David Weiss, principal oboist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since 1973, previously held positions as first oboist of the National Symphony in Washington, D.C., associate first oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, first oboist of the Metropolitan Opera National Company, and first oboist of the West Point Band. He has been on the music faculties of Vassar College, Duquesne University, the Catholic University of Washington, and U.S.C. His solo performances include appearances at Carnegie Recital Hall, at New York's Caramoor Festival, at Philharmonic Hall, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington. On January 11, 1986 Mr. Weiss appeared with his Philharmonic colleagues in a performance of works of Mozart and Barber at the Gindi Auditorium of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Donna Perlmutter, writing in the Los Angeles Times, hailed this concert reviving the orchestra's Chamber Music Society. She comments:

Those on the roster Saturday certainly grabbed up their opportunity with relish. What with the anonymity imposed on symphony players throughout their workaday schedules, chamber outings provide an invigorating stretch, a point made evident in Mozart's Oboe Quartet, K. 370.

It could hardly have been in better hands than those of David Weiss (oboe), Camille Guastafeste (violin), John Hayhurst (viola) and Barry Gold (cello), who went straight to the heart of this opening work's untroubled innocence and jaunty good spirits, the minor-keyed Adagio of which they tempered in deeply felt terms. Here and there one could discern unblended shadings in the string work, common to ad-hoc ensembles. But such trifles don't count when the playing is con amore.

Leaping forward to the 20th Century, Weiss and wind colleagues Anne Diener Giles, Lorin Levee, Alan Goodman and William Lane took up Barber's "Summer Music," exulting the longlined plaintive languor that alternates with neat , crackling metric structures, and making a taut little drama of it all.

Orrin Howard's program notes on the Mozart and Barber works, real staples in the oboe repertoire, seem unusually worthwhile...

Quartet in F for Oboe and Strings, K 370. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).

Mozart's feelings about wind instruments in solo capacities ranged from disdain for the flute, fondness for the oboe, love for the clarinet, respectful regard for the bassoon, and good-humored affection for the horn. Professional that he was, the composer managed largely to mask the negativity he harbored for the flute ("...an instrument I cannot bear") when producing several works on order for a Dutch dilettante. That he wrote delightful, and in some cases even substantive, pieces for the more favored instruments, is then no surprise: charming, Mozart could always be, and penetrating when the spirit moved him.

The composer's first nod to the solo oboe was in a concerto. Written in the early 1770s for the Italian musician Giuseppe Ferlendis and reworked as a flute concerto in 1778, the oboe concerto was lost and only discovered in 1949. The composition, however, shows Mozart, while still in his teens, to have been entirely sympathetic to the haunting timbre of the devilishly difficult double-reed instrument, and knowledgeable about its capabilities.

When in 1781 he next took up a piece for the oboe, he was a ripe 25 and just crossing the crest of youthfulness into the sublime maturity that was to be tragically snuffed out in a mere decade. The Oboe Quartet was written for the brilliant Mannheim and Munich virtuoso Friedrich Ramm. At this point in his development, Mozart was no longer content to compose a work that was a concerto in chamber music-size clothing. Anyway, given a grateful part, the oboe by its very nature would predominate. The part here is indeed expansive, but the composer also extended a large measure of visibility to the strings, particularly to the violin. There are, in fact, many instances of give and take between oboe and high string - conversations, echoes and duets - and the viola and cello cooperate sonorously in that partnership.

Still, acknowledging the efforts at equity, it must be noted that the Quartet is the oboe's show. In the first movement its role is mainly lyrical and minimally technical. Mozart here has shaped a sonata-allegro movement á la Haydn, in that it is virtually mono-thematic, the secondary materials being clearly derived from the main ideas. And the middle section is less a development than a brief fantasia, acting as an episode between the opening section and its formal repetition.

The middle movement is an Adagio in D-minor that, although a mere 37 measures, exudes Mozartean pathos. The oboe's entrance is particularly effective: into the fourth measure of the string melody the wind sings a high, sustained note, finally ornaments it poignantly and then proceeds on an aria-like course of lyricism and embellishment.

The pathetic nature of the brief movement perfectly sets off the folk-like quality of the Rondeau finale. The music here is both caressing and stimulating, the latter a result of the smartly virtuosic technical passages for the oboe, and especially of the section in which the instrument careens dangerously in rapid 4/4 time while the strings continue in opposing 6/8 meter. This is a capricious rhythmic trick for Mozart to have pulled on oboist Ramm and his string friends, a 13-measure elbow-in-the-ribs that must have put them - and the audience - on the edge of their respective chairs.

"Summer Music" for Wind Quintet, Op. 31. Samuel Barber (1910-1981).

Although chamber works occupy relatively small space in Samuel Barber's catalogue, it was music from an early (1936) string quartet that set the Pennsylvania-born musician onto a singularly successful career as a composer. That music was the quartet's slow movement, which, adapted for string orchestra and introduced in 1938 by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony under the title Adagio for Strings, revealed a composer possessed of a rare gift for lyricism. In the 1930s, with atonality and the 12-tone method pressing for consideration, this element of traditionalism was welcomed with a degree of public enthusiasm that made it possible for Barber to become something of an oddity in our society: a composer who was able to live comfortably from the fruits of his creative activities alone.

Although later involvements included an interest in the rhythmic and polytonal procedures of Stravinsky and the techniques of the 12-tone composers, he remained defiantly outside of the avant-garde camp. The tangible rewards for simply remaining true to his nature were, among others, two Pulitzer Prizes (for the opera Vanessa, 1958, and the Piano Concerto, 1963), and a commission to compose a work for the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center - in 1966 - Anthony and Cleopatra.

A decade before the Met commission, Barber received an important if less prestigious one - to write a piece for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit. To this work, the Summer Music for Wind Quintet, the composer brought his bythen familiar musical qualities to an instrumental medium requiring the kind of craftsmanship Barber easily commanded.

In its tender and evocative songful moments, of which there are many, Summer Music conjures the aura of another of Barber's "summer" pieces - the 1947 work for soprano and orchestra, Knoxville, Summer of 1915 - even though it does not invoke the season named in its title. (In the present work, the oboe is most often the soprano.) For all of its changes of tempo, texture and mood, the piece is tightly integrated, mainly through the presence throughout of a descending half-step, first given in the brief introduction by the horn as it companions virtuosic skyrockets by, in turn, flute, clarinet and bassoon. Not incidentally, each coloratura burst ends with a descending half-step. Thus far, the oboe purposefully has remained unengaged, the purpose obviously being for the introduction to prepare the way for the instrumental soprano's entry on the plaintive main theme. Again, not incidentally, her song begins with a descending, half-step, repeated.

The pensive mood is not extended. An energetic section, propelled by jaunty staccatos, lots of repeated notes and changing meters, follows in a dazzling display of light fleetness in which all the players are united. The main oboe theme's return leads eventually to a new, flowing section in which the oboe, flute and then bassoon, present the theme with a busy pattern underneath given respectively by clarinet and bassoon. The music becomes more intense and virtuosic (and French- like), then subsides. After a sudden flourish interrupts the bassoon's quite musing, the piece ends on a bluesy note that is as enigmatic as everything preceding it has been straightout Barber.

(Notes by Orrin Howard)

Another fascinating side to David Weiss's career in his recent great success with his performances on the musical saw. Marc Shulgold, writing in the Los Angeles Times for July 26, 1985 in an article headlined: "David Weiss at Bowl: Sawing is Believing" tells it very well.

Walk my way, and a thousand violins begin to play...

-"Misty" by Johnny Burke and Erroll Garner

When members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic launch into Burke and Garner's classic love song tonight and Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl, those "thousand violins" (well, about 30, actually) will be joined by one musical saw.

And history will be made.

"Yes, I've done some research and I'm quite certain this is the first time a musical saw has been played during a concert at the Bowl," David Weiss asserts. No one is likely to disagree. How many have had the technical tools, as it were, to elevate the saw from its lowly position as an instrument associated more with backwoods barn dances than symphonic concerts?

Well, according to Weiss, at least one.

"Of all the saw players today, I'm the one with the most 'classical' background. I have the acuteness of pitch so important to successful playing. " That unerring pitch comes mostly from the 38-year-old musician's day job - principal oboe with the Philharmonic.

Where did Weiss first see the saw? "I didn't even know about it until four years ago. Guido Lamell (a violinist with the Philharmonic) introduced me to it. The sound was so unexpected, I was immediately drawn to it."

He was also a quick learner. In the fall of 1982, newcomer Weiss astonished crowds at the hotly contested Festival of the Saws in Santa Cruz by capturing second place. Subsequent appearances on "The Tonight Show"... didn't hurt his reputation either.

The big step to the Bowl stage was inevitable.

"I went to Ernest (Fleischmann, executive director of the Philharmonic) and told him I wanted to play my saw. 'The Great American Concert' (as the pops program is billed) seemed the perfect opportunity."

Weiss will be soloist in "The American Music Medley," the first work ever assembled for saw and orchestra, according to the suite's arranger, Gary Mandell.

Weiss and Mandell seem serious about the piece, though it's hard not to chuckle at the thought of a tuxedoed classical musician pressing a $7 Stanley Handyman between his knees and drawing out mournful tones before 17, 000 people.

"I'm not making any kind of statement" Weiss says. "I'm simply saying, 'Here is the saw. Listen to the beautiful sounds it can make.' "

Mandell, an instructor at McCabe's Guitar Shop and a neighbor of Weiss' ("I'm the best arranger on the block, " he quips), sees nothing funny about the saw: "Music is making sounds. It doesn't have to be played on an expensive instrument. Think about the violin. You stretch cat gut over a box and draw horsehair over it. If you'd never seen one and someone described it, wouldn't you be skeptical?"

Such defensive talk is unnecessary. Weiss' musicianship speaks for itself - notably in a recently released record, "Virtuoso Saw," on Cut Time Records (the cleverness of the label's name, along with the logo of a saw curving into an oboe, lead one to the correct conclusion that Weiss is Cut Time).

"I wanted to stress the lyrical side of the saw, rather than the sound effects aspect," Weiss said of the record, produced and arranged by Mandell. Several tunes on the album are included in "The American Music Medley," from "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Summertime" to "Misty" and "Sweet Georgia Brown."

To Weiss, the Bowl concerts are simply another step in the inevitable rise in popularity of this "true folk instrument."

Mandell, too, has his hopes up. "We're counting on the concert generating interest in the record. I expect the album to go plywood by the end of the year."

Any chance of an original work for saw and orchestra? "I haven't started on the piece," Mandell replies. "But I already have the title." He gives a sinister smile. Weiss hides his eyes.

"I'm calling it "The Worst Saw Concerto.'"

Valerie Edwards, principal oboist of the New Hampshire Symphony and former principal oboist of the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, marked the 1985-86 season with two highly successful solo performances. On June 25 she was soloist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under John Williams, performing jean Francaix's L'Horloge de Flore. And on January 24, 1986 she performed the Vaughan Williams Concerto accompanied by her colleagues in the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra under the direction of James Bolle. Called a "committed and expert oboist" by the Boston Globe, a "champion" by the New York Village Voice, and "an excellent instrumental soloist" by the Los Angeles Times, Ms. Edwards has been gaining increasing critical attention for her work as soloist, chamber player, and orchestral musician. She has appeared with virtually every major performing organization in Boston, where she makes her home. She has performed extensively with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, accompanying them on tour and appearing with them on many recordings. Ms. Edwards has participated in many festivals over the last twelve years, including the Aspen, New College, and Claremont festivals. In 1979 she attended Tanglewood where she was soloist in a performance of Ernst Krenek's Kitharalous for oboe and harp, with the Berkshire Festival Orchestra. She was awarded the Cecil B. Mapes prize that year as the outstanding instrumentalist of the season, and was invited to return the following summer. It was during these summers that Ms. Edwards came to the attention of Seiji Ozawa of the Boston Symphony who invited her in 1981 to accompany him to Japan to assume the position of principal oboist with the New Japan Philharmonic, where he was musical advisor and principal guest conductor. Ms. Edwards spent two very successful years in Tokyo, appearing with the orchestra on many recordings, radio broadcasts, television programs, and as a soloist. She returned to the United States in 1983 to assume her present position with the New Hampshire Symphony.

During the celebration of the Bach-Handel year in 1985, the Department of Music of Iowa State University at Ames, Iowa presented a series of lectures and performances devoted to baroque music on baroque instruments. Kevin Schilling, oboist and member of the Iowa State faculty with his harpsichordist colleague Lynn Zeigler-Dickson were hosts of this event, which took place October 8 through 13, 1985. Special guests included Grant Moore, oboist and Philip Levin, bassoonist, both prominent performers on baroque instruments as well as manufacturers of historical instruments. Mr. Moore studied the baroque oboe with Jurg Schaeftlein and James Caldwell; he was principal oboist of Ars Musica (a baroque orchestra based in Ann Arbor, Michigan) from 1977 to 1985. In addition he serves on the faculties of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the University of Michigan Early Music Workshop, and he has been a trustee of the Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments. Philip Levin has appeared regularly with the Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra and directs his own orchestra, the Levin Baroque Ensemble which has been featured on National Public Radio on many occasions. He is also on the faculty of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute as well as the Marines College of Music in New York.

Patricia Grignet Nott appeared with her Theater Chamber Players colleagues in performances of works of Boccherini and Bruno Maderna at the Kennedy Center in Washington on March 22 and 23. Quoting from Kate Rivers' notes on the program: "The oboe quintets were apparently composed for Boccherini's friend and fellow court musician Gaspar Barli, oboist in Carlo's orchestra (in Madrid). Boccherini wrote to his publisher, Pleyel: "There is an excellent oboe player, a musician of the King's Chamber... who, apart from an extraordinary sweetness of tone, gets out of his instrument sounds of a very high pitch which are rare and peculiar to himself. These are sounds which I have used in the nocturne for wind instruments. " Ms. Nott, assisted by Pina Carmirelli and Naoko Tanaka, violinists, Masao Kawasaki, violist, and Evelyn Elsing, cellist, performed the Quintet in D Minor, G. 436 from 1797. Later in the program, assisted by David Starobin, guitarist, she performed Bruno Maderna's Aulodia per Lothar, (a 1965 composition) in what is believed to be the first U.S. performance of this work. Written for the oboist Lothar Faber, the title refers to the ancient Greek instrument, the aulos, which was the forerunner of modern double reed instruments. Maderna's writing for the oboe d'amore "explores the total range and the dynamic possibilities in a lyrical and dramatic solo context. The guitar has a dual role as accompanist and as equal partner in the intricate ensemble passages." The annotator's mention of range reminds me that Ms. Nott, with the collaboration of Alain de Gourdon had her oboe d'amore fitted with an extension to accommodate the low B-flats required in this score.

Lorna Nelson, adjunct assistant professor at Montana State University at Bozeman, with her organist colleague, Paul Jacobson, performed seven concerts in four states during the summer of 1985. Their repertoire is a large one, ranging from baroque works through a substantial list of twentieth-century compositions. Ms. Nelson studied with Hal Herbig at the University of Montana and Jorgen Hammergaard at the Royal Danish Conservatory. An organist herself, she also studied the instrument in Copenhagen and she is organist at the St. James Episcopal Church. She is also principal oboist of the Bozeman Symphony and a member of the Gallatin Woodwind Quintet. She is eager to have ideas on repertoire for the oboe/organ combination from our readers.

Carol Bernhardt, principal oboist of the Mansfield (Ohio) Symphony appeared with her colleagues as one of the soloists in the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in a February performance. Ms. Bernhardt has been a member of the orchestra for more than two decades, taking brief leaves for schooling at the Oberlin Conservatory and Ashland College and to have two children. Her husband, Donald is concertmaster of the orchestra. John Futty writing in the News journal remarked: "Bernhardt and colleagues brought out the work's beauty with precise, expressive playing. Separately and as a unit their sound was nearly flawless."

Carol Padgham Albrecht, oboist and coordinator of the Parkville Chamber Players, appeared in concert with that ensemble on February 16, 1986, at Country Club Christian Church and on March 21, 1986 at Park College, both in Kansas City, Missouri. Assisted by Cheryl Young, soprano, cellist Deborah Carlson, and harpsichordist Timothy Corrao, Ms. Albrecht performed the Sonata in G Minor, H. 549 by C.P.E. Bach; Telemann's Fantasia in A Minor, played on the oboe d'amore; and an aria from Telemann's Cantata for the Feast of Michael the Archangel. On April 23, Ms. Albrecht presented a faculty recital at Park College assisted by John Schaefer, pianist. The program, entitled "The Amorous Oboe", featured the oboe d'amore in Telemann's Concerto in A Major,- Donizetti's Concertino in G Major,- and the premiere of a newly- commissioned work, the Sonata for Oboe d'Amore and Piano by Richard Freyermuth.

Barbara Herr, a member of the St. Louis Symphony, appeared as soloist with the orchestra, under its assistant conductor, Tsung Yeh, in a performance of Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda's Concertino, Op. 110, in mid-July. Henry Orland, in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, wrote: "Ms. Herr radiates technical mastery and tonal beauty in all registers. She has a flair for precision and fine phrasing. Though Kalliwoda's rarely performed concertino is a rather run-of-the-mill early romanticist work, Herr and the orchestra traversed it with restrained vigor and elan."

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