The Oboe Reed Book
by Jay Light, illustrated by Paul Micich
This one hundred twenty page manual, subtitled A Straight-talking Guide to Making and Understanding Oboe Reeds, represents the most successful description of the craft of oboe reed making I have encountered. Organized into eight chapters and two appendices, the book deals thoroughly with every aspect of reed making from cane shaping to final adjustment in a simple, clear, logical manner. After a rather inspiring first chapter ("Some philosophy") comes a twenty-six page critique of tools and supplies. Chapters on "Knife Sharpening," "Tying the Blank, " and " Knife Technique " whet the reader's appetite for the best chapter, "The Scrape, " which gets to the details of construction that provide all oboists with such anguish. Chapters on shaping cane and on English horn reeds follow, followed by a trouble shooting chart and a list of major suppliers.
Mr. Light's background includes study with several former Philadelphia Orchestra members, as well as degrees from the Curtis Institute and Michigan State University. Accordingly, his method of reed making falls squarely into the mainstream of contemporary American practice. Mr. Light presents his topic with extraordinary detail and clarity of explanation. He has a wealth of ideas, some of which may at times seem odd, but which when tested on the cutting table are uniformly successful. His text is clean and to the point, with a comfortable, conversational tone and more than a smattering of anecdotes. To illustrate, his description of proper knife action:
The actual scraping of the reed should be done at about a thirty-five to forty degree angle away from the center of the cane. At no time should the stroke go straight down the reed. All scraping is done in one direction toward the tip of the reed only. The knife should not touch the reed on the way back for the next stroke. The cane shavings should curl off the reed in a very fine, almost powderlike texture, yet something should come off with each stroke. If you find that your technique involves "making the chips fly," you're going at it too vigorously.
The knife stroke is somewhat analogous to a golf swing, in that there is a preparation, the stroke, and a follow-through in both. The scraping is done with a rotating motion of the wrist and forearm.
The fine text is amply aided by Paul Micich's line drawings, which clarify well some of the subtle points of reed configuration and dimension.
This combination of sound advice, lucid prose, clear illustration, and attention to fine detail makes The Oboe Reed Book the best reference on the subject now in print. Students and players at all levels of expertise will find that it clarifies many obscure and difficult points, while teachers of the instrument will find Mr. Light's discussion adaptable to their own methods. The book is a valuable addition to the oboist's library, and will be welcomed by all of us who have not yet found the answer to making perfect reeds.Private published, The Oboe Reed Book is available from the following dealers:
Edmund Nielsen, Chicago, IL Forrest's, Berkeley, CA
R.D. Gilbert, Los Angeles, CA
Paul Covey, Baltimore, MD
McFarland Double Reeds, Atlanta, GA
John Hayden, New London, CT
Don Plesnicar, Albuquerque, NM
Eble Music, Iowa City, IA
Schirmer Music, New York, NY
Patelson's Music, New York, NY
Beethoven, Andante from Concerto for Oboe
Bowen, Sonata for Oboe and Piano
Mueller, Etudes in the New Style for Oboe
Bestor, Lyric Variations for Oboe, Viola, and Tape
Charles Lehrer, oboe; Dorothy Ornest, piano; Joel Rosenberg, viola Orion Master Recordings ORS 82432
Charles Lehrer, a frequent contributor to these pages, is a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. This album, produced in 1981, has an appropriately scholarly tone, presenting premiere recordings of several important works for the oboe.
The Andante from Beethoven's lost Concerto for oboe has been reconstructed by Dr. Lehrer, mainly from a manuscript in the British Museum . (See The Double Reed, Fall, 1982.) By recreating this music, Lehrer has made a valuable and important contribution to the oboe literature. While not as melodically inspired as the composer's later concerti, the piece has a certain lyrical charm, and compares favorably to other concerto slow movements of the period. Charles Lehrer handles its demands with ease and aplomb; the numerous high passages (to top F) are piercing but well controlled. Phrases are well-turned and gracious throughout, most notably in the fine cadenza which Dr. Lehrer composed. Pianist Dorothy Ornest accompanies with style and restraint. Their performance leaves me eager to obtain a copy of this music, to be published by Nova Music of London.
York Bowen's 1944 Sonata is one of numerous mid-20th century works written for Leon Goosens. The pastoral Allegretto grazioso which constitutes the first movement has an interesting development and is an effective contrast to the Beethoven. Subsequent movements are less fascinating; furthermore, despite a clean and generally well played performance, the artists don't seem to make as much of the work as they might.
From the late Florian Mueller's 25 Etudes in the New Style we hear four selections, totaling eight and a half minutes of music. Multiphonics, double trills, pedal trills, bisbigliandi, color changes, glissandi, microtrills, and tremolos are the new styles under study, producing interesting etudes of technical and occasionally melodic interest played with enthusiasm. This oboist finds them quite enjoyable despite the difficulty of their idiom.
Also in a difficult idiom are Charles Bestor's Lyric Variations for oboe with viola and tape. The work has some intriguing moments and is very well played, with sympathetic ensemble always evident between the two living performers. But although they handle the work well it somehow never catches on, and the piece fails to excite me even after repeated listening.
Schumann, Music for Oboe and Piano
Heinz Holliger, oboe, oboe d'amore; Alfred Brendel, piano
Philips 9500 740
Since hearing Heinz Holliger on record for the first time in 1972, I have patiently waited for him to commit to vinyl that most treacherous and beautiful of works for oboe and piano, the Schumann Three Romances. He has finally done so, on an album that also includes transcriptions for oboe of four other pieces by one of the most gifted of romantic composers.
Detailed criticism of this recording is made difficult by the uniform excellence of performance. All performances achieve the highest standards; indeed, this is as fine an album as any that Mr. Holliger has made.
It begins with the deceptively simple looking Romances, whose difficulties of breath control are met with seeming ease. Performed with great sensitivity and passion, these songs without words provide the most lyrical moments on an album outstanding for lyricism. The second Romance particularly glows with the expressive nuance and liberties of tempo that one expects in Schumann, but which many oboists fail to achieve.
Evening Song, from the Op. 85 piano duets, is presented in a straightforward transcription by Joseph Joachim. This lovely melody is in much the same vein as the three movements from 5 Pieces in Folkstyle, originally for 'cello and piano.
The Adagio and Allegro in A-flat, Op. 70, was originally intended for violin, although Schumann adapted it to the more familiar version for horn and piano. This oboe and piano version, taken from the violin part, occasionally betrays its roots in a pedal tone that sounds somewhat out of place on the oboe, or in a "horn call" arpeggio.
The most remarkable performance on this album, however, is of the Fantasy piece, Op. 73. Originally a tour-de-force for the A clarinet, Mr. Holliger has logically enough performed it on the oboe d'amore. Schumann wrote the work in three sections, with increasing tempo and musical tension in each; it is a tribute to Mr. Holliger's control of the soft-voiced oboe d'amore that he is able to meet these demands with ease and great musical poise. A more apt transcription, and a more convincing performance, would be hard to imagine.
Boccherini, Quintets in D, E-flat, and D-minor Boccherini, Quartet in A
The Sequoia String Quartet
Allen Vogel, oboe
Nonesuch D-79004 (Digital)
The oboe quintets presented, written for the Madrid oboist Gaspar Barli, date from 1797 during which time Boccherini is thought by some scholars to have been in residence at the Prussian court in Berlin. The two movement Quintet in D-minor derives a certain exotic coloring from repeated passages in the harmonic minor mode, while the E-flat Major Quintet repeats its opening Andantino Lento as a finale. The D Major Quintet, best known to oboists of the three is remarkable for its tunefulness and for some difficult writing in the string parts.
Vogel performs these lovely quintets with the grace and elegance that Boccherini's artless, relaxed, and free flowing music requires. His sound is clear and uniform through the instrument's registers, without a hint of strain in the higher passages. He blends well with the strings and has little trouble with pitch, and flawless technique.
The Sequoia Quartet meets the oboist's impeccable standards on every page, combining with him to produce a recording that is remarkable from the first bar to the last. Their performance of the Quartet in A provides a refreshing foil to the otherwise ever-present woodwind sound, and helps create an enjoyable album that will be appreciated by oboists and other chamber music lovers.