(Lewis Dann is from Felixstowe, England. Ed.)
The International Double Reed
Society Congress 1984 took place in Graz, Southern Austria, from
10-15th August.
I missed the reception given by the Governor of Styria but arrived in time to "sign on" on the second day after a hair- raising drive through France, Switzerland and Austria. Two of us were registering our attendance and it was then that I realized I was rubbing shoulders with the illustrious Malcolm Messiter who was later to give the 500 delegates from 30 countries some incredible displays on the Howarth Oboes of his choice, during the symposium on oboe developments and in his performance of Vaughan Williams' Oboe Concerto with the orchestra of the American Institute of Musical Studies that same evening. This performance took place alongside a Double Concerto for Oboe and Bassoon by Cambini with the American oboist Laila Storch and Canadian bassoonist Gerald Corey. The latter had been the first player to re-establish the Buffet Crampon French bassoon in a principal chair of a North American orchestra (Baltimore 1973) since the retirement of Raymond Allard from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1953.
A different style of oboe playing was then noted in the performance of Peter von Winter's Concerto in F given by Pierre Felt who is soloist with the Essen State Orchestra.
11.00 Sunday saw us all at the Minoritensaal for a concert of ancient music played on copies of l7th century Dulzians, Pommers, Crumhorns etc. by members of the Music High School, Saarbrucken.
15.00. More unexpected surprises - a rehearsal for a concert devised by Maurice Allard entitled "Jazz fur Oboe Fagott total" to take place at 20.00 with Paul McCandless making some very avant garde noises; but the most memorable moments being the "orchestra" of bassoons playing arrangements by M. Allard of Faure and Ravel in which I was able to take part, and by Francaix and Saint Saens given by M. Allard and his pupils from Paris.
At this point I will digress. In all this excitement I had not for one minute forgotten the fact that I had taken my family across Europe with me, settling into our trailer tent each night in changeable weather (although not ever "rained out") at interesting and planned terrains from the Pas de Calais, Normandy and the Haute Vienne, the final hop being a non-stop drive from Macon in Eastern France to Graz which is only a few kilometres from Yugoslavia.
So here we were, leaving the Minoritensaal in Graz at midnight after a four hour concert with three sleeping children, to find our way through a maze of one-way streets and trainlines back to our comfortable mobile quarters at the side of the largest swimming pool in Austria. I was later in the week to sample its cool refreshing water in a few moments of respite from the concert-going, lectures and demonstrations.
Monday was a fairly quiet day with a choice of lectures at the Grazer Congress. I chose Donald M. Hardisty's "Triple Crow Bassoon Reeds" in the morning and took a much needed relaxation for the afternoon as I did not wish to miss the concert at the Eggenberg Castle given by Collegium Musicum from Prague at 20.00 - music by Haydn and Mozart among others. The "Czech" sound was not one that inspired much sympathy but the setting, an 18th century concert room lit entirely by hundreds of candles, was breathtaking as was the cost of the ticket!
Tuesday 9.00. Back at the Grazer Congress for Otto Oromszegi and the "Connections between the Bass Bombard and the Bassoon". At 9.45 William Waterhouse arrived to give his discourse on the original versions of Weber Op. 75 and Weissenborn Op. 8 which brought a number of stimulating questions.
At 11.00 a concert of two early Czech composers - music for oboe and bassoon - best forgotten.
But, without doubt, one of the most inspired performances of the Congress was to follow, possibly in strange relief to the preceding items. This was Valery Popov playing a Sonate for Bassoon Solo by Edison Denisov b. 1929 - a piece of colossal difficulty played seemingly with little effort yet full of expressive force and technical skill. This bassoonist "extraordinaire" from the Soviet Union created such a stir that his "green-room" afterwards was crowded with all the great performers who were present.
We stayed for the following bassoon ensemble more out of courtesy than desire.
16.00. Another item not to be missed was the Fernand Gillet Young Artist Performance Competition held in the Konservatorium Concert Hall. There were two first prizes: one for oboe (winner Nicholas Daniel from G.B.) and one for bassoon taken by a brilliant young player from Finland, Marcus Tuukkanen playing his work from memory. The decision of the adjudicators was clear-cut. Among the adjudicators were Pierre Felt, Lady Barbirolli, Maurice Allard, William Waterhouse and Lewis Hugh Cooper.
At 20.00 we were back at the Congress, this time in the Chamber Music Room for a recital by John Mack (oboe) from U.S.A. and Milan Turkovick (bassoon) from Concentus Musicus, Vienna. The latter thinking that things were getting a little cerebral, gave an encore of The Bassoon Song a typical Edwardian parlour piece, in which he played the solo part and sang the verses in between with a very "worthy" timbre most unexpectedly and with great humour.
Wednesday - Final Day - I spent the morning visiting the remarkable displays put on by the manufactures: Buffet, Fox, Forrests, Glotin - there were many others situated on the first floor of the Grazer Gymnasium. There were opportunities to try instruments and reeds and a wonderful new item - high frequency oscillator cum sterilizer into which one could dip one's reeds - and it really did revive them. I resolved to purchase this (rather gimmicky?) piece of equipment at a later date.
The afternoon was to be spent in rehearsal for the Concert of Renaissance and Baroque (for all players who did not wish to take a sightseeing coach trip around Styria) - a performance which ended with 50 or more oboes and bassoons playing Handel's Fireworks Music in the ancient courtyard of the Town Hall. Without warning, they let off a mammoth fireworks display in the final movement. The experience of trying to blow a bassoon enveloped in the choking fumes given off by Roman Candles and with the music disappearing from view in the smoke, was a never-to-be-forgotten moment. At any rate the townsfolk enjoyed it.
22.00. After ascending the Schlossberg mountain in a rainstorm, at its summit-restaurant we all enjoyed the lavish reception given by the Mayor of Graz. Speeches were few, food and wine plentiful, but for most of us it was the opportunity to say our farewells and thanks for friendships made, a chance to swap last-minute comments or addresses or a promise of future contact. In the words of our President, if we could only persuade our political leaders to join in music-making as we had done, there would be no more unrest in the world. Perhaps Mrs. Thatcher could play the oboe and President Reagan the bassoon.
