Every now and again there comes along a remarkable individual who can create excitement in a musical instrument where a kind of void had previously existed in terms of public interest. The forthcoming article deals with such an individual in the person of James Ostryniec, oboist extraordinaire. He performs the standard solo repertory where it is considered normal to experience some degree of tension, nervousness, and so forth. However, in the case of Ostryniec, he not only performs the standard solo repertory but also premieres many new works -- much of the time specifically composed for him. The pressures resulting from the additional repertory -- one would think -- would make a solo career that much more difficult to say the least; apparently such is not the case with James Ostryniec. He seems to "thrive " on the new challenges as well as the old ones. How he does it is still a mystery for this writer, but the results are simply a joy to hear.
During the past few years the performing career of James Ostryniec -- oboe virtuoso -- has expanded considerably. Regarded as being absolutely "brilliant" by Ernst Naredi-Rainer, the esteemed critic of the Austrian radio, and recently referred to by the Washington Post as "one of the unique artists of our time," James Ostryniec's performances have extended far beyond U.S. borders, encompassing a truly international scope -- with performances in Innsbruck, Vienna, Salzburg, and London, among others, in addition to recordings from Orion, Opus One, Varese International, Finnadar, and CRI.
As is so often the case with distinguished artists, Ostryniec's reticence about his own artistic success is well contrasted with his recitals which may be characterized as being virtual "tours de force" -- often juxtaposing baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary music on the same program, creating, as it were, a kind of history of music in miniature for his audience to appreciate.
A man of great scholarship and modesty, Ostryniec has enjoyed excellent rapport with today's finest composers. To date he has presented some 14 world premieres including works by John Cage, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Ernst Krenek, Ralph Shapey, and Faye-Ellen Silverman, among others. As some of those new works contained multiphonics (two or more sounds produced simultaneously with a woodwind instrument), Ostryniec was obliged to learn the techniques necessary to produce multiphonics. Considered one of the foremost exponents of such techniques today, Ostryniec has on numerous occasions presented lecture-demonstrations involving multiphonics including the prestigious International Double Reed Society conference hosted by Towson State University, Towson, Maryland, during the month of August, 1982.
Ostryniec's preference regarding the type of tone quality he strives for is -- to a great extent -- determined by the type of music he is performing. Even within the same piece Ostryniec may vary the tone quality. I personally have heard him do just that in baroque music. Thinking that perhaps I just imagined the change in tone quality, I asked Ostryniec afterwards and he assured me that what I had heard was by design -- that it was played that way intentionally as he thought it would be helpful in emphasizing certain aspects of the music.
In writing about one such as James Ostryniec it is not easy for this author to not think about and compare other artists (particularly oboists) as I myself am one of those individuals. What I observe in Ostryniec's playing is a kind of amalgamation of the wonderful artistic qualities of oboists like Leon Goossens, Harold Gomberg, John Mack, and Heinz Holliger. In addition, being that Ostryniec has a powerful personality in his own right, he has, at the same time, fused his own personality into the characteristics of Goossens, Gomberg, Mack, and Holliger, creating -- in affect -- his own unique kind of oboism. Subsequent to that development Ostryniec has become one of the finest oboists of our day.
The unexpected new premier status of the oboe as a solo instrument has, perhaps, been achieved through the efforts of artists like Gomberg, Mack, Holliger, and Ostryniec -- but also through the wonderful efforts of the great Spanish guitarist, Andres Segovia and the great French flutist, Jean-Pierre Rampal. Those kinds of artists pave the way for others to follow. And it is that kind of way or "via" which artists of Ostryniec's calibre are inexplicably drawn to and can be expected to follow.
Of course, during the course of time, the unexpected usually happens when least expected, and in asking Ostryniec to relate some particular incident that happened to him while on one of his tours abroad, this is the story he related: "I was appearing as a soloist with the Austrian Radio Orchestra at the Steirischer Herbst Festival in Graz, Austria. I was performing Ernst Krenek's double concerto for oboe and harp, entitled Kitharaulos. This is a very difficult work and the orchestral accompaniment includes a substantial piano accompaniment. It was decided to tune to the piano, which was tuned to A- 450. Needless to say, this was just about impossible. I then spent the next two days cutting, trimming and filing off the ends of tubes in order to at least come close to this pitch. So instead of enjoying the beautiful location of Graz with its picturesque mountains and charming streets lined with quaint buildings, I worked on reeds for days on end in my hotel room! I did manage to get one reed to play the concert and the concert went fine. In retelling this situation to Alain de Gourdon at Lorée in Paris, Alain brings out a prototype of a "high-pitched" Lorée. This model is just like all of the other fine Lorée instruments with the exception that it is physically about 3/8 of an inch shorter. Thus, this model plays at a higher pitch level. All one has to do is switch to this shorter oboe and immediately you are playing substantially above A-440 without doing anything to the reed. I bought this model oboe. Now when I tour Europe I take both my regular length Lorée and the "high-pitched" Lorée along. I have no problem adjusting to any pitch level and also have time to see the sights, too."
Certainly the world is much more culturally rich to have James Ostryniec on stage with his form of oboism. And how he does it still remains a mystery for this writer, but as I said earlier, the results are simply a joy to hear!
By Joseph McLellan
The Washington Post
(The following story appeared in The Washington Post, Washington, D. C., newspaper on November 8, 1983. It is reprinted by permission. Ed.)
James Ostryniec is one of the unique artists of our time -- an avant-garde oboist, internationally acclaimed and featured on numerous recordings. His recital with pianist Paul Hoffmann last night at the University of Maryland had a small audience but large significance.
One thing the program showed was the way an instrument can influence a composer. Vladimir Ussachevsky, Witold Lutowslawski, Ralph Shapey and Karlheinz Stockhausen were performed -- composers all noted, in one way or another, for hair-raising, daring and perplexing works. When they approach the oboe, all discover a special kind of beauty, based on the fact that it is essentially a melodic instrument.
In Ussachevsky's Pentagram, an oboe melody is heard against a taped background of oboe sounds manipulated into drones, percussion effects, something that sounds vaguely like a piano and something that sounds vaguely like a buzz saw. It is all beautiful. Stockhausen uses the click of the keys and the sound of breath missing the oboe's reed as an accompaniment to oboe melody; he makes the performer turn this way and that, bend his knees, gyrate, and he makes this instrument, designed for one note at a time, seem to produce overlapping notes. In Shapey's Rhapsodie, the oboe melody is intense, compressed and lyrical; in Lutoslawski's Epitaph it is in turn calm and agitated, melancholy and wistful. In all these works, Ostryniec's oboe was beautiful, as it was in Walter Piston's Suite, which takes essentially Baroque ideas and dresses them in modern styles.
In part, it was beautiful because Ostryniec is a performer of extraordinary musicianship and technique -- but also because his instrument does something special to composers.
Besides joining Ostryniec in several pieces, Hoffmann soloed in John Cage's absorbing Bacchanal, his first work for prepared piano, which makes the instrument sound like a percussion ensemble, and in the exotically descriptive Recifs ("Reefs") of Antoine Tisne. It was a brilliant evening for connoisseurs -- a group that should be more numerous.
By Stephen Cera
Sun Music Critic
(The following story appeared in The Sun, a Baltimore, Maryland, newspaper on September 20, 1983. It is reprinted by permission. Ed.)
Oboist James Ostryniec is searching for new sounds. As a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 1970, he has performed the standard works from Bach to Berlioz, Mozart to Mahler, Pachelbel to Prokofiev.
But his main musical interest lies elsewhere. Championing the possibilities of contemporary oboe technique, he has spurred composers to create unique timbres, to push back the sonic frontiers of his instrument.
A recent grant will enable him to expand his horizons further. Last June, Mr. Ostryniec was named one of five mid-career American artists to receive the Creative Artist Fellowship for Japan. He was one of 1,500 applicants for the award, which will provide funds for him and his family to live in Japan for 10 months beginning next March.
It was the first time this grant -- jointly sponsored by the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government -- has gone to an American musician.
Mr. Ostryniec will go to Japan to study traditional and contemporary musical developments; in effect, he will apprentice himself to specialized methods available only in that country.
He will observe contemporary performance practices of new woodwind techniques influenced by traditional Japanese methods, and learn to play the hichiriki, the traditional Japanese oboe (not to be confused with the "normal" oboe played in the Tokyo Philharmonic).
Accompanying him overseas will be his wife, Jane, an Oriental art historian at the Maryland Institute, and their two children, ages 9 and 7. While he goes about his work, Mrs. Ostryniec will teach English at the Osaka College of Art.
"I am very interested to know as much as I possibly can what's happening with the modern oboe," Mr. Ostryniec explained.
"I'm as aware as I can be that what's happening in Western culture isn't the entire world... If you're going to look at modern music beyond Western civilization, it means going to the Orient... I must be there in person, because they do not publish, they teach by rote. Right now, I have little idea what's happening in Japan. "
This cross-cultural contact will make Mr. Ostryniec something of a pioneer: a Western oboist with firsthand knowledge of new developments and experimentation in present-day Japanese music.
"Through the Fifties and Sixties Japan was influenced by (composers) Stockhausen and Boulez, and contemporary music didn't incorporate traditional Japanese elements," Mr. Ostryniec said. "By the end of the Seventies, Takemitsu, Ichiyanagi and Jo Kondo (Japanese composers) started incorporating traditional Japanese elements into their music. I will be in contact with them."
Observing the new merger of Western methods and traditional Japanese music, Mr. Ostryniec hopes to discover new musical syntheses.
An Ostryniec oboe recital means avant-garde acrobatics, newly discovered quarter-tones and harmonics, double trills and glissandos. The sounds can barely be associated with the melting, lyrical tones traditionally identified with the oboe, such as the soaring melody that lifts the slow movement of Brahms's Violin Concerto.
The oboist, who holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan, also teaches at the Peabody Preparatory. He is considered one of the most enterprising and accomplished practitioners of his specialized craft, and already has to his credit a string of foundation grants (Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, National Endowment for the Arts).
A mainstay of Baltimore's new music activity, he enjoys an active career as a recitalist in the U.S. and Europe. Ostryniec performances of contemporary as well as Baroque music have been hailed in Vienna, London, Berlin and Paris, and the Pennsylvania native can also be heard on six solo recordings, including his most recent on the CRI label which contains music by George Rochberg, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Gunther Schuller and others, and another on the Varese label that features Ernst Krenek's Kitharaulos, conducted by the composer.
Mr. Ostryniec has worked closely not only with Krenek, but with such diverse composers as Vladimir Ussachevsky, John Cage and Ralph Shapey. He likes to initiate contact with musicians whom he finds receptive to the challenge of writing new oboe sounds. Cage, in fact, now has a work-in-progress for him.
How does the oboist perceive his musical "double life, " playing the standard classics night after night with BSO and recreating the most advanced oboe compositions much of the rest of the time?
"I really enjoy (orchestral) playing, I like the challenge of knowing at 8:15 on Thursday night, regardless of whether I've just taken out the garbage or whatever, I must make music. Those people in the audience don't care what I've been doing; they're coming to hear this particular piece. I find that aspect challenging.
"The orchestral repertoire is so traditional, and my recital repertoire is so specific into the Twentieth Century. Recital pieces are technically much more challenging, and take a lot of endurance, whereas the orchestral repertoire you have known and studied for years. You have to make every performance meaningful. "
Now he is priming himself for his sojourn in Japan by boning up on Japanese before leaving. "I want to make sure that every minute counts," he says.