Many thanks to Janet Archibald for alerting me to this first video … Robert Walters (Oberlin) is the teacher of the San Francisco Opera‘s new principal oboist that I blogged about earlier, and you see and hear Mingjia Liu here as well. Nice! (But may I just say I’m feeling very, very old now? Sigh.)
Here is another video with Robert Walters, about the English horn (he’s the English hornist of the Cleveland Orchestra):
It appears that Oberlin oboists win auditions!
(Certainly not for your viewing pleasure … sadly we don’t get a video of the musician.)
Here’s the English horn solo from Tristan & Isolde. Rixon Thomas is playing with The Royal Danish Orchestra.
I do hope they put more up! This is really wonderful! (I would like my students to note the half hole work … no “half hole hop”, no slide … just a nice clean pivot.)
PS Dan has a trio up at his site, too. ;-)
The English Horn I must reveal
Has no connection with John Peel;
In fact Old John would find it meaner
To play on than a vacuum cleaner.
Its tone would make his horses skittish
For it is neither horn – nor British.
Some call it – to increase this tangle –
The Cor Anglais – or horn with angle –
Concerning which I’m glad to state
The English Horn is long and straight.
Its misery and constant dwelling
On tragedy has caused a swelling
Just where the doleful note emerges;
Imbued with melancholy surges
This makes an English Horn cadenza
Sound fearfully like influenza.
I found the poem here, at Steve Reads (and according to the first blog entry he reads “enormously”! More than me, he says. Not that that’s saying much these days. It might have been saying a lot when I worked at Books Inc., though.) … I’d love to get a copy of the book People of Note, which contains this silly poem about the English horn at some point. Too fun! (Do check out the drawing of the English hornist if you click on the first link of this paragraph.
Oh … and viola pals … be sure and check out the poem about the viola! Thanks for the morale boost! ;-)
These folks are discussing it.
Me? I’m just tired of reading, “The English horn is neither English nor a horn.” ;-)
I do call it a horn, and I speak English. So “English horn” works for me.
Last night I was wandering the lobby during the first half of the concert, looking to pick up a program. An usher asked me what instrument I played, and I said, “Oboe and English horn, although tonight it’s just English horn.” She responded with, “Oh I LOVE French horn!”
Yeah, We get that a lot. I didn’t correct her. Not my job.
In looking at the program notes I see the writer of those refers to my instrument as cor anglais. (The “melancholy cor anglais”, in fact.) I wonder if he’s from the UK, or if he just prefers cor anglais. For the record, my parts do say “English horn” on them, but you can call it whatever you like. As long as you’re nice about it, that is. And never never never say, “It’s neither English nor a horn.” We are quite bored by that. :-)
I’m sorry I can’t figure out how to put this up properly, so you have to click on this link to see the pictures of a pretty “interesting” solution to the lack of a B-flat on most of our English horns. And the guy who wrote the instructions is hilarious:
“You may have noticed in the pictures that the elbow turns the bell 90 degrees from its usual position. Get used to it. Because I play big clarinets with bells, I’m used to stuff sticking out front. Aim the bell at your audience if you want to really let them know when you hit the low B-flat. The white color of the extension is also visually appealing. Black is boring.”
Hmmm. Well, I can’t stand the white, nor do I like the 90% angle. The bigger issue is that you need to be able to go back and forth between low B and low B flat. There isn’t always time to remove the extension … for instance, in Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet!) Still it’s fun to see.
I blogged earlier about a device I saw on the web. As I wrote, Robert Morgan, of Chicago Reed Company offered to send it to me just to give it a go … and he doesn’t even know me! So here I am, with this $250 invention of his. I guess he knows where to find me, but still, that was incredibly generous of him!
So now you all deserve an update, don’tcha think?
The W.R.I.S.T is pretty darn amazing! While I don’t often have hand or arm issues, I can still see the benefit of it. I’m nearly sold on it. Like 99.99% sold. (Like thinking, “I should just send the darn check,” kind of sold.) When I’m not playing but have only a few measures of rest, I just let it rest there. When I am playing, my right hand has absolutely no weight to hold at all. I think, too, that it allows me to have more relaxed fingers, and it makes the instrument feel very stable.
If you are using a peg, this is better. If you are using a neck strap, this is much better. If you are using nothing at all, you’ll probably need or want this eventually.
So there you go. My update. Pretty positive, eh?
And these guys sure do!
I played oboe in my high school band (go Lynbrook!), in San Jose Youth Symphony (a bit sporadically), El Camino Youth Symphony (again, somewhat sporadically), some group on Los Gatos or Saratoga (with adults, so I’m assuming it was a community group), the Fremont-Newark Philharmonic (ditto with that group, although maybe it was semi-professional?), and, finally, the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO). I only began with PACO in the summer before my senior year. They had never had wind players as actual “members”, but after that summer they decided to allow two oboists and two French hornists. I played principal oboe for the year, and it was an incredible learning experience. That group far surpassed anything else I had ever been in. And that group was a large part of why I continued in music. I haven’t heard them in a very long time. I’m sure it was well before the sad loss of the found of the group, William Whitson. But they have continued on, and it appears they are going strong.
Their upcoming concert features a man I’ve played with a number of times, and I encourage you to hear his fine playing, as well as what I am certain is very fine playing by the youth group.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 – 8 pm
Albert and Janet Schultz Cultural Arts Hall @ OFJCC
3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto MapPalo Alto Chamber Orchestra
Benjamin Simon, conductor
Peter Lemberg, oboePACO favorite Peter Lemberg returns with the oboe’s larger cousin, an instrument that is neither English nor a horn. Mozart’s beautiful Adagio is paired with Vincent Persichetti’s masterful Concerto for English Horn (1977), surrounded by two authentically English works: Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 6 plus the delightful English Suite by Hubert Parry.
Tickets are $15/general, $10/seniors (62+), $5/students (with ID).
Available on concert night one hour before performanceFor information, (650) 856-3848 | info [at] pacomusic [dot] org
The very next day California Youth Symphony has a concert. Two of my students are in that group, and I do plan on attending this concert. (FINALLY, a concert that doesn’t conflict with my own concert!) Conductor Leo Eylar was concertmaster of San Jose Symphony so many years ago now I don’t want to count them (makes me feel too old!). He also conducted a few seasons of a Nutcracker I used to play in at Flint Center. I haven’t seen him in … oh never mind! I don’t want to count those years either!
Symphony Orchestra Concert
at the Flint Center
Event Time: Sunday, March 14 at 2:30 pm, Doors open at 2:00 pmAdditional Info
The California Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leo Eylar, continues the 2009-2010 Concert Season with works by Higdon, Tchaikovsky, and Respighi, featuring the talents of soloist Stella Chen, winner of our 2009 Young Artist Competition.The March 14 concert will be at 2:30pm at the beautiful Flint Center at De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino. Tickets will be available at the door.
Program:
Higdon, Blue Cathedral
Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto
– Stella Chen, soloist
de Falla, Three Dances from the Three-Cornered Hat
Respighi, Pines of RomeContact Info
For more information, contact the CYS Office at (650)325-6666.
… he shoulda written this for English horn, don’t you think?
It’s funny — or maybe not? — but I somehow hear a bit of theremin-esque stuff going on with the (original) soprano version:
Hmm. But a theremin would need to be in tune … and the only one I could find on YouTube was. Well. Not quite “there”, if you know what I mean. So never mind.
But wait! Someone has arranged it for d’amore at least …
Now … arrange it for celli and EH and I’ll beg to do with with SJCO! :-)
I played second oboe to Roger’s principal for one season when I was in Midsummer Mozart. I resigned at the end of that season, and he later moved to Nashville. Working with Roger was a joy! I was having a rough year, and he helped me keep it together. I haven’t seen Roger since he moved, but I occasionally see news about him. I just ran across this:
Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 21-23 — Penderecki Comes to Nashville, SunTrust Classical Series, 7 p.m. Jan. 21 and 8 p.m. Jan 22-23. Krzysztof Penderecki will conduct the Nashville Symphony. Barry Douglas, piano, Roger Wiesmeyer, English horn, will also be featured.
Ever since his emergence in the early 1960s, the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki has remained one of classical music’s most important and most talked-about figures. Bold, resonant and deeply personal, his music has embraced an array of styles, from the expressive Romanticism of Richard Strauss to the bracing, energetic sounds of postwar modernism. He makes a rare visit to Nashville to conduct a specially chosen program that includes his Concerto for Piano “Resurrection,” a gripping, moving response to the events of 9/11.
Roger will be featured in the Adagietto from Paradise Lost for English Horn and String Orchestra by Penderecki. Hmmm. Haven’t heard this work. Now I’ll have to find it!
You can see the concert information here. If you’re somewhere near Nashville check it out, and then report back here. Please.
Since I was writing about Nutcracker, and Cooper joined in the conversation, mentioning the low Bs and the sliding as well, I thought I’d show some of you what we are talking about … AND the different order in which some of our music appears here in San Jose.
Let’s start with the first low D# to B (& back again) slide, which you see on the bottom staff of this page:
(And yes, I really don’t play the first three notes of the solo, as they are cut. You’ll noticed, too, that we are coming from a different part of the work … we have lots of re-ordered parts in our Nutcracker.)
As you can see, too, I have 2 1/2 measures to get back to oboe, and even then I’m leaving out a few notes that should happen before what you see in the 2nd oboe, since it’s impossible to get them in. Here is the very next page:
Another big solo in our first act is preceded by a second oboe part that I play instead on English horn:
But the first act really isn’t a huge deal. It’s the beginning of the second act that is the killer. Here’s the first page (and see all those repeated F#s? I always have fun playing it all in one breath … it’s just a bit of a game for me). Look at the measure prior to the crossed out first ending … more of the low B to D# and then C# back to B. Try it … it’s sort of a bit of fun, really. (I switch from regular D# to left D# as I hold the note, so I free up my right pinkie for the C#.)
But that page is just a big blow and not a killer. Check out this next part though … on the very next page. I have an English horn solo that ends on a low B, and I have to switch from that to an oboe duet (this is from Cappricio Italien) in fewer than 8 beats. I always have to remember to have the oboe ready to go before we begin the act. If not, I’m dead.
But wait! I’m not done yet. After playing the remaining bit of the page above (not completely in the photo), I move on to this:
Yes. I switch from oboe 2 back to English horn, playing the final oboe 2 parts on English horn (thus the hand written portion on that page), and we go directly from Capriccio Italien to “Le Café” (often called the Arabian Dance). And yes, we really do repeat the oboe 1 and English horn solos toward the end.
So maybe now you’ll know what I’m talking about with my crazy whining about low Bs and funny switches and all, eh?
But I’m never bored. I can promise you that! And while I whine I’m actually okay with all of this.
I just like to whine. ;-)
I’m not having great success with reeds. My EH “issue” is that the pitch sags horribly on the G and G# above the staff. If I fix that issue, the reed is far too sharp. So I’m in ReedAgony™ and when I get to a certain place I know the best thing to do is step away for a while. So I am.
For those of you who are tired of hearing of my insecurities and reed woes, you can, after watching the videos in earlier blog entries, move on to Howarth Oboes:
Check out this fine double reed playing by these younger musicians:
Not an oboe player? Shop Sheet Music Plus and see what you find!
Or just shop Amazon.com
