Introduction
Generation I. 1650-80
Generation II. 1680-1710
Generation III. 1710-1740
Generation IV. 1740-1770
Generation V. 1770-1800
A Representative Repertoire List
Endnotes
When I started putting a repertoire catalogue together some years ago for my students,[1] I like every other oboist I had no conception of the extent or quality of the surviving solo music. Two things became obvious in the course of compiling the catalogue: first, there is far more material (both solo and ensemble) than any one player can ever hope to play in a lifetime; and second, most of it (including much of the best) is not currently available in published form. It follows from this, of course, that an oboist who plays only from modern editions has an unnecessarily limited repertoire at his disposal.[2]
There is another aspect to a catalogue of oboe music that did not occur to me until the list began to take shape. An instrument's repertoire is a sort of mirror. It shows what its contemporaries thought it could do best, and what was expected of it. The music written for an instrument at each period in its history reflects its natural evolution: the gradual mutation of its role and changes in its physical qualities. In the case of the oboe, these-changes can be traced through the many writers who in the past have described the instrument. But words can never be as precise or eloquent at evoking the historic oboe as the actual music that composers have left us for it.
What the repertoire shows us is that between the time the new French oboe made its appearance during the course of the 17th century until it was endowed with a system of keys by the Industrial Revolution, its musical role underwent a dramatic evolution. From a standing start, the oboe had already reached its "Golden Age" by its third generation, when its solo literature reached a high point in both quantity, variety of forms, and instrumentations. But by the end of the century (though a few exceptional pieces were still being written) the oboe solo was falling into decline.
The oboist Francois Joseph Garnier wrote in 1802,
The usage that great masters... have made of [the oboe] in their learned compositions attests to its excellence and is a daily reproach to the present taste, which seems to neglect it.[3]
And the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung for 29 January, 1912 comments,[4]
Good new compositions for the oboe appear seldom, in fact, almost not at all.
The virtuoso soloist (often himself the composer of the music he played) was gradually giving way to the orchestral oboist, who in later generations was to become the instrument's primary exponent.
Oboe music written before 1800 exists nowadays in three different forms: 1) original manuscripts and prints, 2) modern published facsimiles of these, and 3) modern published editions.
Modern editions are normally the easiest to obtain. Their major disadvantage is obvious from their name: they insert a "middle-man" between the composer and the performer in the shape of an editor. Music publishers, for all their idealism, do not generally have a strong historical sense or inclination: that is not their function. Since basic standards and conventions for editing music have never existed, most modern editions of early music are unfaithful and misleading to some degree.[5] (On the other hand, it should be said that a few good modern editions do exist that can actually sometimes be more useful than facsimiles, since they present a "conflation" - that is, a carefully thoughtout fusion - of all the original sources.)[6]
An aspect of repertoire that is not obvious now is that the music of the 18th century was often privately owned, as paintings still are. Only a small proportion was published at the time - it existed only in a manuscript copy or two. No baroque or classical oboist had the great accessibility to music we have now, when virtually any piece that has survived is ours for the asking.
Obtaining original manuscripts and prints involves ordering copies directly from libraries - not as daunting a task as it might at first seem. Being public institutions, most libraries consider it part of their business to help interested persons study or gain access to their holdings. Copies are usually (though not always) cheaper than modern editions. A whole collection of pieces (usually a half-dozen or a dozen) can be ordered, instead of buying one of the pieces from that same set in a modern edition. There is no editor in the way, the chance of misprints is lessened, and original editions (especially of French engraved music) are frequently easier and more pleasant to read than modern ones.[7]
With over 3,000 solos written over a period of 150 years, we need a framework for dealing with this information in order to make it comprehensible. In the 18th century, the oboe appeared as a solo instrument in four general musical forms:[8]
1. Solo sonatas with continuo;
2. Concertos and other solos with orchestra,[9]
3. Obbligato solos for single oboe with voice and either continuo
or orchestra;
4. Oboe quartets and quintets.[10]
Since national styles were important as well, we can further subdivide each of these categories. French solo sonatas, for instance, are different from English, Italian, and German ones.
Based on a number of factors,[11] the oboe's early history also seems to fall naturally into 30-year intervals, or generations, as follows:[12]
I. 1650-1680: a formative, experimental period that produced no solos.
II. 1680-1710: first appearance of solos
III. 1710-1740: the "golden" generation of oboe repertoire (in quantity and - depending on your musical taste quality as well).
IV. 1740-1770: the generation of the concerto.
V. 1770-1800: the generation of the oboe quartet.
This is the system I have used for dealing with the musical material to be described below.[13]
In graphs 1-4, the rise and fall of solo forms is traced by generation. Solo sonatas (1,888 pieces; by far the predominant solo medium for oboe)[14] are non-existent in the first generation, rise steeply in the second and reach their zenith in the third. They then make an equally precipitous fall again in the fourth and seem headed for oblivion in the fifth. Solo concertos (722 pieces) show a somewhat less dramatic career. Rising rapidly like sonatas in generation III, they remain fairly steady through the next generations, with a downward trend in the last. Obbligato solos with voice and either continuo or orchestra (330 pieces) both show the same pattern in miniature as solo sonatas; they are prominent only in the third generation.[15] Oboe quartets and quintets (228 pieces) are exclusive to the last two generations, making a sharp rise in the last, replacing the solo sonata and obbligato solo with voice of the preceding generations.[16]
Finally, graph 5 traces the general development of all oboe solos through the five generations.[17] The pattern is similar to individual instrumental forms (except concertos and oboe quartets, which increase in the last half of the 18th century, contrary to the general downward trend).
There are many convincing indications that what has been found to date is only a part, perhaps even a small part, of the extant music for oboe. And of course the music that has survived, thanks to pure chance, is still only a part of what was once written but is now lost forever. To generalize on the rise and fall of particular genres of music for oboe, or groupings of instruments within a given period, based on what is known now, may not accurately reflect their true histories. Nevertheless, the completion of a basic oboe bibliography gives us at least the beginnings of an understanding of the impressive repertoire that is available to oboists.
This is a formative, experimental period in which the oboe is limited to orchestral tuttis, double-reed trios and wind bands in its native France. A number of surviving pieces include F-oboes. No solos are known in any genre.
The oboe's outward form and basic technique become definitive, and it is adopted in the other countries of Europe. The first solos appear and increase rapidly in number, especially solo sonatas. (Trio sonatas, incidentally, follow the same pattern.) The oboe band comes of age, only to be eclipsed again in later generations. Writing for F-oboes reaches its summit.
Solo Sonatas [313]
The first few dozen solo sonatas appear in the last half-decade of the 17th century by German, French, and English composers U. Fischer, Montéclair, Pez, André Philidor, Rebel, and Tollet). By the first decade of the 18th century, the trickle becomes a flood (269 pieces) by among others Freillon-Poncein, Hotteterre, de LaBarre, Handel, Heinichen, J.C. Pepusch,
Telemann, and Schickhardt. Solo sonatas are dominated numerically in this generation by French composers.
Concertos [37]
Oboe concertos start much more slowly than solo sonatas. The first known oboe concerto is Charles Dieupart's 4movement "Sonate" in a manuscript collection that probably dates from just before 1700. Principal composers in the following decade (mostly, like Dieupart, writing in England) are Corbett, Finger, Handel, Keiser, and D. Purcell.[18]
Obbligatos with voice and continuo or orchestra [55]
The first obbligatos with voice are by Caldara, Keiser, Kusser, Purcell, A. Scarlatti, and Steffani. The earliest known oboe solo in any medium is the Verset "Sustinuit anima mea" in De Profundis (1689) by M.R. de LaLande, for soprano, oboe "seul" and continuo. After the turn of the century, the first pieces in this form by J.S. Bach and Handel appear, along with pieces by, among others, Graupner and Osterreich. Keiser is particularly experimental with the oboe and voice starting in 1697 and continuing through the 1720's.[19] The use of orchestra with oboe and voice is less common in this period (13 pieces). Steffani and Kusser, both of whom begin writing oboe solos quite early (1692 and 1694), probably influenced the great German interest in this instrumental form in the next generations.
An idiomatic character and literature emerge. Although tastes will vary here, this generation represents, in some senses at least, the high point of the oboe's repertoire; it contains much of the most profound and varied solo music as well as the greatest quantity in any period of the instrument's history. By far the largest proportion of works for oboe by J.S. Bach (94%), Couperin (100%), Handel (74%), Telemann (76%), and Vivaldi (100%) fall in this period.
All solo forms except the oboe quartet are prominent. The trio sonata and multiple instrument concerto, like the solo sonata and obbligato with voice, reach their numerical apex. The oboe d'amore and da caccia are invented and immediately have their brief but brilliant moment in the sun; music for both diminishes again rapidly after this generation.[20]
Solo Sonatas [968]
Generation III spans a period that begins with the early sonatas of Handel (c. 1712) and ends with that of C.P.E. Bach (c.1737). All styles are richly represented. Production of solo sonatas is particularly dense in Germany and France. Principal composers are Boismortier, the Chedevilles, Corrette, Couperin, Dornel, Hotteterre, Montéclair, Anne and P. Philidor, Babell, GOiard, Handel, Kytch, Albinoni, Barsanti, Bigaglia, Castrucci, Dall'Abaco, Locatelli, Sammartini, Vivaldi, Förster, Heinichen, Pepusch, Quantz, Telemann, Weiss, Loeillet, and Schickhardt.
Concertos [242]
In describing 18th-century concertos, Hans Engel has written,
The most characteristic instrument of this time was certainly the oboe.[21]
Numerically, the oboe concerto is clearly led by Germans in this
generation and the following two, with the Italians somewhat behind.
Only one French concerto (Leclair) is known from this period -
the French in general produced very few oboe concertos (a total
of only 11). Principal composers of concertos in generation III
are Galliard, Handel, Kytch, Albinoni, Bigaglia, Dall'Abaco, Lotti,
A. Marcello, Ristori, Sammartini, Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Fasch, Finger,
Förster, J. G. Graun, Graupner, Hasse, Heinichen, Pepusch,
Quantz, Stölzel, Telemann, and Weiss.
Obbligatos with voice and continuo or orchestra [226]
This medium shows a dramatic rise. It is principally favored by Germans and somewhat less so by Italians. Generation III represents the peak of the oboe obbligato with voice. Bach and Handel dominate its first decade, Bach and Telemann the second. Principal composers are Campra, Handel (who dominates in this medium with orchestra in the decades 1710-30), Bononcini, Lotti, Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, C.H. Graun, Graupner (the first to write for the new oboe d'amore), Heinichen, Keiser (particularly important in this genre), Matthe- son, Pepusch, Stölzel, Telemann (starting in the 1720's), and Zachow.
Although solos in general begin to fall in number, this can be called the generation of the concerto. Solo sonatas and especially solos with voice diminish, to be replaced by the new oboe quartet. (Trio sonatas and music for oboe band begin to wane, wind quintets[22] and octets with mixed winds and strings reach their peak, and sextets leap to prominence in this generation only.)
Solo Sonatas [495]
The number of solo sonatas drops noticeably. French composers again lead in this form; the balance is otherwise fairly equal among other countries. Principal composers: E.P. Chedeville, Corrette, Barsanti, Vincent, A. Besozzi, Bissoli, Platti, F. Prover, Sammartini, J.C. Fischer, Kirnberger, Matthes, Quantz, and Plà.
Concertos [249]
Principal composers are J.C. Fischer, Handel, Vincent, Alessandro, Antonio and Girolamo Besozzi, Platti, Sammartini, C.P.E. Bach, Dittersdorf, Eichner, J.G. Graun, Hoffmeister, Lebrun, Molter, L. Mozart, Pfeiffer, Quantz, Schaffrath, J. Stamitz, Telemann (until at least cl750), Plà and Roman.
Obbligatos with voice and continuo or orchestra [38]
A significant diminution takes place in this medium. Principal
composers are Blavet, F.A. Philidor, Handel (who used this form
to the end of his life, but in this period only with orchestra),
Platti, J.S. Bach (as Handel, only with orchestra), W.F. Bach,
Telemann (who continued to write solos for the oboe even into
the 1760's, but - as far as is known - only in this genre).
Oboe quartets and quintets [34]
The generation of the oboe quartet; the concerto holds its own, though ebbing after its high point in generation IV. Other solo forms are on the decline. Writing for F-oboes (probably in the form of the new English horn) makes a comeback, increasing noticeably over the previ- ous two generations. (Quartets, quintets, and septets in general show a rise, wind quintets and multiple concertos for oboe with other -in- struments remain relatively steady, and the trio sonata, sextet, and octet for mixed winds and strings diminish.)
This is an era of fingering changes[23] and generally higher tessitura. The addition of keys begins to be accepted. Pieces show a preference for slightly less flatness in tonality.[24] The concertos for oboe by Beethoven and W.A. Mozart fall in this generation.
Solo Sonatas [112]
In generation V, no single country dominates this form; the Germans and English produce the greatest number; the Italians none. Principal composers are Corrette, Devienne, J.C. Fischer, C. S. Barth, J. F. Braun, Eichner, Lebrun, and Fiala.
Concertos [194]
Principal composers: F.J. Garnier, Pleyel, J.C. Bach, J.C. Fischer, W.T. Parke, C. Besozzi, Cambini, Ferlendis, Jommelli, C.S. Barth, Beethoven, J.F. Braun, Dittersdorf, Eichner, Hoffmeister, Lebrun, W.A. Mozart, A. and C. Stamitz, Czerwenka, Druschetzky, Fiala, Kozeluch, Rosetti, and Vanhal.
Obbligatos with voice and continuo or orchestra [6]
Production in this form is reduced to nearly nothing.
Oboe quartets and quintets [194]
With concertos, this is the principal solo medium of generation V; it is the only one to show a rise rather than a fall. Note the dominant role of east-European composers in both concertos and quartets in this generation. Principal composers are Bochsa, Gluck, Massonneau, Pleyel, Abel, J.C. Bach, Shield, Boccherini, Cambini, Giardini, C.S. Barth, Cannabich, Danzi, Hoffmeister, Lebrun, W.A. Mozart, C. Stamitz, Toeschi, Druschetzky,
Fiala, Haydn, Krommer, Myslivecek, Vanhal, and Wranitzky.
Based on the above survey, I have selected 75 solos for oboe, using two criteria:
1. The number of solos in a given genre and period is roughly proportional to the numbers outlined in the survey. (Generation III, for instance, since it has more pieces, is more heavily represented. Likewise, there are more German concertos than French.)
2. Each of these solos or collections of solos is (in my humble opinion) the most beautiful and interesting example of its kind.[25]
This list therefore reflects the great variety of styles and technical demands of the oboe's principal period as a solo instrument. Most if not all of these pieces could form any player's basic solo repertoire or even a Conservatory study program (of, for instance, 15 pieces for each of five years). Many, needless to say, are already standard works.
Generation I (1650-1680)
(No known solos.)
Generation II (1680-1710)
French solos for oboe and Bc (02. 1)
English solos for oboe and Bc (02.2)
German solos for oboe and Bc (02.4)
Other solos for oboe and Bc (02.5)
French concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 1)
English concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 2)
Vocal works for one obbligato oboe, voice and Bc (14.)
French solos for oboe and Bc (02. 1)
English solos for oboe and Bc (02.2)
Italian solos for oboe and Bc (02.3)
German solos for oboe and Bc (02.4)
Other solos for oboe and Bc (02.5)
French concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 1)
Italian concertos for oboe and orchestra (10.3)
German concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 4)
Choice of:
Vocal works for one obbligato oboe, voice and Bc (14.)
Vocal works for one obbligato oboe, voice and orchestra (18)
English solos for oboe and Bc (02.2)
Italian solos for oboe and Bc (02.3)
German solos for oboe and Bc (02.4)
Other solos for oboe and Bc (02. 5)
Italian concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 3)
German concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 4)
Choice of:
Other concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 5)
Choice of:
French solos for oboe and Bc (02. 1)
English solos for oboe and Bc (02.2)
German solos for oboe and Bc (02.4)
Other solos for oboe and Bc (02.5)
English concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 2)
German concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 4)
Other concertos for oboe and orchestra (10. 5)
Choice of:
Oboe quartets (04. 7)
Choose two from:
Oboe quintets (05.3)
1. Bruce Haynes, 1985. Music for Oboe, 1650-1800: a Bibliography (Fallen Leaf Press, P.O. Box 10034, Berkeley CA 94709, USA). The product at this point of 15 years of research, at the time of its publication it listed 9,482 pieces for oboe (3,249 of which were solos). Of course, no repertoire list can ever be considered totally accurate or complete. There is always more to discover. Sources vary in reliability and it is not always possible to verify their data. Now that the Bibliography is computerized, regular revisions are planned. Comments, criticisms, corrections, and additions are welcomed and needed; they may be sent to me in care of Fallen Leaf Press.
2. Although an effort was made to choose pieces currently in print, it will be noticed that the repertoire list at the end of this article still contains many important works that have never been published.
3. Méthode raisonnée pour le hautbois (Paris: 1802), page 1: L'usage que les plus grands maîtres... ont fait [du hautbois] dans leurs scavantes compositions, en atteste l'excellence et fait un reproche journalier au gout actuel qui semble le négliger.
4. "Gute neue Compositionen für die Hoboe jetzt so selten, ja fast gar nicht erscheinen... (Column 70).
5. The very least we ought to be able to expect from a modern edition is a clear distinction between what comes from the composer and what the editor has found necessary to change. The editor should give us the title, location, and instrumentation of the original music. If additions or changes have been made (to dynamics or articulation, for instance), we need to know where and why this was done. Often, however, these standards are not met. Phrases like "edited and arranged by" or "certain obvious mistakes have been corrected without comment" should especially arouse our suspicion.
6. An excellent example of this is Nova Music's edition of the Handel oboe sonatas, edited by David Lasocki.
7. For library addresses, see Rita Benton, ed., Directory of Music Research Libraries, Parts 1-3 (especially Part 2: Thirteen European Countries [Iowa City: The University of Iowa, 19701).
8. Solos for oboe d'amore and F-oboe are included with those for C-oboe. The term "F-oboe" includes the "taille de hautbois" and "oboe da caccia" as well as the later "cor anglais" or "English horn." (For more information on this subject, see Reine Dahlquist, "Taille, oboe da caccia and corno inglese," Galpin Society Journal 26 [May 19731, 58-71.)
9. For convenience, these are all called concertos, which most of them indeed are. This category includes, however, any piece with orchestra where one oboe is the soloist.
10. That is, pieces with an independent cello part rather than a continuo (figured) bass, and which give the oboe a solo role rather than making it an equal partner in the ensemble.
11. Divisions like this are always to some extent arbitrary. Probably the most important factors in determining them are changes in musical styles, instrumental settings in which the oboe was used, its musical functions, outward form and its playing technique.
12. Watershed points are particularly clear at 1680 when the true oboe appears to have taken on its definitive form (see Bruce Haynes, "Lully and the rise of the oboe as seen in works of art," Early Music [August 1988, p.10]) and 1770, when charts begin to use harmonic fingerings for the high notes (see Bruce Haynes, "Oboe fingering charts, 1695-1816," Galpin Society Journal [May 1978] p. 75). Generations could also be based (less convincingly) on 20- or 25-year periods starting at different points, less regular periods based on benchmark works, the invention and demise of the oboe d'amore, etc.
13. It should be said that it is not possible to assign exact dates to many pieces written for oboe. Accurate conjectures can be made, however, based on style, active periods of composers, and corollary pieces. The possible error factor in dating is mitigated by the relatively large size of each generation (30 years). Treatment by generation is therefore more likely to be accurate than that by decade or year.
14. In order to accommodate the number of pieces, the scale of this graph is somewhat different than that of the other graphs.
15. Numbers for this instrumental form are incomplete because not all operas, sacred vocal works, etc. are yet included in my Bibliography. There are probably enough works, however, to be representative of trends in the form's popularity.
16. Changes in the prevalence of genres may have to do with changing tastes in musical forms. A drop in obbligatos with voice, for instance, may reflect a general loss of fashion in this instrumental medium for all instruments, not just the oboe. Likewise, the rise of the oboe quartet surely reflects the parallel popularity of the string quartet
18. The existence of a significant body of solo oboe material written from 1694 for Hamburg by Kusser, Handel, Keiser and Steffani is interesting. As far as I know, no equally large body of solos exists anywhere else so early. It indicates the presence there of a pair of important oboists who, with LeRiche in Dresden and oboists in Hanover and Braunschweig, must have been among the first to introduce the new oboe's capabilities to Germany. (For background on this point, see Bruce Haynes [July 1987], "Telemann's Kleine Cammer-music and the four oboists to whom it was dedicated," JIDRS 15, pp. 27-32.)
19. In Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte (1740:129) Johann Mattheson says of Keiser: "In Instrumental-Sachen, besonders vor Hautbois, war er recht angenehm... "
20. A glance at the composers who wrote for these two instruments shows that they were almost exclusively German. See Haynes 1985, pp. 388 and 391.
21. "Das charakteristischte Instrument dieser Zeit ist wohl die Oboe." Hans Engel, 1971. Das Instrumentalkonzert. Eine musikgeschichtliche Darstellung. Bd. L Von den A Anfangen bis gegen 1800. Wiesbaden. p. 323.
22. Until almost the end of the century, the standard wind quintet involving oboe consists of 2 oboes, 2 horns and bassoon. There are an astounding number of pieces for this combination (512 are listed in Haynes 1985).
24. If numbers are substituted for keys (so that one flat = - 1, three flats = - 3, two sharps = + 2, etc.) and the total keys are divided by the number of pieces, the average for all oboe solos for the period 1650-1800 is 0. 56. This is midway between no flats and one flat, leaning slightly toward the latter. By themselves, oboe quartets average -0.37, solo sonatas -0.29, and solo concertos -0.64.
25. Of course, selecting a limited number of solos means merely "touching base" in many areas of the oboe literature that deserve and demand more time and attention. Many beautiful works are omitted for the sake of keeping the total number manageable. I have often hedged a specific selection by suggesting a choice between two pieces, a whole collection, any piece in a given form by a specific composer, or even a choice of several composers. Full bibliographic information on these pieces is available in Haynes 1985.
26. These pieces, written for various
instruments, usually work better for oboe transposed down one
step. See B. Haynes, (July 1979). "Tonality and the baroque
oboe," Early Music, pp. 355-57.