This photograph -- a delightful curiosity passed along most generously by Laila Storch -- proves that people were doing double reed chamber music fifty years ago. It is the oboe section of the San Francisco Symphony of about 1923 or '24. Cesar Addimando was a well-known oboist--first in San Francisco for many years and actually first in the New York Symphony under Walter Damrosch at the time Tabuteau was engaged for that orchestra as English horn player in 1905. Vincent Schipilitti spent many years as English horn player of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Julius Shanis was the teacher of both Laila Storch and John de Lancie before they left California.
A most active double reed ensemble, which will be featured at the IDRS Los Angeles meeting is the California Double Reed Quartet, whose members are Sand Dalton, oboe; Allan Vogel, oboe d'amore; Marsha Taylor, English horn; and John Steinmetz, bassoon. The quartet was formed in 1973 at California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. Their repertoire includes works of Bach, trio sonatas of Zelenka, Fasch, Handel, Boismortier (with Patricia Welsh, harpsichordist), the Beethoven trios, and twentieth century works. On November 22, 1976 the group premiered JS Bach's 14 Canons on the Bass of the Goldberg Variations (arranged by Lawrence Morton for double reed quartet and string quartet) and David Noon's Motets & Monodies, Op. 31, for oboe, English horn, and bassoon -- also a Los Angeles premiere.
An English ensemble--the Sheba Sound-- who between, them, Catherine Grant, Deidre Lind, Deidre Dundas-Grant, and Harold Lester -- play oboes, oboes d'amore, cor anglais, bassoon, and harpsichord, also range from the baroque to modern music and Beatles arrangements. Since their Wigmore Hall debut in London, they have played all over England and have made their first record.
The New York Kammermusiker have sent along their own news release for this article, which I am happy to print in its entirety.
To the World's Oboists from the Double Reed Ensemble of The New York Kammermusiker!
The Double Reed Ensemble of The New York Kammermusiker (oboists Robert Eliscu, Walter Lehmayer, William Arrowsmith, Ilonna Pederson) comprised of oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn, bassoon, played in March 1976 in Amsterdam at the Melkweg, a hangout where pot smoking is legal, a program of music amidst the clouds.
In April the group performed in Munich and in New York (Goethe House and Carnegie Recital Hall).
In June the group returned to Holland, playing in the meditation center "De Kosmos" a program featuring Sonatas 4 in g minor and 5 in F Major for 2 oboes, bassoon, and B.C. by Jan Dismas Zelenka. However, it was performed by six oboes, three bassoons and contrabass. The performers were:
- Dean Admiraal - Oboe by F. Loree, Paris- Amsterdam free-lancer
- Robert Eliscu - Oboe by Graessel, Nurnberg - Munich Bach Orchestra (1st oboist)
- Werner Herbers - Oboe by F. Loree, Paris - Concertgebouw Orchestra (1st oboist)
- Jan Kouwenhoven - Oboe by F. Loree, Paris - Concertgebouw Orchestra
- Walter Lehmayer - Oboe by Zuleger, Vienna - Vienna Philharmonic Orch. (1st oboist)
- Ilonna Pederson - Oboe by A. Laubin, New York - Munich Bach Orchestra
and the bassoonists:
- Guus Dral - Concertgebouw Orch. (1st)
- Margaret Dudley - Graunke Orchestra, Munich (1st)
- Joep Terwey - Concertgebouw Orch. (1st)
- with bass player Anthony Woodrow - Concertgebouw and Rotterdam Orch. (Principal Bass player)
In addition, after the performance, oboist and musicologist Josef Marx gave a lecture on Zelenka, followed by a duet with Susan Barrett and Josef Marx for 2 oboes. In the audience-- more oboists.
The Double Reed Ensemble also gave a concert in June in the Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Center in Vienna. In August, the group undertook a tour in South America, where it returns this August. In January and February 1977 concerts in Holland and Portugal are planned, so if you want to see the world, join the New York Kammermusiker!