I am pleased and gratified at the large and enthusiastic response to the first issue of this journal; expressions of interest and encouragement have come to me from oboists on six continents. You will be happy to know that the IDRS continues to grow at a steady pace.
I hope many of you are planning to attend the IDRS convention - August 20 and 21 at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This central location, a community of 100,000, is on the interstate highway system and has excellent air service; it should be easily accessible to members from all over North America. The meetings will feature discussion of the new constitution and other policy matters of serious importance to the future of the organization. Mailings from Augustana will keep you informed on up-to-the-minute details.
In this issue I am happy to bring you Alan Blyth's interview with Heinz Holliger, which portrays this artist's personality so successfully. The article on the New York Philharmonic's oboists is the first in a series planned to feature oboe sections of the world's leading orchestras; antiquarians will enjoy the complete listing of New York players from 1842 to the present. Florian Mueller's list of teaching literature will be welcomed by educators and students alike. Continue to keep me informed of your performances, your travels, interesting discoveries of music and records - anything you want to share with your oboist colleagues.
The following letter seems of special interest:
Many thanks for sending us the first issue of the newsletter. It is a worthy enterprise indeed, and it will certainly be appreciated by oboists everywhere.
We have noticed the emphasis on twentieth century music and we applaud Janet Craxton's article in particular as being a rational and musical approach to the new technical problems with which oboists are faced. We agree that some new music for woodwinds really ought to be for electronic equipment, even though the technical resources of our instrument undoubtedly remain to be explored to their fullest. Perhaps these new explorations will lead to a new era in which there will be many additions to the oboe literature of real musical value. Hopefully so.
There is, however, another area into which the literature for the instrument can be expanded, and this is a matter of rediscovery rather than discovery. We are speaking, of course, of the music of earlier times, much of it still buried in the obscurity of the past. There has been quite a revival of oboe music from the 18th century, and everyone now knows the sonatas, concertos and solo cantatas of Telemann and other late baroque composers. Also general knowledge by this time is the existence of all those classical concertos, many still unpublished, some worth the effort, some not. The musical possibilities in terms of what these add to our literature, both in quantity and in quality, are nevertheless enormous.
But if one considers how instruments were often used in the 17th and 18th centuries, how composers freely invited performance of their music on any instrument that seemed appropriate, then the possibilities become even more impressive. Besides, how else can the great popularity of the new French oboe in those essentially pre-orchestral times be rationalized? Relatively little music specified oboe exclusively and yet the instrument was much in use. The trio sonatas of Buxtehude, the solo and trio sonatas by Giovanni Battista Vitali and Rosenmuller, the canzonas and symphonien by Schutz and Frescobaldi; all these and many more provide exciting additions of great beauty to what we can play. Our modern, well-stocked libraries make this music more accessible than is often realized. We hope that it won't continue to be neglected by players of modern instruments.
Our sincere best wishes!
Peter and Elizabeth Hedrick
Haslemere, Surrey, England
The Hedricks' letter is typical of many I have received commenting on the first issue of TTWO and is immensely informative in its own right. Janet Craxton's article served as a convenient pivot for the records and publications section of the first issue. I am also extremely interested in the vast body of early music for our instrument. With the examples of Michel Piguet and Jurg Schaeftlein, among others, we are learning much about performing this music with more regard for correct style. The next issue will include a discography of baroque music. I am eager to present articles dealing with every aspect of early performance practice, antique instruments and modern day replicas, and the like. I look forward to your continued suggestions.
Until the convention - and the next issue, my best wishes.
Daniel Stolper
Michigan State University - Department of Music
East Lansing, Michigan 48823 USA