CONTEMPORARY OBOE TECHNIQUE


by Janet Craxton

Janet Craxton is one of England's most distinguished players. She was principal oboist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra for some years, and now concentrates on solo and chamber music work, with her husband (composer and pianist Alan Richardson) and with her London Oboe Quartet.

I must begin by confessing that I have had more than a few doubts about writing this article as, although I am very interested in the new techniques and effects possible on the oboe, there are many of them I have not yet succeeded in mastering. However, as I am not b y any means alone in my misfortune, I have taken courage and endeavoured to give some ideas about what is individually and more generally possible on the instrument. Firstly, a very brief word about the history of the oboe. After the instrument's great popularity in the baroque period, reaching its zenith in the hands of Mozart - particularly in the oboe quartet - we had virtually a technical lull and an almost retrogressive period throughout the nineteenth century. This is, of course, soloistically speaking, as in the orchestra the oboe gained in importance during the century, and it has always surprised me that more worthwhile solo music was not written for an instrument that held such prominence in the orchestra. It seems likely that there were few virtuoso oboists; and we had to wait until the very end of the century when the French school of oboists and composers began to exploit the possibilities of the instrument once more, taking over in a technical sense from where Mozart had left off. From this school of playing came Leon Goossens who really put the oboe on the map again as a solo instrument. Oboists and composers alike owe him a great debt, and certainly he developed the more conventional techniques to an incomparable extent. We are now extremely fortunate in having Heinz Holliger, who has developed the instrumental possibilities in the less conventional techniques as well as having a mastery of the conventional ones. If we accept the writing in the Mozart quartet as normal basic oboe technique, what springs to mind as the development from this? In the orchestra I would say that Ravel was the first major composer to stretch this technique. He did this in many ways - extension of the compass to G (a tone above the F that Mozart used), a demand for technical mastery of passage work, such as you find in Daphnis and Chloe; fast passage work, including the high G at the end of the first part, and over the breaks in the second part continue to give oboists a headache even fifty years later! So indeed does the opening of L'Enfant et les Sortileges, which probably presents us with the marathon of all time, especially when taking into account the tessitura of the first oboe part. Ravel was certainly a great innovator and he extended the conventional techniques of the oboe (and I imagine most of the wind instruments) to their extreme. Actually, I would say that the opening of L'Enfant is stretching endurance almost too far and I, personally, would find this a great strain if I had to play it often. It is a case where one sees stars in the middle of the second page and, if you can hang on, you get your second wind if you are lucky. Anyway, much as I love the work, and Ravel's music generally, I would not suggest this as a good example to composers. Schoenberg and Berg extended the compass still further (Schoenberg up to B flat) but not, of course, the technique, apart from flutter-tonguing which Berg used in Wozzeck and elsewhere. The more contemporary techniques I would list as follows:

Firstly, extremes of compass: These are extremes upwards, as, although I have seen an oboe with a lo w A this is not in any way standard, and the B flat will, I am sure, remain as our lowest note for years to come. I have fingerings for notes up to high D but I find these vary considerably as to the result. That is to say, on one oboe the C sharp fingering may produce a C sharp but on another it may be a B. High C seems to be fairly constant from oboe to oboe, but from B upwards one is almost always obliged to put the teeth on the reed to get the notes and the result is, I think, rather thin and squeaky. On the recording of New Sounds for Woodwind, by Bartolozzi, the oboist plays a high B flat this way and you can judge for yourselves the quality of sound. In fact a B flat is quite possible by conventional means, though not so easy if you have to jump up to it. It seems that most of the notes from G upwards are easier if you have the addition of a third octave key. This is at present not a standard key on oboes in this country. It is fairly awkward to fix on the English-system instrument so that it may take time to catch on. Actually I have often found that high notes are easier on the student model oboes - a fact that I have been unable to account for and one that is not really very helpful. Holliger makes an A sound as beautiful as any other note on the oboe and composers will probably be wise to stick to that or the B flat as a limit, unless they want a special effect or are writing for a specific player and instrument. Personally I find the A and B flat easier soft than loud, but it may be because I as yet have no third octave key to help me.

Harmonics, double harmonics, chords, etc. .: We have a normal series of eight harmonics. These have a very different sound from the equivalent fingered notes, and can be used with effect either on their own or as double trill effects between the fingered and harmonic sound, as in Klaus Huber's Noctes Intelligibilis Lucis or in Paul Patterson's Monologue for oboe solo. The Huber work contains many of the new techniques perfected by Holliger and yet escapes being just a vehicle for instrumental fireworks. It has, I feel, real musical content. We also have double harmonics, the most usual sounding. These I find vary in dynamics very much from instrument to instrument, i.e. from about p to pppppp. So beware, when using them! On my oboe, they come out the latter dynamic and would only work in a very small hall or for a broadcast, and then with difficulty. Chords: we have an almost limitless collection of note combinations and curious effects, but a strong word of warning is needed. Many instruments in England have what we call the B flat and B to C link and this alters and even nullifies about 80% of Bartolozzi's fingerings for us. For those who have either Bartolozzi's book, or the Metodo per Oboe by Lawrence Singer and who want their chords played accurately beware of any that have 8 or 9 in the fingering. I am sure that with chords it is safest to find your player and write specifically for him, or for the instrument, or else accept a certain freedom of chord. I have tried many of Lawrence Singer's chords on two similar oboes with the same reed and the results have been anything but identical. It would be a help to players if composers put not only the notes of the chord but also the fingering, and indicated whether any alternative chord would be acceptable. Some quiet chords can sound very beautiful and some, as demonstrated in the Bartolozzi record, rather nasty. Certainly there are, as I have said, limitless possibilities, only these are far from constant from oboe to oboe, or player to player, and this would seem to me to create difficulties from the composer's point of view. It will be many years, if ever, before all oboes are standard as far as fingering is concerned, so that there is a big problem relating to chords and to Lawrence Singer's general table of fingerings and the classification of tone colours. Some of his fingerings will work very well, and in connection with varieties of tone colour there are certainly great possibilities. We have many means of changing the colour of most notes from D below the stave upwards. Composers could well bear this in mind, perhaps marking the timbres desired, i.e. darker, brighter, etc. One can also change the colour whilst on a note.

Flutter-tonguing and double tonguing: The first of these seems to be a knack; some of my colleagues can do it and some can't. Personally I can't yet, although I am still trying hard. Double-tonguing is, of course, not a new technique really. Some of those players who do use it find that there is a speed at which they are uncomfortable in either single or double-tonguing. Generally, fast tonguing can be very effective, though it is always more successful from about G (second line of stave) upwards. Lower down it can become rather quacky and uncertain. Even for those who do not double-tongue you will be fairly safe to write semi quavers to =144 for short stretches of up to eight notes approximately and quarter note for longer passages, up to 48 notes approximately. Longer than that is hard to keep up, as in Ligeti's chamber concerto (fourth movement) which is very difficult and, from the oboist's point of view, very exhausting.

Glissandi and variable pitch: Glissandi are easier on a covered-hole instrument, but even on an open-holed oboe they can be effective. Huber uses a number in his Noctes which Holliger plays marvelously; but glissandi such as his are not common to all players by any means and this should be borne in mind. Richard Stoker, in his new oboe Quartet has written effective glissandi from and similarly in the lower octave, also from but the glissando from is more of a problem and one which I have not yet solved. On the whole glissandi are probably more effective and easier going up than down. Varying the pitch by a tone or semi-tone either way is fairly simple though below A (in the treble clef) it is much easier to go down than up.

Variable vibrato: This can be very effective, and can be done either by changing the speed and amount of the fairly normal diaphragm vibrato by using the lip as suggested in Lawrence Singer's book. It is fairly simple for players to change from no vibrato to vibrato and more use of this technique could certainly be made.

Continuous breathing: This is the knack of the glass blower. Some of my colleagues can do it and some can't, so that it is not universal by any means. Even without it one can play isolated notes on the oboe for a very long time, as so little air is needed to make the sound (approximate durations from 30-40 seconds either p or f are possible).

Double trills: Double trills (not using harmonics) are done either by using alternate fingerings, i.e. left hand and right hand E flat keys or by using alternate fingers to depress one key. This latter is not practical on open-holed notes. The most generally effective double trills would be D-E flat, G-G sharp and on many instruments F sharp-G, all these in 1st and 2nd octaves. A covered holed oboe would have many other possible double trills. The sound of these trills is one of great speed.

Extraneous effects: Such effects as rattling the keys, hitting the bell and blowing the reed alone, etc. I find generally rather irksome. The work in which they are used must be nothing short of a master piece to convince me of the merits of these rather unsatisfactory actions.

General points


When writing for an oboe in wind chamber music it is well to remember that the low notes of the oboe tend to stick out and therefore should be used sparingly for accompaniment. Intonation, too, is difficult in this respect. A quiet clarinet solo in this range accompanied by an oboe in this range will almost certainly make the oboe sound flat. The clarinet will tend to be a little sharp and the oboe a little flat and you can imagine the effect! It is in any case difficult to play in carpet slippers on the bottom three or four notes of the oboe, although one is prepared to stand on one' s head to do so for special musical reasons and effects. Strangely enough the reverse seems true in the orchestra, for it is often hard to project a low solo sufficiently. Above all it is as well to avoid diminuendo a niente on low C downwards as this will rarely work well for anyone! We have an enormous dynamic range on the rest of the oboe and much more advantage could be taken of it.

The oboe is capable of very fast leaps from register to register, and even between the extremes. It is also capable of quick changes in dynamics. However, this said, I hope that composers will not neglect the legato possibilities which are indeed great. Unless there is a very special musical reason for it, the playing of isolated notes all over the instrument in varying dynamics has a fairly limited satisfaction for many of us.

Judging by the playing of Heinz Holliger there seem to be limitless possibilities for the oboe and it is always exciting to find new effects on one's instrument. There are certain problems though, which so far, I do not feel have been solved completely. The main one is the relationship between tone and acrobatics or extreme techniques. It seems difficult, if not impossible, to play extremes of range and dynamics with a reed that produces a round mellow sound. Perhaps we shall succeed in solving this eventually, but meanwhile I personally regret the compromise in sound that I find necessary in making a reed to play passages such as this in Stockhausen's Zeitmasse and even when I think that I have succeeded in making such a reed it is only too easy to miss the A. This problem of sound is difficult to solve. Each player has his own inbuilt feeling for a particular tone and it is no consolation for a composer to tell a player that throughout his piece he wants the sound to be loud, rough, raucous, or senza vibrato. Any of these facets used occasionally are perfectly acceptable and understandable, but throughout a piece the y can be soul-destroying for the player. I always feel the same effect could be achieved more satisfactorily on some other instrument, or, better still, electronically.

To sum up: I hope that composers will continue to write for the oboe as an oboe, and will continue to experiment with its possibilities. Particularly I hope that more use will be made of the different timbres of sound and consequently the many different facets of expression available. As I am writing this I have clearly in mind the new oboe quartet by Elizabeth Lutyens which has created a wealth of atmosphere, meaning and expression, with a fairly conventional use of technique. Perhaps it is imagination that I long for in music for the oboe and which is, alas!, sometimes missing.

Some contemporary works to study for oboe techniques are:


Emphasis is prepared by the breath, carded out by the tongue. It is never made by a finger accent. A legato exercise: (tongue, wind, and finger)

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