Death moves us to remembrances of things past,
of conversations, of certain voice inflections and movements peculiar
to the person now gone. Such is the case and much, much more with
the death of Jürg Schaeftlein.
His passing has left the world without one of this century's finest
and humblest players of the oboe.
Oboists in the latter part of the 20th century find themselves reacting to and reflecting the present state of music making. Large, acoustically boring concert halls, grueling multi-week tours, tiresome and unrewarding recording sessions, the rising pitch of "A", fewer good instruments, fewer jobs, fascination with high tech, conductors spending less time to form musical ideas and more time asking for loud and then "louder!" and dissatisfaction on the part of the general public with the music being composed today are but a few of the issues which would seem to bode ill for our musical art. Yet the art which Jürg Schaeftlein practiced appeared unaffected by our general malaise. With his oboes he created a musical world which would uplift, transport and inspire the listener.
He did not, however, ignore the world he lived in. Jürg Schaeftlein quietly went about convincing, the world's skeptics about the two oboes he loved: the Viennese oboe, which many considered an unusable relic in the modern orchestra, best forgotten and laid to rest and the Baroque oboe which he was responsible for ressurrecting in performance with Harnoncourt's Concentus Musicus Vienna. With both instruments he succeeded in changing the way we heard music. This was no mean feat considering the existing prejudices. Hearing him play the Viennese oboe made you wonder why you had never heard one before or if you had, how it could sound so beautiful (it's interesting to know this reaction includes several eminent conductors with whom I've corresponded during research for this article). Upon first hearing him play the Baroque oboe you were awe struck because you knew how difficult it was but he played with such ease and control that you simply shook your head and succumbed to the wonderful music making.
Jürg Schaeftlein's success affecting people's musical sensibilities was partly, as everyone who ever met him will agree, a result of his humility and unassuming manner. Meeting him for the first time was a shock for many of us. It seemed impossible that the person standing before us could be the same one responsible for such remarkable oboe playing in concerts and on recordings. Those who took the "0" Strassenbahn down Ungargasse for their first lesson at Schaeftlein's home know, however, that after being shown in the front door you wondered what had made you nervous in the first place. Schaeftlein instantly became part friend, part father and part mentor. This same disbelief continued through lessons because he was a teacher capable of the pursuit of excellence and detail without interference from his ego. I have yet to hear of anyone who required a stop at the Hungarian bar down the street after a lesson.
Jürg Schaeftlein had an uncanny teaching ability, one that was unusual for someone who could play so beautifully. The Americans, in particular, who studied with him marvelled at the Viennese contortions he went through to make a reed but he was always more than willing to share the "little I know". Some of his favorite teaching tools were the Six Partitas by Telemann; simple pieces, really, meant by Telemann for instruction rather than performance. But if they were so simple why did it take a year to get through just one? Usually the answer was that Schaeftlein wanted to make sure you could make your instrument "sing". No more, no less. If it took a year, well, somehow it felt like you couldn't wait for next year and having another Partita under your belt.
It seems likely that Jürg Schaeftlein's attention to detail was a result of the thorough musical training he received from an early age. He didn't discuss his earliest years often but I have learned that his father was the one who introduced him to music. Dr. Hans Schaeftlein was a lawyer by profession who sometimes played the viola in the Grazer Opernhaus and in addition was an expert in botany (a plant he discovered now bears his name: pseudostellaria europaea Schaeftlein). Dr. Schaeftlein formed a recorder quartet with the members of his family in which his son, Jürg played. The young Nikolaus Harnoncourt often joined the Schaeftleins and there became acquainted with the music of Bach and his predecessors. This was the beginning of a life-long musical friendship between Harnoncourt and Schaeftlein that would bear much musical fruit later in life. Schaeftlein studied recorder, violin, piano and music theory at the Grazer Konservatorium and finished there with a Matura. In 1947 he went on to the Musikakademie (now the Hochschule für Musik) in Vienna where he studied oboe with Prof. Kamesch and Prof. Dr. Hadamowsky, receiving, in 1951, the 1. Preis Mozart-Wettbewerb Wien. In 1952 he received the Reifeprufüng from the Musikakademie.
Thereafter Schaeftlein pursued an orchestral and teaching career. From 1952-55 he was lst oboist with the NHK-Orchestra Tokyo and taught at the University of Arts UENO in Tokyo. From 1955-59 he was Ist oboist with the Volksoper Wien and in 1955-60 performed concerts and recordings with Camerata Academica Salzburg at the Salzburg Festspiele with Bernard Paumgartner. From 1958 until his death he was Ist oboist with the Vienna Symphoniker. He joined Harnoncourt's Concentus Musicus Vienna in 1960 playing recorders and piffaro. In 1961 Harnoncourt and Schaeftlein acquired the Paul - han Baroque oboe and in 1962 Schaeftlein performed his first public concert on the Paulhan. Shortly thereafter came the historic recordings of the Brandenburg Concerti and Orchestral Suites of Bach. Schaeftlein first came to the USA in 1964 with the Vienna Symphoniker under the direction of Wolfgang Sawallisch, the same year he received the Goldenes Verdienstzeichen der Republik Österreich. In 1966 he returned with Concentus Musicus on its first tour to the U.S.A. He taught Viennese oboe at the Hochschule in Vienna from 1970-73, "retiring" because his continued touring left him with too little teaching time in Vienna. Starting in 1980 he gave classes for the Baroque oboe at the Hochschule which drew eager students from around the world.
It was through his numerous tours and recordings that many got their first hearing of Jürg Schaeftlein. As an advocate of the Baroque oboe, Schaeftlein had few peers. His grace, elegance and convincing musicality showed many of us that the Baroque oboe was a force to be reckoned with. In concert with his old friend Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Schaeftlein produced many fine recordings which continue to be played as examples of the best in early music. Among them are the Bach passions, oratorios, cantatas and concerti. Particularly noteworthy are the Matthew Passion, the Christmas Oratorio (seen in video performances on television over the last several years), "Ich habe genug" (BWV 82) and the Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin (BWV 1060). Schaeftlein also had a special affinity for Vivaldi, performing the pyrotechnics of his allegros with unheard of flair and accuracy and the vocally inspired slow movements with a special gift for lyric fantasy.
Jürg Schaeftlein's performances on the Viennese oboe are not as well known but several recordings of special merit stand out. They include Stravinsky's Firebird Suite with the Vienna Symphoniker, conducted by Wolfgang Sawalisch and the Mozart Oboe Concerto with the Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg conducted by Leopold Hager. The latter was a particular labor of love for Schaeftlein, whose original cadenzas were the epitome of classic Viennese taste. In his later years, Schaeftlein produced memorable recordings on Teldec with Harnoncourt and the Wiener Mozartbläser including Mozart's Gran Partita and the Serenades KV 375 and KV 388 (Nachtmusique). This last represents, perhaps, his finest moment of recorded sound.
In closing, it must be said that Jürg Schaeftlein would probably find the above praise and interest inappropriate. He was, as his long time Concentus Musicus colleague Paul Hailperin has written . not interested in ivory rings and silver keys." For him it was more a question of "Hort man's?", meaning roughly, "Do you hear it?" Well, we did, in fact, hear it and that is why we remember him so fondly.
GWM
Note: I would like to thank the many people who contributed information
about Jürg Schaeftlein for this
article. In particular I am grateful to the Schaeftlein family,
particularly his wife Martha, for filling many of the gaps in
my research. For letters, conversations and insights I give my
special thanks to Paul Hailperin, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pat Nott,
David Reichenberg, Wolfgang Sawalisch, Earl Schuster and Milan
Turkovic. For translation assistance I am indebted to Astrid Beck
and Walter and Jackie Q. Kann. Dan Stolper's patience and encouragement
is greatly appreciated.
About the writer...
Grant Moore is a free-lance Baroque oboist and Baroque
oboe maker. He studied with Jürg
Schaeftlein in 1976-77 as a Watson Fellow and currently teaches
summers at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute.