern begins the dance. There are a few places where
ornamentation could be added if desired. The bassoon line goes up to b1 and I would give this work a
grade of IV-. I do not know of any other pieces for this
instrumental combination, so this might be the piece
you and your friends have been looking for.
MOWER, MIKE.
Sonatina, for Bassoon and Piano.
IFP 046 (£9.99 British)
This work is in a basic ABA form. Both A sections
begin with a slow, rhapsodic solo bassoon, with just
a few chords from the piano. It then moves into a
quick tempo in a duple meter, with many chromatic
sixteenth notes and accents on weaker beats. The B
section is just slightly slower, and part of the time the
bassoon doubles the pianist’s right hand in a groove
pattern, that is syncopated and has a little bit of a jazz
feel to it. The melodic idea uses more eighth notes
here, and the intervals are a little larger also. The piano part is mostly accompanimental, and the bassoon
should be easily heard at all times. The bassoon part
extends up to c2 and I would give this work a grade of
IV-. This work is a little different from the standard
literature, and might be a nice contrast for a recital
program.
MUSIC FROM EditionsVIENTO
8711 SW 42nd Ave, Portland, OR 97219-3571
http://www.editionsviento.com)
BALDWIN, DANIEL.
Ballade, for Violin, Bassoon, and Piano.
CMW 062 ($20 hard copy; $16 download)
These bourrées are well known to many bassoonists, as they are included in Schoenbach’s Solos for
the Bassoon Player. This edition includes a second
bassoon accompaniment instead of piano as in the
Schoenbach. The solo line has several articulations
added in, but no dynamic markings are included. The
accompaniment is mostly a recurring ostinato, using
a one eighth note, one quarter note, and one eighth
note pattern. The solo line goes up to f1, and the accompaniment line goes up to g1, and I would give this
work a grade of II+. This would be a good practice
piece, having the teacher play the bottom line, or
REVIEWS
This piece was written after the loss of Daniel Baldwin’s father-in-law, and is meant to be somewhat of a
tribute to him. It is in a basic ABABA form. The piano
part is mostly accompanimental, while the bassoon
and violin either alternate melodic ideas in an imitative fashion, or play them together. The A sections are
fairly slow, and the melodic ideas are mostly longer
note themes, with arpeggiated chords beneath. The
B sections are much quicker, and use more eighth
and quarter notes in the melodies, but again with
an arpeggiated accompaniment beneath. The bassoon range goes up to d2 and I would give this work
a grade of III+. There are not a lot of works for violin
and bassoon, but their sounds seem to blend together
FALCONE, JOHN.
“Bourrées I and II”, from J.S. Bach’s Cello Suite No. 3,
arranged for Two Bassoons.
EV 266 ($ 6)
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might be a good recital piece for two young players.
FALCONE, JOHN.
Jabberwocky Jam, for Solo Bassoon/Narrator.
EV 111 ($5)
MUSIC FROM BRUBEL MUSIC
FALCONE, JOHN.
15620 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403.
Also Available through TrevCo Music
Jabberwocky Jam, for Bassoon/Narrator and Piano.
EV 267 ($ 6)
BROUGHTON, BRUCE.
FALCONE, JOHN.
Bounce, for Bassoon, Double String Quartet and Bass.
($80 score and parts)
Jabberwocky Bassoon Jam, for Three Bassoons,
Contrabassoon, and Narrator.
EV 352 ($9.25)
Now this is a great piece, in three different formats.
The text is from a poem by Lewis Carroll from his
Through the Looking Glass, which was his sequel to
Alice In Wonderland. It is often referred to as a nonsense poem, and describes this interesting creature.
To accompany the text, John Falcone has written music with a ‘funky groove’ to it, mostly in the E Minor.
There are a few recurring motivic ideas, and many
syncopated patterns throughout. The individual
parts are not that difficult, with the highest note being c2. I would give this work a grade of III+. I think
the quartet version is my favorite of the bunch, but
all three work very well and will make for a fun and
enjoyable performance. I look forward to performing
this piece soon.
VILLA-LOBOS, HEITOR.
“Cantilena” from Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5,
adapted for Soprano (or Flute or Oboe), and Four
Bassoons by Isabel Jeremías.
EV 555 ($9.75)
REVIEWS
This has always been one of my favorite pieces, and I
am sure you would enjoy playing this arrangement.
This work, as many of you probably know, is originally for soprano and four cello parts, which are
sometimes divided, so typically it is played with eight
cellos. This arrangement for four bassoons will naturally have to leave out some parts occasionally, but the
overall structure and harmony remains intact. There
are two tough things with playing this work on bassoons; range and endurance. The top parts go quite
high at times, with the first part going up to d s2 and
the second part going up to d2, while the third part
only goes up to g s1 and the fourth part goes up to e1.
Endurance is also a factor in this piece. I actually just
played a different arrangement of it this past summer,
and boy was I tired at the end! Because of those two
aspects of the piece, I would give it a grade of IV-.
This is one movement work about eight minutes
in length. A description of the work, from Bruce
Broughton’s website states: “Bounce is so named because that’s what the piece does. Over a bouncing
background of pizzicato strings, the bassoon begins
playing its own self-confident line. In the process of
the piece, the “bounces” hop, slide, and jump from
one quartet to the other, as well as from player to
player. As the piece progresses, the soloist and the accompanying strings bounce more and more together
until the final bounce, a chord that springs up but
never lands.” The bassoon line is mostly syncopated
throughout, and weaves in and out of the texture of
the string accompaniment. The work is full of energy
and excitement, and you are never really sure what
it is going to happen next, which will keep the audience on its toes. This piece has been recorded by
Allen Savedoff, on his album SavoirFaire, which was
reviewed in DR, 27 No. 4. The bassoon line extends
up to c2 and I would give this work a grade of IV. This
is a really fun piece to play, and I hope to be able to
perform it soon.
BROUGHTON, BRUCE.
Hudson River Valley, for Woodwind Octet.
($80 score and parts)
Here is a great new addition to the wind octet literature. The three movements were all inspired by the
composer’s visit to the Hudson River Valley area of
New York State. Movement one is titled ‘Route 9’
which is one of the main roads through this region.
It begins with a slow introduction, featuring a freer
clarinet solo, which then moves to a faster allegro for
the remainder of the movement, similar to some first
movements of Classical Period symphonies. The faster section uses a primarily short eighth note accompaniment, which gives it a driving force throughout.
The melody weaves in and out of this eighth note texture, sometimes being part of it, sometimes being a
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separate idea. The second melody is longer and more
lyrical, with a thinner accompaniment. There are a
great variety of rhythms in this melody, which gives
it a freer feel. The second movement is titled “Hyde
Park” which is the name for the estate of Franklin
D. Roosevelt, which is located in this region. This
movement is in a slow tempo, and begins with just
a few voices, playing a simple, dotted rhythm arpeggio idea in E f Major. It then gets slightly faster, more
agitated and louder, ornamenting the dotted rhythm
idea with sixteenth notes, and continues to build
until all the voices are playing either sixteenth note
triplets or thirty second notes. After this climax, it
then moves back to and closes with the simple opening idea. The final movement is titled “Washington
Irving’ an American writer who described the region
of New York in many of his works. This movement is
somewhat like a scherzo, and is mostly in a fast 6/8
meter. It sounds very agitated at times, which is accentuated by the many trills and tremelos throughout. The main melody, as well as the accompaniment,
are staccato eighth note ideas. The bassoon lines go
up to b f1, and I would give this work a grade of IV.
This is a very exciting and intense piece, and I hope to
be able to perform it soon.
Daniel Lipori serves as associate professor of bassoon
and music history at Central Washington University.
He is editor of Georg Wenzel Ritter: Six Quartets for
Bassoon and Strings op. 1, published by A-R Editions,
Inc. (1999), and author of A Researcher’s Guide to the
Bassoon, published by the Edwin Mellen Press (2002).
Oboe
MUSIC
REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY KERI McCARTHY
Pullman, Washington
INFORMATION ON PRAIRIE DAWG PRESS:
Bruce Gbur holds degrees in Musicology and Bassoon Performance from the University of Georgia,
where he also studied oboe. He founded Prairie Dawg
Press in 2006 to promote double reed music from
the past and present, with an emphasis on works by
American composers.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM
PRAIRIE DAWG PRESS:
French composer Eugène Cools’(1877-1936) Prélude
et Danse, op. 89 for oboe and piano has only recently
been made available to the oboe community with its
publication in 2007. It shares features of many other
works composed in Paris during the late Romantic period. The oboe is showcased in a graceful solo
opening followed by a passage of ornamental runs.
REVIEWS
John Boda’s (1922-2002) Caprice for Oboe and Piano,
op. 8 was recently arranged by Bruce Gbur and published by Prairie Dawg Press. This work was originally intended for clarinet and piano, but its lively
rhythms and lyric lines are equally convincing when
performed on oboe. This light four-minute piece
would be ideal for high-school or intermediate college students. Its technical demands are modest for
the soloist, with simple rhythms and a reasonable
range (C4 through D6). The meter remains solidly in
cut time (with a brief foray into 3/2) which assists in
creating a steady accompaniment helpful for younger
students who may be inexperienced working with pianists. The piece’s main draw is the highly chromatic
piano lines, which create a driving dissonance and
density through the sparkling “Presto.” Throughout
the work Boda juxtaposes staccato eighth-note figures with long, arching gestures of slurred quarters
and half-notes. The playful romping of the piano and
oboe lines generates a simple and convincing piece
that would be delightful in any number of performance settings.
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REVIEWS
This leads into a strongly-profiled middle section in
5/4 during which the oboe and piano share the stage
equally, and finally returns to the opening “Prelude”
materials to conclude. One immediate and distracting feature of this work is the metric notation of this
middle “Dance” section marked Allegro scherzando.
Though the meter here is clearly audible as 5/4, Mr.
Cools’ decision to set alternating bars of 2/4 and 3/4
creates a constant battle between the oboist’s eyes and
ears, each vying for the performer’s attention. From
this reviewer’s perspective this section is difficult to
absorb and interpret, and would likely be distracting to college-aged students interested in studying
or performing the work. Musically there are several
compelling features, including the spacious opening
lines, the lovely thick triplet textures in the piano in
the scherzo section, and the overall arching shape of
the movement as whole.
Two Pieces for Oboe and Piano, composed by John
H. Corina (b. 1928) is a light and enjoyable work in
two movements. “Intermezzo” considers the oboe’s
lyric capabilities with a moderate tempo and an easy
tessitura through the midrange of the instrument.
The meters switch between simple and complex, and
one issue with this edition is that the notation does
not clarify which pulse should remain consistent at
each meter change. However, the lilting quality of the
melodies here serves to support the metric changes
without calling attention to them and one could easily make decisions about pulse based upon the thematic content. The piano’s reassuring ostinatos serve
to provide the soloist with a strong foundation on
which to perform. This movement is not overly complicated, and would be excellent for any oboe student
working towards increased expressivity and developing long, arching phrases. Movement II, “Scherzo,” is
well-paired with the earlier Intermezzo. As with the
first movement, the music of the Scherzo is largely
within the staff, though this second movement does
venture to a high E near its conclusion. The interplay
between oboe and piano provides a number of varied textures and allows the oboist to take a leadership role in the ensemble. The melody jaunts merrily between dotted figures and straight eighths and
sixteenths, with clever modulations and a generally
sunny disposition. Corina plays with audience expectations by substituting occasional 3/8 and 5/8 bars
into an otherwise steady 2/4; when these metric shifts
combine with continuous modulations and intermittent accompanimental figures, one can easily appreciate Corina’s joking playfulness. In summation, this
work would be a great seven-minute exploration of
phrasing and character for an advancing high school
student. It would also be a nice light addition to any
recital program.
Mr. Corina also provides modern audiences with
his Songs of Lanier for oboe and tenor, composed in
1988, based on texts by American poet Sidney Lanier (1842-1881). Lanier was an amateur musician
whose writings were strongly influenced by earlier
Anglo-Saxon poets. In this light, it is easy to make
comparisons between Mr. Corina’s Songs of Lanier
and Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ Ten Blake Songs, also
composed for oboe and tenor. The Songs of Lanier focus on literary allusions to nature and musical gestures which bring to mind pastorale settings. “A Song
of Love” provides a lilting tune passed between oboe
and voice, while in “Marsh Hymns” the voice and instrument take turns distinguishing their individual
roles with differentiated motivic figures and ranges.
In “Souls and Raindrops” the oboe mimics the rain
drops splashing onto the surface of the sea, where
they flow into the churning waters. “Evening Song”
is a love song extolling the virtues of nature itself; the
oboe and tenor lines reflect Lanier’s poetry describing the pairing of land with sea and sea with sky, until
at night the elements divorce, divining two distinct
voices from the single melodic strand. Many features
of this piece are strongly reminiscent of Vaughan
Williams’ own sparse melodies and quirky harmonic
and metric sensibilities. Though perhaps not as ambitious as the Ten Blake Songs, Corina’s Songs of Lanier
merit a place on the recital stage as a celebration of
the marriages of poetry to music, and oboe to voice.
Elegy for oboe and piano was completed by the
American composer Richard A. Crosby (b. 1957) in
2002 in memory of oboist Alycia Smith, a promising
young musician from Richmond, Kentucky. At first
listen it is clear that Mr. Crosby had great affection
for Ms. Smith’s musical talents. This work is immediately soulful and appropriately sentimental. The
range of this work lies entirely within the mid and
lower range of the oboe, allowing for a special depth
of tone and expressiveness through the simple lines
of this three-minute work. The piano accompanies
the melody with pulsing pedaled chords, providing
a consistent, comforting background over which the
oboe soars. This work could easily be performed by
even beginning or intermediate oboists and would
likely provide a strong emotional response from performers and audience.
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Wisconsin native Mark A. Stupp has had a long career composing works for voice and piano as well as
other instrumental pieces including his Tango in D
Minor for oboe and piano. Bruce Gbur’s recent edition marks the work’s first publication. This tango is
an enjoyable foray into the stylized dance form, and
would make an excellent encore piece. The complex
rhythms presented in both lines challenge the performer to follow performance practices of traditional
tangos, and as such, the work may be best understood
by more mature oboists. Having made that statement,
the range lies comfortably within the staff for most of
the piece, and the clear and idiomatic dance-like melodies with repeating bass figures would allow motivated young oboists to enjoy preparing this threeminute confection for a post-recital celebration.
Louis-Stanislas Xavier Verroust (1814-1863) was a
French oboist and composer well-known for his Romantic concertos for the oboe. Prairie Dawg Press
has recently published a newly-edited version of Verroust’s Second Concerto for oboe and piano. A student
of Gustave Vogt and a successor to Henri Brod at the
Paris Opera, Verroust also taught at the Paris Conservatoire, and it is no surprise that his works tend
to showcase the lyric and technical strengths of the
oboe. This second Concert Solo, Op. 74 is no exception- the work’s indebtedness to the popular Italian
opera “scena” is immediately recognizable in the dramatic opening, followed by a sweet, bel-canto style
aria, and concluding with a technically-challenging
(and gratifying) Moderato, for which the work is often celebrated. As Verroust himself was an oboist,
the melodic figures throughout this work lie comfortably under the fingers and within a reasonable
range for any advanced high-school or college-aged
student. This new edition presents Verroust’s music
in an easy-to-read format with measure numbers and
clear articulations; it would be a useful addition to
any oboist’s library.
Oboe
RECORDING
REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY JEANNE BELFY
Boise, Idaho
MUSIC FOR OBOE AND STRINGS.
Marc Fink, oboe; Pro Arte Quartet. University of
Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, 2006.
REVIEWS
Whatever else the first decade of the 21st century
did or didn’t accomplish, for Marc Fink it brought
the successful completion of two ambitious recording projects, both grant-sponsored and benefiting
music scholarships at the University of WisconsinMadison. Fink, professor of oboe at the UW-Madison since 1973, not only performed but also served as
producer for both of these efforts, each of which has
special connections to the Wisconsin locale that the
oboist calls home. Music for Oboe and Strings partners Fink with UW-M’s resident string quartet for
over sixty years, the Pro Arte, along with bassist John
Clark. And the disc features Snow Country, a work
by John Harbison, whose connections to Wisconsin
include his wife’s roots on the family farm, a place
he has used for summer retreats and composing for
several decades.
Bernhard Henrik Crusell was no stranger to snow
country, having been born in a Swedish-controlled
area of Finland in 1775. The professional clarinetist
and composer best known for his clarinet concertos
also spent time in the pit for French opera. His Divertimento in C, Op. 9 for oboe and string quartet shows
some of the characteristics of opera variations showpieces. In a single, three-part movement, it opens
with interplay between oboe and violin on a graceful, easily ornamented theme. This first part allegro’s
thematic structure is oriented like a sonata form,
including a modulation to the dominant for the second theme group, but uses an episode in place of true
development. At each important cadence, especially
those separating the three major parts (fast-slowfast), the oboe receives a flashy but tasteful cadenza.
Written ornamentation of the agreeable, classical
melodies is the principal charm of this eleven-minute
work, along with the easy familiarity of the allegro
themes, which recur in the final section, like a big
sonata form built over smaller sonata forms. The cen-
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tral section is in C minor.
Marc Fink follows the lesser-known Crusell with
the well-known Mozart Oboe Quartet, and gives a
tasteful, predictable performance. His light, focused
timbre is set in clear contrast with the strings so
that the concertante aspect of the work is especially
noticeable. The second movement is highlighted by
a brief, original cadenza, and the third movement
takes off at a bright tempo–no worries–the oboist’s
clean, pleasing articulation serves his precise intentions well.
In Benjamin Britten’s Phantasy Quartet, Op.
2, the ensemble really comes alive with the strong,
exciting participation of members of the Pro Arte
Quartet. Their portrayal of the myriad expressive details in their very prominent parts is led by the rich
voice of cellist Parry Karp. Violinist Suzanne Beia
transforms her tone into a throaty whisper in parts
of the long string interlude, while violist Sally Chisolm offers a passionate countermelody. Marc Fink,
likewise, jumps to the foreground of this dramatic
fantasy, riding on the exceptional platform provided
by his colleagues, and pacing himself for a frenetic,
spectacular climax, before the return of the march.
This recording of Britten’s quartet is my new favorite.
Written out of John Harbison’s personal acquaintance with Wisconsin winters, Snow Country (1977)
is a dark, lush, almost expressionistic essay for oboe
and string quintet (including bass). Partly because
of the instrumentation and also for reasons relative
to the composer’s style, the twelve and a half minute piece takes on the quality of an orchestral work
with a very lovely and doleful oboe feature. Harbison’s string writing is colorful and rich, with touching harmonies and a truly independent part for the
string bass, well played by John Clark. Snow Country
strikes me as an effective and meaningful chamber
work–perhaps its instrumentation has limited its exposure. I know I’ll be making friends with more bass
players ASAP.
Marc Fink’s first solo CD is not only representative of the highest quality of oboistic performance
and thoughtful interpretation, but his choice and
order of programming make it enjoyable and useful.
From the sunny amusements of Crusell to the sombre
but rich satisfaction of Harbison, this is music most
anyone can appreciate.
RUSSIAN OBOE MUSIC OF
THE 20TH CENTURY.
Mark Fink, oboe; Dmitri Novgorodsky, piano; UWMadison Russian Folk Orchestra, conducted by Victor
Gorodinsky. University of Wisconsin-Madison School
of Music, 2007.
Russian Oboe Music of the 20th Century is an adventurous collection of traditional music and art music
from the former Soviet Union, extremely well illuminated in excellent liner notes by Marc Fink and
Lawrence Earp. The liner note essay gives a thorough history of composers and their challenges in
the Soviet Union. The three composers featured on
this disc–Boris Asafyev, Marina Dranishnikova, and
German Okunev–are placed in the context of the
Stalin-induced mediocrity known as Socialist Realism followed by the subsequent second crackdown
on creativity at the onset of the Cold War. A fourth
composer, Georgy Sviridov, is represented by a transcription of a movement of a suite he drew from one
of his film scores.
This “Romance” from the Snowstorm Suite,
based on a Kursk folk song from the composer’s native region, takes much of its charm from the setting
arranged by Marc Fink’s colleague, University of
Wisconsin-Madison’s Slavic Studies Librarian Victor Gorodinsky. The collaboration of the UW-Madison Russian Folk Orchestra, under the baton of its
creator, Gorodinsky, gives the work (and much of
the CD) an additional, intriguing dimension. “Romance,” accompanied by balalaikas and domras, is
well set up by “Ride of the Cossacks,” a traditional
march also arranged by Gorodinsky, which opens the
disc. Assisting trumpet player John Aley is credited
for his (appropriately) swaggering go at the tune, but
not the anonymous flutist who partners Marc Fink
so well.
Boris Asafyev apparently satisfied the authorities
in 1939 with his Oboe Sonatina. It is a clever work,
and Marc Fink’s adroit maneuvering makes every
tongue-in-cheek gesture explicit. The first movement
weighs in at less than two and a half minutes, but displays a dozen or more shades of nimble humor as it
twists and turns from theme to theme. Each thematic
patch has at least one chromatic deviation to the dark
side and back-an obvious obeisance to the Prokofiev
of the Classical Symphony and beyond. Fink and his
superb Ukrainian pianist, Dimitri Novgorodsky (piano professor at Lawrence Conservatory), make the
most of the character of this Allegro moderato; Fink’s
finely tuned control of articulation and phrase shape
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eration represented by Okunev (post-Stalin) seems
to have been harmonically more experimental. This
work is somewhat Hindemithian in its extended tonality and sharp discords, though always motivically
coherent.
Marc Fink concludes his imaginative CD with
three more arrangements by Victor Gorodinsky for
oboe and the Russian Folk Orchestra. “The Broad
Steppe” and “The Quail” are of Russian and Belarussian origin, respectively. Gorodinsky, also a degreed,
professional musician, features himself on guitar on
the former. “The Flight of the Bumblebee” (RimskyKorsakov) is an excuse for a virtuosic oboe romp,
thoughtfully orchestrated with a compelling part for
the Russian Folk Orchestra.
This project brings together a satisfying mix of
justifications: the new access we all enjoy to compositions held for so long behind the Iron Curtain; the
stimulation of new colleagues from the former Soviet
Union, sharing their enormous technical discipline
and heart-felt regard for great music as they work
with us in our universities and musical institutions;
and the equally stimulating opportunities to experience folk traditions and watch their renewal through
non-native practitioners. My personal observation
has been that some of the compositions produced
under the exigencies of Socialist Realism might better have been left undiscovered, but not the three that
Marc Fink has chosen for this CD. I look forward to
getting a hold of these pieces by Asafyev, Dranishnikova, and Okunev, and putting them to work.
PASTICCIO BAROCCO 01:
JEAN-MARIE LECLAIR.
David Walter, oboe; Hélène Gueuret, oboe;
Fany Masell, bassoon; Esther Brayer, double bass;
Patrick Ayrton, harpsichord.
Hérissons Production 01, 2006.
The fabulous David Walter (Paris Conservatoire
oboe professor for over thirty years, composer, transcriber, and conductor) is up to something new in his
recording projects these days; a series of examinations of baroque compositions by single composers
seems to be what the Hérissons production is about.
He has gathered the players listed above under the
masthead “Pasticcio Barocco” and created an entire
concert of Jean-Marie Leclair: four trio sonatas of
Opus 4 and the entire Deuxième récréation musicale,
Opus 8. It turns out that Leclair’s music is a wonderful choice for such single-minded devotion. These
first four sonatas of Opus 4 are as divergent in moods
REVIEWS
causes the melodic writing to sparkle and delight the
listener with Asafyev’s bird-like flourishes. A toccata style opening to the second movement scherzo
continues the Prokofiev comparison, especially when
combined with the music’s remote, fleeting modulations. But this scherzo lasts only a minute and a half,
immediately followed by a wistful Andante moderato, mostly in the minor mode with evocative modal
changes. The final Allegro non troppo is in the style
of a romping gigue. Flashier parts bring the two instruments into close interchange. I am struck, and
not for the only time as I listen to this recording, by
oboist Fink’s uncanny ability to imitate the timbral
clarity and touch of a fine pianist. In fair turnabout,
Novgorodsky coaxes singing, shimmering tones
from his piano.
Not immediately sold on Marina Dranishnikova’s Poem for Oboe and Piano of 1953, I listened several times in succession to see if I could develop a better attitude. About eight minutes long, the rhapsodic
work twice vacillates between sweeping, Rachmaninov-like slow sections and scherzo-ish contrasting
parts, before concluding with one more brief slow
statement. Dranishnishkova’s 60 years on this earth
were spent mostly playing piano in the service of
the State. It’s hard to fault her for this Poem that she
dedicated to the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal oboist, V.M. Kurlin, who lived all of
56 years himself. These Soviet musicians worked so
hard under such difficult circumstances, professionally and personally. Her harmonic idiom is Romantic
in a 19th-century way; the motive of a rising semitone links the transitions from section to section and
resolves the ending by reversing direction. The faster
sections have rapid, chromatic passage work and a
mildly syncopated theme (on the order of Schumann
or Brahms). The second slow section presents a melody worthy of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and
there is no shame in that nor in the fact that the piece
is audience-friendly and likely to be more effective in
live performance.
German Okunev’s Concerto for Oboe has a first
movement that offers Marc Fink another opportunity to showcase his liquid, razor-sharp articulation.
The sprightly, dissonant motives are fragmented, irregularly repeated, and full of the tiny graces that
this oboist renders so clearly and delicately. Again, he
matches pianist Novgorodsky accent for accent, and
the crystalline compatibility of the pianist’s touch
with the oboist’s breath and tongue make it hard to
imagine that the orchestral version would be as satisfying. The compositional style of the younger gen-
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and gestures as one could hope. Numbers 1, 2, and
4 are in the standard slow-fast-slow-fast movements
patterns; number 3 contains an extra Aria: Allegro
ma poco before the second slow movement. The second movement of Sonata No. 2 in B f is particularly
fetching with its jumping, angular theme, repeated
in polyphony among the two oboes and the bassoon through unfolding harmonies, until the final
united statement. Leclair’s harmonic progressivism
is especially evident in the following Cantabile, but
throughout the Opus as well. One can hear the cusp
of the inventive “sensitive style” and enjoy other aspects of the compositional originality of this major
figure in the evolution of violin playing.
The trio sonatas were written primarily for violins, but Walter and his young compatriot Hélène
Gueuret make them sound tailor-made for the modern oboe. Gueuret is referred to as Walter’s “clone in
virtuosity” in the liner notes, and that is not an exaggeration as far as can be heard in this repertoire.
Both oboists project perfectly homogeneous, sweet,
flexible timbres with so many nuances and surprises
in ornamentation that one could hardly keep track.
The liner notes allude to the fact that the performers
use articulation, ornamentation, and phrase shaping
reflective of their affection for period instrument performance practice. The blend of the tonal precision
and technical fluency of the modern French oboe
with the dynamic shaping of baroque performance
practice delivers the best of both worlds to those listening for pleasure.
Joining the oboists is Italian bassoonist Fany
Maselli, who matches the oboists’ dynamics and articulation bit for bit. During the final movement of
Sonata No. 4, the first oboist sets a particular, varied articulation or ornament for every statement of
the head motive, and each subsequent player follows
that example exactly. It’s entertaining to listen for the
differences and how well they are echoed. One can
imagine the sentences that might be used to inspire
the precise and diverse articulative shapes. Harpsichordist Ayrton has a good degree of dynamic control over his instrument and can join into the give
and take effectively.
The fourth sonata Largo begins with a crisp tempo in the walking eighth notes under a melody that
contains an oddly modern-sounding leap of a minor
seventh. Its subsequent Allegro seems to mimic this
rising motive, and asks the basso to take a truly active
role, challenging enough for a cello. Maselli turns on
the after-burner. The combination of melody and figuration among the upper parts in the “Aria” creates
a meteor shower of sparkling colors in this unusually lengthy third movement. The fourth movement
cadences on squashed trills in both oboe parts-very
festive!
Deuxième récréation de musique d’une execution facilee, Opus 8, was written for two recorders
or violins and continuo, offering seven movements,
beginning with a French overture in three parts.
The Forlane, Sarabande, double Menuets, Badinage,
Chaconne, and double Tambourins are a bit more
homophonic than the sonatas, but the performers
add enough contrast and ornamentation to develop
considerable interest, aided by Leclair’s ingenious
changes and thematic twists. The concluding Tambourins are great fun, taken as fast as possible, full of
incessant runs, trills, and nonsensical excursions. I
look forward to listening to David Walters’ third (03)
Hérissons production, Georg Philipp Telemann: Lust
und Vergnügen. And the presumptive 02 remains a
mystery at this writing.
REVIEWS BY ROBERT J. KRAUSE
Canyon, Texas
JOIE DE VIVRE!
Panorámicos is a Cleveland chamber ensemble consisting of Mary Kay Ferguson – flute/piccolo;
Danna Sundet – oboe/English horn;
Lynne Ramsey – viola; Ralph Curry – cello;
Thomas Sperl – bass; Randal Fusco – piano;
with special guests, Richard King – horn;
Jeffery Irvine – viola; Thomas C. Moore – oboe;
Lisa Wellbaum – harp.
This disc contains performances of the following:
A. Piazzolla – Escualo for Viola, Cello, Bass and
Piano
M. Griebling-Haigh – Danses Ravissants for Flute/
Piccolo, Oboe, Viola and Harp
G. Jacob – Trio for Flute, Oboe and Piano
R. Strauss – Andante für Horn und Klavier
T. Janson – Oboe Machinations for Oboe, English
Horn and Piano
M. Daugherty – Viola Zombie for Two Violas
M. Griebling-Haigh – Romans des Rois for Oboe,
Horn and Piano
Joie de vivre is a term sometimes translated into English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life or an exultation of spirit. The title is very descriptive of the ca-
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pricious, energetic and light-hearted works included
on the disc.
Panorámicos is a prize winning Mixed Chamber
Ensemble whose creative programing feature commissions and collaborations with composers whose
styles span the gamut of classical, jazz and world
music.
In the two scores by Margi Griebling-Haigh the
listener will hear music that is full of passion, energy,
impertinence and attractive lyricism. The Gordon
Jacob emanates creative and impulsive happy music. In Thomas Janson’s Oboe Machinations the three
instruments participate in inventive and clever dialogues. The music by Piazzolla, Strauss and Daugherty add nice finishing touches to an imaginative array of whimsical compositions.
This is a disc of original and pleasantly varied
repertoire performed with wonderful artistry and
taste. There are unfamiliar compositions that need to
be heard!
I recommend the disc for everyone. The title, Joie
de vivre, reflects so well the mood of the program and
the performances – cheerfulness, joy and happiness.
All of us can use a dose of that.
Danna Sundet teaches at Kent State University, is the
Director of the John Mack Legacy Oboe Camp, and is
principal oboist with The Erie Philharmonic. She has
performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland
Opera and Ballet, and as soloist with Trinity Chamber Players and the Carmel (CA) and Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festivals. Andrea Jayne Ridilla - oboe and oboe d’amore;
Ricardo Averbach, conductor; Sofia Philharmonic
Orchestra
Kleos Classics - KL 5151
The disc contains performances of the following:
Mario Lombardo - Concerto for Oboe in One
Movement
Ennio Morricone - Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission;
Nocturne from La Califfa; Once Upon a Time in
the West (Arranged by Maurizio Abeni)
Glen Roger Davis - Rhapsody on Gabriel’s oboe
Vincenzo Bellini - Concerto in E-flat Major
Pino Donaggio - Sally and Jack from Blowout (Arranged by Ricardo Averbach)
Giuseppe Daelli - Fantasy on Themes from Giuseppe
Verdi’s Rigoletto (Arranged by Petar Petrov)
Glen Roger Davis - “Il Songo di Doretta” from Gicomo Puccini’s La Rondine
This disc melds together expressive, lyrical melodies of Italian opera and cinema - past and present.
It is a wonderful vehicle that ties together the vocal
lyricism of the bel canto singing style and the poetic
voice of the oboe and oboe d’amore.
The two works written originally for oboe and orchestra are really quite different. The Bellini concerto
is of course familiar, well-crafted nineteenth century
romantic music. The Lombardo concerto is really aggrandized Hollywood film music. Both are attractive
and performed well.
The arrangements of Ennio Morricone’s music
are really so sensitive and beautiful. Morricone is
such a “vocal composer” and that makes the oboe the
perfect instrument to perform his expressive melodies. The Donaggio is also well suited to the lyricism
of the oboe d’amore. Andrea Ridilla plays these
works with great sensitivity and control.
The Glen Davis works are both very interestingly
tailored works. They are clever workings of pre-existing melodies which work so well on the oboe and
oboe d’amore. The Daelli arranged for orchestra instead of the piano, works nicely.
Andrea Jayne Ridilla with the help of Ricardo
Averbach and the Sofia Philharmonic have compiled
a disc of delightful music that I think would be attractive for most anyone, not just oboists. The romantic and recognizable film music as well as the music
from the opera is extremely enjoyable to listen to. Ms.
REVIEWS
Thomas C. Moore has performed as principal oboist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta
Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Ohio Chamber
Orchestra, Cleveland Opera Orchestra, Cleveland
Ballet Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra,
Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra. He has appeared
as soloist with the Harrisburg Symphony, Colorado
Philharmonic, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and Trinity
Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Moore earned his BM and
MM degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music,
studying with late Cleveland Orchestra principal
oboist John Mack.
L’AMORE ITALIANO - THE LYRICAL OBOE IN
OPERA & CINEMA
144
THE DOUBLE REED
Ridilla is a lovely player who demonstrates exceptional control and a beautiful tone.
Andrea Jayne Ridilla is professor of oboe at Miami
University (Ohio). She is principal oboe of the Classical Music Festival in Eisendstadt, Austria, and was
principal oboe of the Festival International Echternach Orchestra in Luxembourg for 16 seasons.
Oboe
BOOK
REVIEWS
REVIEW BY NEIL BLACK
London, England
JAMES BROWN
REVIEWS
Our Oboist Ancestors
To anyone who wishes to know more of the history
of the oboe, this volume will be as indispensable as
it is unique.
It contains not only the biographies, many quite
extended, of 1650 oboists of the Nineteenth Century,
but information about their teachers, the posts they
held, and the solo repertoire they performed—no
less than than 170 works for oboe solo and orchestra written in that century are listed. Furthermore
there are many beautiful prints and even early photographs of these oboist ancestors, always interesting
and frequently also endearing; who would ever expect to see a picture of the great Georges Gillet aged
fifteen, or enjoy the self-confident gaze of Pasculli
in his prime? We may also read of the great masters
of the late 18th Century who lived on into the 19th,
for example Ramm and Ferlendis for whom Mozart
wrote, and the father and son Triebensee, of whom
Georg, the father, played with Beethoven in the first
performance of the Piano and Wind Quintet, and
Josef, the son, took part in the first performance of
Zauberflote under Mozart’s direction. Then, to take
an example at random, we may read of the much later
oboist Charles Reynolds, who by means of his circular breathing technique was able to play the Tristan
Cor Anglais solo in one breath.
Although James Brown, the author and compiler,
modestly describes himself as an enthusiast rather
than a musicologist, the scholarship seems impeccable, with scrupulous indices and lists of works with
opus numbers and publishers, while the enthusiasm
and humour behind this whole undertaking shine
through, never more so than in the appendices,
which contain some simply hilarious material.
At this point I have to reveal that I cannot review the book as a detached observer. I was at James’s
side quite literally as his oboe colleague, while we
stumped around Europe for nearly 30 years giving
concerts with the inspiring English Chamber Orchestra. Frequently, after an early breakfast, he would
be off to the local library, chateau or Schloss, to spend
a day seeking information for this book. He invariably charmed librarians (in their own languages) into
showing him rarely seen manuscripts, and emerged
from his researches in time to play immaculately in
the evening’s concert. The compilation became for
him almost a second profession, and between these
covers we are reading the results of a life’s work. In
pricing it, with characteristic generosity, at £10, simply to cover costs of production, he puts the world of
oboists for ever in his debt.
REVIEW BY DAN STOLPER
Palm Desert, California
MARTIN SCHURING
Oboe, Art and Method
Oxford University Press, 2009
Martin Schuring has been a member of the faculty
at the Arizona State University Herberger School of
Music for many years. He is a graduate of the Curtis
Institute, where he studied with John deLancie. His
edition of the Barret oboe method for Kalmus is being widely used. He is a regular performer at conventions of the IDRS, and recently became President of
the Society.
My enthusiasm for this wonderful new book is no
secret. My cover blurb has been quoted on Amazon.
com ever since they started selling the book. After living with it for several months now, I have found even
more reasons to admire Martin Schuring’s work. Yes,
the book fully explores both “Art and Method”, absolutely so! Teachers of the oboe (and other instruments) soon realize that they must operate on more
than one level. They must teach the multi-faceted
techniques of the instrument and all that implies. In
the case of the oboe, maintaining the touchy mechanism is a serious consideration, and perhaps most
important of all, the art and craft of reed making oc-
145
REVIEWS
Bassoon
WEBSITE
REVIEWS
REVIEWS BY DANIEL LIPORI
Ellensburg, Washington
ARIAS WITH OBBLIGATO BASSOON:
The Bassoon in Vocal Works, 1700-1850
by Jim Stockigt
http://web.me.com/jimstockigt/Site/Home.html
For those of you always looking for something different to put on your recital, look no further. Jim
Stockigt has compiled a very comprehensive list of
arias that use bassoon, dating from the High Baroque
period through the mid-nineteenth century. This site
is an expansion of an article that appeared in The
Double Reed (31 No. 1 (2008): 86-109).
There is an alphabetical listing by composer, but
one can also search by instrumentation. These categories include: voice, bassoon(s), continuo; voice,
bassoon(s), strings, continuo; voice, bassoon(s), orchestra; voice, bassoon(s) other obbligato instrument(s),
continuo; and voice, bassoon, piano. One category
that the site does not yet have, is a listing by voice type.
Under the listing for individual composers, information is given on where the manuscript or early
edition is located as well as any available recordings.
Some also include scores or small incipits of the music, which can be downloaded. A few of the works
have small annotations describing them. There is
more specific information on a few select composers,
as well as listings of a few journal articles with additional information.
There is also information given on a few arranged
works. For example, there is an arrangement with
bassoon of the “Tuba Mirum” from Mozart’s Requiem. There is also a version of “If God be for us” from
Handel’s Messiah, with obbligato bassoon. Music for
both of these adaptations can be downloaded.
Stockigt also includes a list of works he feels are
suitable for recitals. Locations of scores, available recordings, and small descriptions are given for most
pieces. One thing that is currently missing, is a degree of difficulty scale. This would be beneficial for
both the bassoon as well as vocal parts. Ranges of the
parts could also be included.
This is a very helpful site for bassoonists looking
REVIEWS
cupies much of the teacher and student’s energy and
time. So much for “method”. Then the young oboist
must be guided on the path of musicianship and all
that that word implies – an understanding of various
musical styles, and all the technical elements of fingers and tongue, not to mention ideals of tone quality
and vibrato – this study makes it possible to play music ranging across several centuries, in stylistically
persuasive ways. Perhaps these are just some of the
considerations that fall under the heading of “art”.
Having said all this, this book is a very practical one. I like Prof Schuring’s clear bits of instruction
and advice to the student. I don’t think the book is
meant to take the place of work with a good teacher.
At the same time, a serious young student could go
a long way just following the book’s coaching and
advice. The chapters on fundamentals cover posture,
breathing and support; embouchure; finger fluency;
articulation; expression; and practice cover the gamut of all the information the young player needs to
make a good beginning and to embark on a voyage
of steady improvement. The “mini-master classes” on
the Marcello Concerto and the Mozart Quartet, K.
370 alone are worth the price of the book.
The chapters on instrument care and reed making skills are extensive and well thought-out. I like
this sentence… “as a beginner, remember you are not
making reeds. You are learning to make reeds”. And
“since reedmaking is something you learn by doing,
do it a lot.” Reading and re-reading this chapter will
do wonders for the morale of the young student.
Succeeding chapters give great advice on choosing an instrument, and selecting various tools for
reed work. Ensemble etiquette does need to be discussed with fledgling oboists – sometimes much
more often than one might think. It is an important
aspect of career development; the whole subject is
discussed quite exhaustively here. An appendix includes very useful fingering charts for oboe and English horn.
It has been more than a half-century since Evelyn
Rothwell wrote her still useful Oboe Technique, also
published by OUP. The Art of Oboe Playing by Robert Sprenkle and David Ledet (written in the 1950s)
is still available too. Mr. Schuring’s work fills a real
need for an update of the information in these books.
There’s no better way to conclude these comments
than by quoting from myself: “Oboe Art and Method
will soon become absolutely indispensable to today’s
serious oboist – teacher and student alike.”
146
THE DOUBLE REED
for vocal works to perform. Jim Stockigt has been
regularly updating this site, so more music will be
added and corrections will be made periodically. I
hope many of you will make use of the site.
MUSIC AND THE BASSOON
REVIEWS
Kristin Wolfe Jensen
http://www.musicandthebassoon.org
Here is an incredible new website, which will be a
tremendous asset to beginning and intermediate students, public school music educators, college method
courses, and many others. Kristen Wolfe Jensen,
bassoon professor at the University of Texas, has put
together an online tutor for beginning bassoon students, covering every aspect of the bassoon, and also
stressing many musical aspects of playing.
The main bulk of the site is the fifty units or lessons. This section is similar to many tutors, in that
new notes and fingerings are introduced one at a
time, slowly increasing the range, starting with simpler rhythms and gradually getting more complicated. Each unit contains six to ten musical examples,
with at least one duet in each unit. But unlike traditional tutors, recordings accompany most of the
examples, allowing the student to hear the piece
before attempting to play. For the duets, there are
two recordings; one of both parts together, and one
of just the bottom teacher line. Some of these works
are original compositions by Kristen Wolfe Jensen,
some are arrangements/transpositions of melodies,
and some are taken from the Weissenborn method.
Altogether, there are over 360 exercises, including
fifty duets, which cover the range from B f to g1. As
the range goes higher, there is a tenor clef introduction section included. There are also several videos,
where Ms. Wolfe Jensen describes a new technique
that is being introduced (half-holing, flicking, etc.),
and plays the accompanying exercise. Also included
in the fifty unit section are instructional videos for
assembly/disassembly, posture, breathing, tonguing,
and other basics of playing. There is also a short video
on some basic reed adjustments.
There is also a section of lesson videos, where Ms.
Wolfe Jensen is working with junior high students
about many of the basics, either describing an aspect
of bassoon playing to the students, or the students
are playing and Ms. Wolfe Jensen is correcting their
problems. This section is divided up into two areas:
a beginning student lesson portion, and an intermediate student lesson portion. This section should be
of tremendous benefit in particular to public school
music teachers.
Throughout many of the videos, Ms. Wolfe Jensen stresses the importance of playing musically.
She talks about phrasing, note lengths, vibrato and
other aspects of playing outside of the basic technical rudiments. This can easily be heard in all of the
recordings, as Ms. Wolfe Jensen is a top notch player
in every facet, and she makes the simplest of exercises
sound like incredible works of art. These recordings
will be an inspiration to all that hear them.
There is an index of all of the exercises by title, as
well as list of exercises with audio, with video, and a
list of the duets. There is also a small section of links,
including a few double reed companies and sheet music dealers, along with a link to fingering charts, and
of course the IDRS website!
If I were to offer some suggestions about additions, I might like a few things to be described in a
bit more detail. The description of the embouchure
formation is very basic, and the information on pitch
adjustment is also minimal. I would also like a complete pdf file of the fingerings introduced in each
unit. While there is a link to Terry Ewell’s massive
fingering compilation, that site could be somewhat
overwhelming for a young student. I know that Ms.
Wolfe Jensen will be making updates to the site, so
perhaps these minor issues will be addressed soon.
Kristin Wolfe Jensen is to be commended for this
wonderful new website. Certainly a great deal of time
and effort was put into its creation, and it will be of
tremendous benefit to many. I plan on having students in my bassoon methods course use this website
immediately, and will have my bassoon majors refer
to it on a regular basis. I would strongly recommend
for you and your students to check out this site! u

Double Reed - International Double Reed Society

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