Several years ago while searching for information about the renowned oboist and Paris Conservatory professor, Georges Gillet, I visited with one of his most eminent students, Myrtile Morel, who was already at that time in his eighty-seventh year. We were talking about Gillet's many and varied accomplishments and naturally spoke of his superb book of etudes, the Studies for the Advanced Teaching of the Oboe. Morel told me a number of interesting things about Gillet, many of which I included in articles in To the World's Oboists (December 1976, Volume IV, No. 3) and the IDRS Journal No. 5 of 1977. There was one remark, however, made just in passing, which both puzzled and intrigued me. Morel referred to certain changes from the original version of the Studies which had been made by Gillet's nephew, Fernand.
Not being aware of' anything other than the familiar yellow volume published by Alphonse Leduc which contains the Studies with the dedication and recommendations signed G. G., the excellent fingering chart and trill table, as well as the helpful Practice Method by Fernand Gillet, I had simply always assumed that this was the only edition that existed.
I nevertheless made a mental note of Morel's comment and immediately
began to ask about
and look for an earlier edition. I carefully examined my own very
worn copy of the etudes
and could still find only the copyright date of 1938. But then
I also looked at a more recent
example of the Studies and there at the bottom of the first
page of the written text, I saw "Copy
right by Alphonse Leduc et Cie 1909 et 1936." On page six
under the first etude it said "Copy
right by Alphonse Leduc et Cie 1905 et 1936.
Only the copyright date on Fernand Gillet's Methode de Travail remained 1938.1 I guessed that the earlier 1905 date could be accounted for by the completion of the etudes themselves before Gillet's introductory dedication to his pupils was written.
Now I became even more intrigued with the questions and made serious efforts in Paris to locate one of the 1909 copies, but with no success. Some months later after returning to Seattle, I finally got around to sorting through a stack of music that had been given to me by the widow of my California oboe teacher, Julien Shanis. There were several bound copies of Barret, Louis Bas, a number of miscellaneous solos, and then suddenly staring me in the face with the title page in English, Scales and Studies for the Superior Teaching of Oboe by Georges Gillet, Knight of the Legion of Honour, Professor at the National Conservatory of Music of Paris, and at the bottom, the date "Copyright 1909 by Emile Leduc, P. Bertrand et Cie.- I could scarcely believe that what I had been searching for had been sitting the whole time on a shelf in my own studio! Now I could proceed with a closer examination of the two editions and hopefully discover the secret of the mysterious "differences."
Morel had sung one of the studies for me in an intriguingly different rhythmic pattern, but before even looking at the actual etudes, the first thing I noticed in the 1909 edition was that they were preceded by thirty-five pages of scales presented in a very complete form. Marcel Tabuteau always had us study scales in chromatic sequence-, that is, a lesson assignment of three scales would consist of the keys of C, D-flat and D with their relative minors. Both Tabuteau and Morel told me that this was the way they studied scales with Gillet. In the 1909 edition the scales begin with B-flat Major continuing with B Major, C Major, D-flat and C-sharp Major through every key, all followed by both the harmonic and melodic minor scales, and all written out in sixteenth note patterns over the total range of the instrument to high F-sharp, G, G-sharp or A-flat in all possible combinations of articulations.
After the scales come several pages of intervals; seconds and thirds, also chromatic scales, all to be similarly played in every articulation and to the highest feasible note. This format of scale study must have become somewhat down over the years as I was required to play scales and broken thirds only through high F and with only the harmonic minor. As these scales were not included in the 1938 edition, Gillet's introductory remarks concerning them were of course also omitted. I believe it is important to note what he says in this regard:
I have placed before my studies a compendium of articulated scales. It is impossible to obtain a perfect mechanism without their help, and their daily execution is indispensable. It is by working them every day during my holidays, without any other study, that I was enabled to resume the course of my artistic occupations without any weakening in my mechanism. Quite the contrary, they fortify the lips and give a great reliability of tonguing. I could not therefore too strongly recommend to you not to neglect them; it is the supreme source of the perfect oboist.
The fingering charts in the two editions are quite similar and use the same diagram of the instrument and the same method of identifying individual fingerings. The English translation has been improved in 1938 however, Le Hautbois a Plateaux Mod& 1906) earlier translated as "The Oboe with Flat Keys (Style 1906)" is now called the "Covered Hole System (Model 1906)."2 The new table presents eighty fingerings as opposed to seventy-nine in the earlier, the additional one being No. 35b the now accepted form of high G-sharp. Fingering No. 35 for G-sharp3 remains the same but in 1938 with the added indication "for trills." In fact, all fingerings primarily intended for trill use are so noted in the new edition. The few fingerings which differ in the two editions are only in the extreme high register and probably reflect a still evolving idea of what the best solution for some of these high notes would be. For instance, the G 3 fingering No. 34 is given identically in both editions but No. 34b in 1909 is instead of the more familiar in the later chart. All three fingerings for high G can be of use in different combinations of notes, the old 34b being especially helpful in the upper reaches of scale passages. No. 36, A' in 1909 is given in a version using fewer side keys: and in 1938 adds the first finger left hand plus the S + and the M keys in the right hand.
There are several additional differences in the fingering chart
which are of interest. At least on my oboe, the earlier fingering
given for B2, No. 26b is more solid and well in tune than the
new 26b.
Both the old and the new fingerings No. 25t for the A-sharp/B-natural
trill, are good alternates to No. 25b, the version using the spatula
key.
Two other trill fingerings, No. 30t for high D-sharp/E and No. 30q for high E-flat/F, are given with slight changes.
At one time Georges Gillet apparently thought it would be a good idea not to use the first octave key for high E and F in passage work, employing it only for sustained notes. He refers to this in the quaint English translation of the 1909 edition under Some Suggestions:
In the tablature, one will find, under the sharp notes E and F, (should read "high" for aigu. L.S.) the suppression of' the first octave clef: This clef' used till now has often caused kwacks in rapid passages. I noticed it more than once at the competition examinations. Since I no longer have it taken up, there are no more notes missed, yet to uphold a holding- note, it may be resorted to.
Now to come to the fascinating differences which exist in the main body of the twenty-five Studies. Aside from a minor discrepancy in metronome markings for the first two etudes. (In 1909 No. I is given as 125 = quarter note and No. 2 as 126 = quarter note while in 1938 both are 120 = quarter note), the changes are for the most part of a rhythmic nature. The newer version of the studies is quite in keeping with the analysis of efficient ways to practice which Fernand Gillet presents in his Methode de Travail and it is easy to see that if worked on in this form, there would be no difficulty of executing them in the earlier manner. However, in several ways the original character of the music is quite altered and it was to this aspect of the changes that Morel had referred.
There are six etudes in which definite modifications occur, Nos. 6, 8, 11, 14, and 24. In the early edition, No. 6 is written in 3/4 time with a metronome indication of 84 = quarter note instead of 9/8 at 72 = quarter note, and is notated in the following manner
rather than in a continuous legato line. This pattern is used throughout the entire etude. Of course after practicing the whole study in even notes, one can easily play the turns, so that in in effect the later version becomes a preparation for the study as originally written.
I wished that I knew Fernand Gillet's reasons for the revisions he made, and so decided to write to him enclosing copies of both versions of the six etudes in question. By this time he was quite ill, and his answers to my question were conveyed to me through the kindness of his wife, Marie, who carefully made notations on the music.
In the case of No. 6, she wrote out yet another form of the turn with the indication, "Fernand prefers this interpretation."
The second way of course puts us exactly back to the original, and is only added evidence that anyone who thinks about music throughout the course of many years, will change opinions as to what is the best realization of an ornament, a phrasing pattern or an articulation.
Another rhythmic change occurs in Etude No. 8. All passages which we know as written in triplets, appear in the original as:
until measure 37 when the pattern is reversed to
with an indication of Leggiero. From the last beat of bar 46 the
form returns again and continues to the end of the study. Here we come to an interesting difference of opinion on the part of two disciples of Georges Gillet. When I brought the copy of the early edition on my second visit to Myrtile Morel, he particularly emphasized the fact that the rhythm in the eighth etude is similar to the feeling of being "a cheval," riding on horseback with a certain bounce to it, but Mrs. Gillet noted on this same figure:
"Fernand does not like this rhythm. It is not good to work and not of the best taste," thereby explaining his change to equalized triplets throughout the study.
In the original version of Etude No. 11, the legato sixteenth notes at the end of each measure are articulated in groups of three
instead of under a continuous slur. At the Tempo gi usto, seven and a half measures are notated in the following manner, without the repetition of the sixteenth note at the end of the second, fourth, sixth and eighth beats:
Mrs. Gillet's comments were that Fernand "Keeps this rhythm after working evenly."
The only change in No. 14 is of the slurs over the twelve bar section in octaves marked Comodo from bar forty-one through bar fifty-two. Instead of all being played under one long legato marking, the first six measures are slurred in groups of four
and the remaining six measures are slurred by divisions of two.
If one very carefully examines Study No. 20 in the 1938 edition,
it is possible to detect a curious change in the size of the notes
at the Leggiero section for three and a half lines from
measure forty-one through measure forty-eight. It appears as if
an insert had been made, and indeed this exact part of the etude
in the 1909 edition is in the
rhythm for bars forty-one through forty-four with a dynamic indication of mf, diminuendo to bar forty-five where the opposite rhythm
begins p continuing to reach f
at bar forty-eight with no accent marks throughout the passage.
In Study No. 24 beginning with measure thirty-three and continuing
for eight bars, a change similar to the one of the turns in Study
No. 6 occurs. The whole section also appears to be an insert with
smaller notes and a change of time signature to 9/4 from the original
3/2 in order to accomodate the writing out of the turns into even
groups of six notes to a beat. The pattern of the first bar
continues for the entire eight bar passage
up until the trills. The fingering problems remain exactly the
same, the changes again being primarily of notation and style.
In considering the revisions made by Fernand Gillet in the 1938
edition of his uncle's Etudes, it is clear that they are not of
an earthshaking nature, nor do they alter the essential value
of these demanding studies. However, they seem to me to be of
sufficient importance to merit the original intention being generally
known.
In the mid-1940's when I studied with Marcel Tabuteau at the Curtis
Institute of Music, I only worked on the first few Gillet Etudes.
But what I remember very clearly was the special attention that
Tabuteau gave to the manner of practicing these studies. It was
to play them at first very slowly with the utmost care
given to the smooth connection of the often very difficult and
awkward intervals. The Forked F Etude No. 3 is particularly valuable
in this regard. Once one has mastered the even blending of intervals
and the dynamic contrasts, then the tempo can be increased, but
this is useful only to the point that the initial approach is
not lost. Despite the fact that these etudes deal with many specific
problems of execution, the musical, tonal and melodic element
should remain the prime concern, so that they sound good
and are played as an extention of the work already done on Barret,
Brod and Ferling.
Using the introduction given me by Tabuteau as a springboard, I continued to work on the Gillet Etudes by myself, first during my years in symphony orchestras and later as a summer project, doing only one or two very thoroughly for several months. I have found them to be a lifelong challenge and I am still working on them with benefit, now from a new copy, as my original book printed on poor quality paper has turned dark brown and is cracking around the edges.
I once made and pasted in the front of my book a chart giving at glance the studies which are beneficial for certain problems - No. 1, scales; No. 2, arpeggios; No. 3, forked F, and on through trills, chromatics, staccato, triplets, octaves, harmonics - everyone can easily make his own list. I found this helpful whenever I felt the need to "brush-up" on a specific area of playing or move a sluggish "mechanism."
I like this word which Gillet seems to prefer for fluency in passage work to the more often used "technique" which should be reserved for the total command of the instrument. His Etudes are brilliantly conceived to improve both the mechanism and the technique!
When Gillet composed the Studies in the early part of this century, it was to help his students to be prepared to meet the difficulties being encountered in the new music of the time. Many of the compositions of Debussy, Ravel and Dukas with their increased use of the upper register of the oboe, contain passages which present a challenge to this day. As Gillet says in his dedication:
The studies given heretofore in my class are old in form although they possess real value, but they no longer meet the requirements of the perfecting work that the continuous progress of modern music calls for.
If during the first part of this century many oboists entered the professional field without a thorough preparation of the Gillet Studies, now eighty years after their appearance, we have long since reached a point where they must be considered an integral part of every student's program of study.
About the writer...
Laila Storch, oboist of the Soni
Ventorum Wind Quintet, has been Professor of Oboe at the School
of Music of the University of Washington in Seattle since 1968.
She began the oboe in California and graduated from the Curtis
Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she was a student of
Marcel Tabuteau.
For seven years she was lst oboist of the Houston Symphony Orchestra before going to Austria on a Fulbright Grant in 1955. While in Europe she performed extensively in chamber music groups, both wind quintet and baroque trio sonatas, as well as becoming 1st oboist of the Mozarteum Orchestra in Salzburg.
From 1950-1953 she participated in the first four Casals Festivals in Prades and Perpignan and later from 1965-1968 in the San Juan, Puerto Rico Casals Festivals. She has also taken part in the Bethlehem Bach Festivals, the Marlboro Music Festival and in 1962 toured the Soviet Union as oboe d'amore soloist with the Robert Shaw Chorale. As a member of Soni Ventorum, she has recorded much of the wind quintet repertoire and has made several tours of Europe, Central and South America.
She has written numerous articles on oboists and oboe history for I.D.R.S. publications.
ENDNOTES
1. Throughout this article I have called
the new version of the Studies "the 1938 edition"
as this is the date in the copy I have owned and used since about
that time. While reading these pages, it would be helpful to keep
the book of Gillet Studies before one, as frequent reference is
made to numbers and symbols in the fingering chart as well as
to note patterns and measure numbers in the etudes.
2. It should be remembered that Georges Gillet had an important part in bringing the oboe to the point of development of the 1906 model, and must have given a great deal of thought to all its possibilities while completing his fingering chart and studies at about the same time.