Historical Oboe

The Double Reed, Vol. 24 • No.1 • 2001

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Historical Oboes 2: Development of the French Simple System Oboe 1800-1840 By Robert Howe Wilbraham, Massachusetts n the last issue I discussed four subjugated sub jugated or impoverished. impoverished. Musinineteenth century oboes: two cal instrument makers came to the from Dresden, one from relative stability of Paris to learn Prague and one from Philadeland practice their trades, profiting phia. This may have given a from sales to professional musibiased view of the development of cians, students and the French oboe key systems, much of which army. Paris thus abounded with occurred in France. French and woodwind makers; their names fill German oboes evolved along dif8 columns in the standard refferent lines after 1800. Paris in erence4. Many made but one 1800-1840 was the crossroad of type of instrument, a specializaEuropean intellectual ferment 1; it tion that was not possible in the was also Europe’s busiest center of more widely dispersed east Euromusical instrument manufacture. pean market 2. In these years, varBerlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Prague ious improvements in metal and and Vienna were hubs of wind woodworking were applied to wind instrument manufacture in eastinstruments. The industrial revoern Europe, but none boasted the lution provided the technology to number of makers or instruments produce large numbers of intermade as did the French capital. changeable parts, making mass This was due to political factors. production of woodwinds possible France had been a single large by mid-century. Makers in such nation under a king since the 12th villages as LaCouture, Ivry-la-BatFIGURE 1. Two key oboe by Geh- century, with Paris as its political taile, Chateau-Thierry, Mantes-laring,, Leipzig ring Leipzi g 1755-181 1755-1811; 12 key and educational capital the entire oboe (origi (originally nally 2-9 keys) keys) by Guil- Ville, Garennes and Mirecourt contime. Until the 19th century, how- laume Triébert, Paris, circa 1815; tributed parts, signed instruments ever, central and eastern Europe Sellner model oboe by Ludwi g & and unstamped instruments to the Martinka, Marti nka, Prag ue, 1857-86. consisted of relatively small nationenormous number of woodwinds states without a common artistic produced in the area of the French or cultural center. State academies for distincapital. Thus, it is no surprise that important guished singers and actors were established in advances in woodwind design occurred here. Paris by Louis XVI in 1784 and 1786; the National When studying the history of a woodwind 2,3 (later Paris) Conservatoire Conserv atoire was founded in 1793 . instrument it is tempting to count and describe These national artistic centers were preserved keys, presuming that this is all that we need by very different sucto know. know. This presumption is false; the develcessive French governopment of an instrument did not occur in a ments through the turvacuum, nor consist solely of the addition of moils of the French keys. To understand the development of a woodRevolution, Napoleonic wind instrument one must study key systems, era and Bourbon resthe metal used to make the keys, the method of 3 toration . They served mounting the keys to the body, manufacturing to concentrate French methods, the wood used for the body, the decomusical, dramatic, and rative designs placed on the wood, the dimenballetic resources in sions of the bore, toneholes and vents, the Paris; painting and litdesign of the reed, the players’ players ’ concept of what erature inevitably folthe instrument should sound like and how that lowed suit. sound can be achieved, the instrument ’s role in During the Napolethe orchestra and its compass or range. Because of FIGURE 2: Trademark of onic wars (1792-1815), the oboe’ oboe’s Parisian development was profound profoundly ly Gehring oboe. much of Europe was influenced by work carried out on other instru-

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HISTORICAL OBOES 2: DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRENCH SIMPLE SYSTEM OBOE 1800 -1840

ments, I will touch on the history of the flute and clarinet as well.

Knowing this gives us insight into the oboe and oboe d ’amore writing of Bach and Telemann, as THE TWO KEYED OBOE opposed to the classical masters. In the baroque era, oboes typically In 1800 the orchestral wooddoubled violins in tuttis, writing was wind choir was clearly defined as very florid and the oboist was frepairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and quently exposed as a soloist in canbassoons. The oldest of the stantata or instrumental writing in sharp dard woodwinds was the two keyed keys. Composers knew the capabiloboe. The Eroica Symphony (1803) ities of their players; baroque era was probably premiered on an oboe oboe solos are almost always in the such as the Gehring in figures 1 comfortable keys of G, C, F, or Bb, and 2. Johann Christian Gehring less commonly in D or Eb. But not and his son Heinrich Gottfried Gehall music was written in these keys. Tone hole design FIGURE 3. ring made woodwinds in Leipzig The oboe d’amore provided a color on an 18th century woodwind. between 1755-1811, possbily in conto the baroque orchestra but more This is the low c from an oboe 5 junction with Gottlieb Crone . This importantly allowed the oboist to by Thomas Cahusac (Senior), instrument dates from circa 1780, function as a soloist in the concert circa 1780. and plays very well at A430. It is keys of A or E major. Bach rarely of boxwood, the standard material of 18th cenwrites for the oboe in A major, or for the oboe tury woodwinds, and has brass keys. The simple d’amore in flat keys. scale of the two keyed oboe is D, with a flat The baroque oboe d’amore had a very pale, 6 F# . G# was produced by a double hole on 3; F, monochromactic sound (at least in modern Bb1 and c2 by cross fingerings, Eb and c1 (the reconstructions) which was poorly suited to lowest note on the oboe) by the two keys; c#1 music written in the predominantly Italianate late was absent. Notes above the staff were made by 18th century styles. Also, oboe writing in the claslong cross fingerings as overblown lower octave sical period was simpler and more restrained; fingerings were less stable. An octave key was the oboist rarely needed to play a lot of notes in not required on the two keyed oboe; when first A or E major, and certainly not in a solo capacity. added during the 19th century, it was not used Thus the oboe d’amore no longer had a reason as on a modern oboe, but only to assist with to exist, and it died with Bach and Telemann as a upward slurs and occasional awkward intervals new fashion of oboe writing replaced the old. using the short fingerings. Tellingly, it was called As the 19th century began, keys were added 2 the “slur” or “speaker” key . The tone holes to the oboe in an ad hoc fashion to meet the were undercut, the bell had an internal rim and needs of new musical styles and to improve two vent holes, and the bore expanded acutely pitch2,8,9,10. Many players and makers were skeptiat each joint. The reed well was in the form of cal about adding keys 2; the prominent Dresden an inverted cone and the reed was usually not maker Heinrich Grenser and placed all the way to the bottom of the well. the virtuoso Wilhelm TheThe two keyed oboe had great tonal flexibilodor Johann Braun wrote ity but limited technique in chromatic passages articles opposing the addior in keys remote from C. The early acoustician tion of keys to the oboe 8,11. J. A. Charles in 1802 noted that “The oboe plays This may have been because very well in the keys of C, F and E flat; it is leather pads closing on flat extremely difficult in the sharp keys; and pracholes in boxwood seal 7 tically impossible in the key of E major” . Why poorly12 and impair the resiswas playing in sharp (or very flat) keys so hard? tance and tone of the oboe. Because of several balky fingerings. The player To improve the seal, keyed had to humor F# up into tune, using a double tone holes are generally hole on 4 and the Eb key; G# is awkward in pasdrilled in flattened areas on sages going to F, E or D, as the left hand must the body (figure 3). pivot around a tiny radius; there was no low But perhaps this conc#1 while c#2 was flat; and the interval c#2-d#2 servatism is the natural FIGURE 4. required that the player shift from one flat key skepticism of a professional Construction of Eb for the right pinkie to another without leaving towards changes in his workand C keys on Gehring oboe. any gap between the notes. ing tools. A musician who has


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spent years learning to play a difficult instrument has little reason to give up his advantages, so long as he can continue to play well; nor do the realities of regular professional engagements make such a change practical. We see this is the twentieth century, when such logical instruments as LeBlanc’s Le Rationalle saxophone and the McIntyre clarinet gained no professional favor; and in the difficulties that faced British and American bassoonists changing from French to German system instruments. The keys on a 2 key oboe are mounted in raised wooden rings left during the turning of the wood; the upper ring is inevitably squared off and supports the Eb key ( “small key” ) and the C key’s ( “great key” ) touchpiece, while the rounded lower ring holds the great key’s pad (figure 4). Other original keys may be mounted in blocks left on the wood during turnFIGURE 5. Metal ing, as shown by the Bauer saddle with Eb key and Weygandt oboes in the as added to Tri ébert previous article8. Added 12 key oboe, circa keys are usually (but not 1815. always!) in brass saddles 8. The saddle is screwed into a slot cut into the wood (figure 5). Brass saddles do not bind when wood shrinks and thus may be more reliable than keys in wooden rings. Period specimens often show several added keys, effectively making a new instrument out of an old one with little change in its playing qualities. It is common to find that an oboe had several added keys which differ in their details, suggesting that they were successively added to preserve the oboe ’s useful playing life8,13,14.

THE OBOES OF DELUSSE Most French oboists in 1800 used 2 to 4 key oboes 2. The first professor of oboe at the Paris Conservatoire was François Alexandre Antoine Sallantin (served 1793-1816), who used a four keyed oboe3,15,16. The third key, an F# corrector, allowed F# to be played as 1234-F# key, avoiding the need for a half hole on 4. As figure 6 shows, the key was opened by the ring or pinkie finger; this was awkward in fast passages. The fourth

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key closed a vent hole on the bell to lower the pitch of c1. Conrey states that Sallantin played a Delusse oboe with 10 added keys 3, but eight of these were added after Sallantin’s death17. Sallantin was succeeded by Auguste Georges Gustave Vogt (served 1816-53), who at first played a four keyed oboe but changed to a Delusse with 7 added keys around 1824 3,17,18. The next professor, Louis Stanislaus Xavier Verroust (served 1853-63), used a Tulou oboe built with nine keys. All three of these oboes are on display at the Musèe de Musique in Paris 19. While the Parisian gray hairs used extra keys to help with pitch, younger players used keys to simplify technique2. Henri Brod (1799-1839) was a virtuoso player and later an oboe maker who made several notable improvements 2,24,20. A native Parisian, Brod entered the Conservatoire at the age of 12. At 20 he was playing second oboe in the Opera orchestra to his teacher Vogt. He wrote in his Method of 1826: “When buying a first instrument the beginner can economize on the exterior; but above all he must get an instrument provided with all the keys. Otherwise, having an instrument that is not in tune, he will be obliged to force certain notes up or down and will become used to poor fingering habits which avoid the keys. Advanced or beginning students who cannot appreciate the quality of an instrument would do well to leave the choice to a good teacher...The best oboes are made in Paris at Triébert’s. Those of Delusse are also very well regarded but one is always obliged to add keys, because in Delusse’s time the instrument only had two”21,22. Garnier’s oboe tutor of 1800 recommended oboes made in the exact proportions of Delusse ’s model5,23. Sallantin, Vogt and Brod used and recommended oboes by Delusse, as did Veny, another prominent player, in 1828 24. This is odd; was no one making fine oboes in Paris at the turn of the 19th century? It says much about the social instability of the French revolution and Napoleonic era that the finest oboists in France advocated using oboes by a maker who had died 40 years earlier 25. One might ask, how many major modern players use B series Lorées? The workshop of Jacques Delusse and Christophe Delusse flourished from 1748 to 1789 5—or did it? Evidence concerning FIGURE 6. F# corrector on Tri ébert Delusse is confusing; it is even oboe circa 1815; note the identical unclear if these makers were location of the F# vent on Lor ée father and son or the same person oboe CY68 (1973).


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working under different names 5,26. Jacques was listed as one of five woodwind makers in the Community of Master Musical Instrument Makers in 17485; Christophe Delusse was made a Master in the Community, on 10 May 1758 27. Was Jacques Delusse an earlier maker or the same person as Christophe, elevated to Master in 1758? 26. The Community of Master Musical Instrument Makers28 is an interesting organization, a loose association of makers which enforced quality standards among its members and promoted the sale of their products. A recent paper describes the Community and lists all the makers who were members from 1723 to 1789 (except for 1731 to 1734, the records of which were lost) 26. Makers could join the Community of Masters by working as an apprentice and presenting a “masterwork” (exhibition instrument); by being the son of a maker; by the award of a privilege ( “brevet” ) by the members of the Community; by the award of the King’s Council ( “conseil du roi” ); by past experience; by the deliberation of the Community; or by the award of a privilege upon completing an apprenticeship specifically for orphans in l’Hôpital de la Trinitè. Such manufacturer’s organizations were common in 18th century Europe, in a time when large industrial firms were unknown; they were remnants of the Medieval trade guilds. Their attitude survived the Industrial Revolution in such Parisian woodwind makers as Le Union de la facture instrumentale, Association fraternelle d’ouvriers facteur d’instruments de vent, Association générale des ouvriers, and Ouvriers réunis association générale, which flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries5,29. The Delusses’ Paris shop made various woodwinds including galoubets (French bagpipes), bird whistles, flutes and bassoons 5,30. However, they were most noted for their oboes; 25 of the 43 Delusse specimens listed in Phillip Young’s 4900 Historical Woodwind Instruments 30 are oboes of one sort or another. These included curved cors anglais, tenor oboes (straight oboes in F with wider bores than a cor anglais), and the only known contrabass oboe, two octaves below the usual oboe5,30. Jacque’s oboes were illustrated in Diderot and d’Alembert’s famous Encyclopédie of 1769, in the article “Musique” penned by “M. de Lusse” (this was Charles de Lusse, who apparently was not related to Jacques Delusse) 5. The Delusses’ work was highly regarded in their time; of the 18 Delusse oboes known to exist, half have added keys30, showing that players liked them enough to keep them up to date. Michel Piguet has recorded the Mozart Oboe Quartet on a two keyed Delusse oboe 31. Curiously, 6 of the

18 Delusse oboes are of woods other than box (2 of cedar, one each of cocuswood, ebony, violetwood and palissandre), as are 8 of their 15 known flutes and whistles 30,32. No Delusse clarinets are known. This might suggest a rarity of use of that instrument in Paris before 1790; the great French clarinet makers Michel Amlingue, Joseph Baumann and Jacques François Simiot opened their ateliers in 1782, 1790 and 1808 5. However, it is more likely a sign of the Delusses’ specialization in oboes, or of the ravages of history. Clarinets were initially made in Paris in small numbers beginning in the mid1750s. Gluck was obliged to substitute clarinets for cors anglais in the 1774 Paris premiere of Orphée et Euridice 33,34. Evidence for the construction of many clarinets in eighteenth-century Paris is found in the inventory of the Prudent workshop in 1786 35,36, probably undertaken on the death of the proprietor and father, Prudent Thierriot. The shop contained 143 clarinets (in Bb, C, D, and F), 22 oboes, 58 bassoons, 177 flutes, 36 fifes, 261 flageolets, and 41 recorders. Of the three surviving Prudent clarinets none appear early enough to be made by Prudent p ëre, but he had three sons. The first son, Jean-Baptiste Prudent Thieriot (born 1762) is absent from Paris after 1792 and not heard of after this date. The extant Prudent clarinets were probably made by his second son, Nicolas-Louis Prudent Thieriot (1777-1822), known as a key maker from 1793. There was also a third son and maker of instruments, Jean-François Prudent Thieriot (born 1781), who made instruments until 1811 5,27. Unfortunately, examples of French clarinets before 1800 are quite scarce today; many makers are known by a single specimen 37. By the 1770s most French clarinets were made for military use. One logical explanation for the dearth of early French clarinets is that most of these instruments perished during the French Revolution (1789), during which numerous symbols of Royalty, the Catholic Church and the military were destroyed or defaced. Alternately, the Napoleonic Wars may have ruined earlier instruments and caused their replacement by later specimens. Certainly a clarinet would make excellent firewood for a French soldier shivering on his way back FIGUR E 7. Half from Moscow during the hole apparatus as winter of 1812. added to Tri ébert oboe, circa 1840.


HENRI BROD’S INFLUENCE

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Boxwood had long been the preferred wood for oboes. Garnier wrote in 1798, “The boxThe Delusse’s work was conwood of which the oboe is tinued by Henri Brod, who made must be quite dry, withobtained their oboe making out nodes and of a very close tools and began making his own 2,5,30 to equal porosity throughout innovative oboes by 1829 , its length. A piece of boxwood at times in conjunction with never has same porosity his younger brother Jean5 throughout. As experiment Godefroy . He anticipated the shows that the top of the instrumodern English horn by devisment always has less influence ing a straight form of the instruFIGURE 8. Bell rim of Tri ébert 21 12 key oboe. on the sound than the rest of the ment . To improve the reliabilbody, the maker must use the ity of Eb2 and pitch of c#3, Brod hardest wood for the top and the softest for the developed a half hole plate, which has been a bottom.”23 part of virtually every oboe mechanism since Brod wrote that “One can try several kinds (figure 7). He ultimately adopted the c#1 mechaof wood in manufacturing oboes, such as eb ène, nism shown in figure 25, eliminated the bell vent grenadilla, cedar and boxwood. Boxwood always to standardize the lowest note as B, and minioffers the best results, its tone quality is supemized the internal bell rim (figure 8). Of 11 Brod 30 rior not only for sweetness and flexibility but oboes recorded in Young , two have a single for strength and balance. Cedar, however, should vent and the others, none. His oboes are slim not be scorned, it makes for beautiful instruand elegant, perhaps the sveltest oboes ever 13,14,38 ments and gives a very soft tone which is appromade (figures 9, 10). priate in small rooms”21,42. However, Brod did Whereas 18th century flutes are usually not follow his own advice in his choice of wood beautifully simple, oboes were almost always for making oboes, preferring tropical hardwoods graced with elegant and elabto European boxwood. Young includes data on orate turnings. It is for good 12 oboes by Brod or Brod Fr érés; 3 are of boxreason that modern copies of wood, 6 are of rosewood and one each are grena18th century oboes are somedilla, violetwood and maple30. Let us contrast this times dismissed as “chair legs”, to the habits of Brod’s contemporaries. Fortyfor more than one noted oboe nine of 50 known oboes by Augustin and Heinrich maker began his work as a furni5 Grenser (Dresden, 1744-1813) are of boxwood. ture maker . Particular design So are 29 of 30 by William Milhouse (London, schemes are characteristic of 1787-1840), 5 of 6 by Prudent (Paris, 1765-1830), individual makers and of oboes 12 of 15 by Stephan Koch (Vienna, 1807-66), made for different purposes. 4 of 4 by Dominique Even the plainest 18th century Antony Porthaux (Paris oboes, the English straight-top 1782-1824) and 11 of oboe, often has elaborate carv11 by George Astor ing on the lower joint and 39,40 (London, 1778-1831) 30. bell . Cecil Adkins has shown Clearly, Brod had a that the 18th century oboe FIGURE 9. Oboe by Henri Brod, reason to favor the uses then-contemporary archi1828-39. This harder woods (as had tectural motifs derived from specimen is less Delusse), probably relatclassical Greek and Roman slender than 41 ing to the greater stamodels . He illustrates how the those illustrated bility of these woods ornamental elements on the in the with changes in humidfacade of a two story building references, but FIGURE 10. Trademark ity, an attribute that was of that period have exact homo- the key work is of Brod oboe. indeed of increasing value as logues in the turning of an oboe, extremely more keys were added. suggesting a common underlysmooth. Col- Young notes that the keys on Brod ’s oboes ing sense of proportion in archilection of the “are of unbelievable lightness and delicacy, pertects and oboe makers. Brod’s late Josef Marx, haps more so than any oboe keys before or work, with its simple elegance, by kind permis- since”14. This facility was obtained by placing represented an extreme depar- sion of Deborah tiny circular metal shims between each rod and ture from that esthetic. Marx.


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FIGURE 13. Buthod & Thibouville trademark.

holes, allowing a perfectly sealed pad and eliminating the leaks that plagued FIGURE 12. Graves trademark. early keys44,45(figure 14). By 1814, when Beethoven wrote his 7th and 8th Sympost to smooth the phonies, such multiple key systems were roumotion of the rod. Note tinely available on other woodwinds but still on Brod’s oboes, as variable on the oboe 9. It is likely that the most well as on all the other FIGURE 11. M üller system modern designs were used only by adventurous French oboes illusclarinet in Eb by Buthod & professionals or wealthy amateurs who would trated in this paper, Thibouville (Paris spend enough money to purchase the most 1857-67). Five key Eb clari- how the keys are much advanced instruments. elegant and net by Graves (Winchester more One wonders why the oboe added keys and NH 1830-50). The Graves is pleasing in form than analogous to the two keyed those on contempoachieved mechanization after the flute, clarinet oboe while the Buthod and bassoon. The answer is basically that other rary eastern European &Thibouville is analogous oboes shown in the instruments needed more help than the oboe 47. to the 10-12 key simple In general, cross fingerings on the clarinet are not last paper8. system oboe. as successful, especially in the low register, as Brod died aged 39 on flutes, oboes, and bassoons; thus the clarinet years, depriving the oboe of a major innovator. with 5 keys was standard as early as 1800. The It is said that he died while giving a recital in 13,15 5,20 enormous number of flutes made for amateur Algeria , although this is a romantic legend . players led to an early proliferation of improveGoossens notes of the composer Cherubini, ments to that instrument; however, the old cross “When told, ‘Brod est mort, maitre’, he replied: 15,43 fingerings work well on many flutes, including ‘Qui?’ ‘Brod’ ‘Ah! Petit son!’“(small sound) . those with more than 8-keys 27. Apparently the attitudes of composers toward Cross and double-holed finmusicians have not changed gerings work better on the oboe greatly in 160 years. than on other woodwinds. The By 1811 Iwan Müller (a 5 reason lies in the relatively German then living in Paris) broad, supple reed used in the had introduced a 13 key clar18th century 47,48. Such a reed inet which gave the player gave these oboists greater flexmore technical facility in all ibility of pitch and voicing than tonalities (figures 11-13) withwe have today; thus the oboe out excessive use of cross 44,45,46 did not need keys as soon as fingerings . The old cross the flute or clarinet. A broad, fingerings remain valid on bassoon-like reed gives the two Müller’s clarinet and can be keyed oboe a fabulous low regused freely. To avoid the leaks FIGURE 14. M üller ’s method of ister while a narrower, smaller inherent from added keys, countersinking tone holes. reed supports the high notes Müller invented the modern 49,50 better and encourages the use of the simpler pad as a small ball of leather stuffed with wool short fingerings. Although 18th and early 19th and sewn shut. His key cups were hemisphericentury reeds are quite rare 51 a fair number of cal ( “salt spoon” ); later makers used cardboard datable French reeds exist from the mid 19th shims behind the wool with flat key cups. century. These are illustrated9,10,21,50-52 and disMüller was the first to countersink keyed tone


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cussed 21, 50-53 in several references. Müller’s advances were adopted by oboe Brod, of course, had something to say about makers. Figure 1 also shows a much altered the reed and the sound of the oboe. He wrote, Parisian oboe of circa 1815 55. It is by Guillaume “The quality of the sound depends on the reed Triébert, the predominant oboe maker of the 19th and especially on the choice of the cane. I will century56. Born Georg Wilhelm Ludwig Triebert describe at the beginning of the second part of in Storndorf, Hesse (then a Grand Duchy, now this Method, the manner of making reeds; it is a central German state) in 1770, he learned furgood that a pupil play upon niture making5 and engraving 2, those of his Master, to be crafts that would prove useful in a position to know well to an oboe maker. He walked what constitutes a good reed. to Paris in 1804, becoming a The making of reeds is not French citizen 7 years later. the same in different countries Triébert founded his atelier in where one plays the Oboe; the 1810. His first trademark was Italians, the Germans and in a little tower with three stones general almost all foreigners (merlons) on top (figure16a). It make them stronger than us. is believed that in 1848 when Therefore they have a hard Guillaume died and his sons sound which misses the essenCharles-Louis and Frédéric took FIGURE 15. Modern reeds intended for tial nature of the instrument, copy of Denner oboe, circa 1720; for Geh- over the firm, the word “Breand makes their playing so veté” (patented) was added ring oboe, circa 1780; for copy of Floth painful that it becomes tiring oboe, circa 1805; ; for Tri ébert oboe, circa above the tower (figure16b). 1860; for Lor ée oboe KL40, 1993. Tip for the listeners. The quality of Frédéric died unexpectedly in widths are 8.9, 8.0, 7.4, 7.2 and 6.9 mm sound which is obtained from 1878, leading to a crisis during respectively. the oboe in France is indisputwhich François Lorée, who had ably the finest, and brings the been foreman since 1867 2, oboe closer to the sound of the Violin.”54 founded his own firm 5. Triébert’s excellent repuEarly in the century the oboe reed was fairly tation is shown by the fact that as late as 1913, broad, with a conspicuous expansion of the the cover page of the Lorée catalog noted that F. width towards the tip to as much as 8-9 mm. Lorée was former shop foreman for the Tri ébert There was a continual narrowing of the cane firm57. The modern firm of Lorée thus represents through the mechanization of the oboe, so that an uninterrupted link to Guillaume Triébert and by the end of the Triébert period the modern the first mechanised oboes. form, with a width of about 6.5 mm and almost In 1881 the Triébert family sold their tradeparallel sides, was fully established in France. mark to Gautrot (later, Couesnon) but required Figure 15 shows modern reconstructions of reeds that a fourth stone be added to the tower for oboes from circa 1720, 1780, 1805, 1860 and (figure16c). Figure 16d shows the trademark from 1993. a Couesnon-Triébert oboe dating to circa 1930. An oboe marked “Triébert” can thus be assigned to a range of dates by the trademark 14 as well as GUILLAUME TRIÉBERT

A.

B.

C.

D.

FIGURE 16. Trademarks of the Tri ébert firm. A, 1810- 48 (from Tri ébert oboe in fi gure 23). B, 1849- 80. C, after 1881. D, mid 20th centur y.


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A.


B. C. FIGURE 17. E vidence of changes made to Tri ébert oboe. A, shows repositioning of the saddle used to add low B key. B, repair to ring passing the key for lef t hand Eb; note the shape of the cup. C, right hand Eb key showing original cup style.

by the details of the body and key work58. Triébert instruments bearing the 4 merlon mark were not made by the Triébert family and are not examples of the oboe’s early development. By the time that the company passed out of the family’s hands, all modern varieties of French oboe except Systeme 6 bis, the modern French plateau keyed oboe, had been developed 2. Before 1881 Triébert made oboes and bassoons almost exclusively; a single clarinet from the Gautrot era and 7 early flutes are mentioned in Young,30 while two other clarinets and a saxophone are known from the Gautrot or Couesnon eras 27. Guillaume Triébert’s flutes were simple system instruments with one to eight keys30; two are shown in Giannini’s history of French flute makers 59. A Triébert prospectus from circa 186060 shows 26 double reed woodwinds including hautbois pastorale (musettes), oboes in Eb, Db, C and Bb, cors anglais, baritone oboes and bassoons 11,61,62,63. Guillaume Triébert was very interested in modernizing the oboe; of 101 three merlon specimens listed in Young, only one oboe and two English horns are known with 2 key design30. During the years 1840-1875, the firm introduced 6 “systemes” of oboe key work. These were the Systeme 3, introduced in 1840; the

FIGURE 18. C#1 apparatus on Tri ébert (above) and Bauer (below) oboes. The Tri ébert apparatus is almost certainly added; the Bauer may be original. The Bauer is from Prague, circa 1805.

Systeme 4 of 1843; the Systeme 5 (thumb plate system) of 1849; Charles-Louis Triébert’s revision of the Boehm oboe and the Barret Systeme, both introduced in 1855; and Frédéric Triébert’s Systeme 6 of 1875.9,10,11,58 The 12 keyed oboe in figure 1 has the three merlon trademark, which shows faintly in figure 5. It was probably built with 9 or fewer keys. The great and Eb keys are clearly original, as they are mounted in turnings. The left hand Eb is certainly added, as the low B has been moved laterally to make room for this key (figure 17a). It has a salt spoon cup, rather than a flat cup as elsewhere on the oboe; it traverses a brass sleeve in the squared key ring on the boxwood, which the other keys lack; and it lacks a square design element which is on the keys that are unquestionably original (figures 17 b,c). The long keys for low B and Eb are levers rather than a single axle and the bell has a thick internal rim. Other changes are evident. The octave key is probably added, as it is mounted on posts as on a modern oboe, rather than a saddle; posts were invented by Theobald Boehm around 1830. 64 It has the only needle spring on the oboe (invented circa 1840 by Auguste Louis Buffet)45 and lacks design elements common to


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the original keys. The evidence of other specimens is interesting on this point. A Triébert oboe owned by Han de Vries 13,14 is identical to this oboe but without octave key, half hole, or left hand Eb. This suggests those keys were added to the oboe in figure 1. A specimen in a Paris museum is identical to De Vries ’, but with a side c2 key65, while MacGillivray displays an oboe from his own collection which resembles DeVries’ oboe but with octave key, half hole and side c2 key66. It seems likely that Triebert made oboes with key systems to order.

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keys, which could be added to any extant oboe by removing the old great key, drilling and countersinking the c#1 hole, applying the new apparatus, and replacing the great key. The whole operation might take a half hour. This all relates to the key on the oboe ’s bell. A modern oboist assumes that this key closes to produce low B. However, the Triébert oboe in figure 1 has a second bell vent which is filled with wax and cork (figure 19), showing that the bell key on this oboe was originally not a low B, but rather a low C corrector. On early oboes with a bell key, if an unkeyed bell vent is present, the bell key flattens low c1 down to pitch. If there is LOW B, C AND C# no bell vent or if a second vent has been filled, The c#1 apparatus seen on this and similar the key gives low B 17. French oboes differs from the c#1 keys on the Why is this so? On the two keyed oboe the Germanic oboes shown in my last column (figure great key was closed to produce c1 and c#2 18). In those, a small thin key opens a tiny hole through paired holes in the bell; c1 was very below the c1 hole. The touch of that key oversharp and c#2, very flat. Neveu wrote in 1772 laps the touchpiece of the great key so that when that “Low C is always false; it is too high to be c#1 is pressed, c1 closes and c#1 opens. The two a C natural, and too low to be C#, even while keys are side by side. On this oboe, a box-like forcing. Consequently I have put a crescent over apparatus contains both keys. The c#1 key overthese notes (ie, in his example) to see that these lies the c1 key, and the touch of the great key sounds are not given. One should be especially extends farther back. Thus, the same effect can careful of these notes in a Solo. The only time be obtained; if the great key is pressed, the large to play it unaltered is as a passing tone. (He hole is closed. If c#1 is pressed, gives examples).... In this Example both keys operate, c1 closes and (an arpeggio down to c1) before the c#1 opens to produce the tone c#1. low C make a little rest, one can On the French oboe the spring that then release the lips a little, which keeps the great key opened and the makes it less false....It is similar for c#1 key closed is between the two C#, which is of similar degree”68. keys, and does not contact the On such an oboe, one can also wood of the oboe. bring c1 down to pitch by closing C#1 boxes identical to this are one of the vents against the knee; seen on the deVries, Paris and closing both produces a B. Makers MacGillivray specimens mentioned learned to correct the pitch of c#2 above. Another is shown on the by enlarging the leftmost vent on oboes drawn in Henri Brod’s Method the bell and placing a key on it. The 21,67 of 1826 and on Sallantin’s oboe. c#2 was raised from being flat by Since writing the last column I have the enlargement of the keyed vent had the opportunity to study the hole. However, this made the low Obliterated bell vent FIGURE 19. Floth oboe at Yale; it has a similar c1 intolerably sharp. Hence the bell on Tri é bert 12 key oboe. box, but made of silver. On the key; closing the c1 key and this new Triébert oboe in figure 1, removing bell key produced a perfect c1. The the box reveals a channel cut in the wood under earliest example of this that I have seen is a the c#1 key. This is the location of the spring Delusse oboe from circa 1785, now owned by for the great key when there is no c#1 apparaGeoffrey Burgess; the date of the added key is tus; this implies that my oboe was built without uncertain69. a c#1 key. Most likely on these oboes, the box Two keyed oboes, of course, had no c#1 key. was placed after the oboe was completed to When the c#1 assembly was added, the new key add the missing semitone to the oboe ’s range. was used for c#1, and the traditional fingering It is reasonable to suppose that Parisian makwas used for c#2. This may seem illogical but it is ers—including Triébert—used a standard mechtypical; the early 19th century oboe had numeranism to extend the capabilities of earlier oboes. ous notes that fingered differently at the octave: Triébert probably had a drawer full of these c#1 f#1, a1, Bb1, b1 and c2. Players were accustomed


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to these fingerings. This explains the avoidance of low B by comPeriod fingering charts prove this point. posers through the mid 1800s. I can find no Vogt’s Methode de Hautbois (1813) has a chart low B’s in Berlioz, although my search was showing a four keyed oboe, having only c1 not comprehensive. The lack of the low B on corrector, c1, Eb and F# corrector keys; this early 19th century oboes produced some interis the oboe as used by Vogt esting writing. See, for example, and Sallantin. The chart shows bars 52-55 of the second movethe bell key closed for low c1; ment of the Schubert Unfinc#1 does not appear on this ished Symphony (figure 20). 70 chart . The charts from two Note that the flute carries the editions of Henri Brod’s Method chordal motif from e2 down of circa 1830 show a bulb to b1. The oboe, alone of any 21,67 instrument in this movement, topped 9 key French oboe . moves instead from e1 up to The bell key and the great key f#1. Schubert avoided a note are pressed for c1; the c#1 key that did not always exist on the for c#1; and the great key, for oboe he knew. Knowing this, c#2. Bars 52-55 of the Schubert FIGURE 20. should modern oboists play a Two pages from the French Unfinished Symphony, second movement. B here? Carse’s comment that translation of Joseph Sellner’s Shown are flutes, oboes and clarinets in A. “before the mid-(19th) century Theoretisch praktische Oboe the B-natural, a semitone lower, was sometimes Schule (written 1825, translated circa 1830) were 71 available” seems the best summation of the situkindly given to me by Dr. Albert Rice . One ation78. The low C corrector carries two morals shows a 9 keyed French instrument (with no for students of early instruments: Things are not speaker key!), upon which the bell key is labeled always as they seem to a modern player; and “Grande clef d’UT bas” ( “Big key for low C” ). whenever possible, consult and believe period The fingering chart shows this and the c1 key sources. depressed for c1. The other page illustrates a Getting back to the Triébert oboe in figure 1, I Sellner model oboe, on which this key is marked am unsure if the half hole, side c2, side Bb, G#, F# “Clef de SI” ( “B key” ). The fingering chart shows corrector and short F keys are original or added. that this does, indeed, produce a low B. German The workmanship on the indisputably original oboe makers had learned that the c#1 tone hole portions of this oboe is wonderful; for example, could be altered to give a properly pitched c#2 the bell ivory is threaded onto the wood of with the same fingering. Filling in the other small the bell. All keys except Eb and the c1 key are vent on the bell put c1 into good tune, with saddle mounted, and thus could be added on. the long key now giving B, not c1. There are no Few of the saddles are applied in a fully satisfacproven examples of an oboe made outside of 72 tory manner; some look “tacked-on”. I doubt that France with a c1 corrector . Triébert would have made such an oboe as new; The use of a bell key as a low C corrector his craftmanship was too fine. One can thus reahas been consistently misinterpreted by histosonably argue that this oboe started with as rians although the evidence of instruments, finfew as two keys, or as many as nine. I conclude gering charts, and composers’ habits is unmis17 that this was originally a four keyed oboe and takable . Only one major English language refthat Triébert added side c2, side Bb, G#, c#1 erence on the history of the oboe mentions the 73 and short F as a first modification. Another (less c1 corrector, and then only in a footnote ; elsegifted) craftsman, using keys from a different where it is always listed as a low B 9,10,11,14,30,58,74-76. source, later added a half hole, octave and the One writer printed Vogt’s fingering chart but left hand Eb key, while simultaneously moving overlooked this fingering in an otherwise very the low c1 corrector laterally and converting it detailed article on Vogt’s music70. Another studinto a low B by plugging the bell vent. ied a later instrument that lacked the vent hole and concluded that the low C fingering in Brod’s THE FRENCH 10 KEY OBOE charts, although consistently shown using this key, was “an obvious error”!77. This conceit does By 1824, the year of Beethoven’s 9th Symnot belong only to modern oboists; Auguste phony, 10-13 keyed oboes were in general use; Bruyant studied with Vogt in the 1840s. He added German oboes tended to have more keys than a note to Vogt’s fingering chart to the effect that French. In 1825 the Mainz woodwind maker the master must be wrong; but of course Bruyant Schott9 made 2 key and 14 key oboes; these latter was the one who didn’t understand 17. (and 12 key Müller clarinets) were labeled “new


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FIGURE 21. Sellner model oboe by Ludwig & Martinka, showing left hand F.

invention”. The 14 keys were octave, right hand and left thumb keys for Bb and C (all located on the upper joint), left hand G# plus double 3 holes, upper B-C# trill, F# corrector, long and short F, left and right hand keys for Eb, low C#, C, and B 6,8,47. This is the typical Sellner model oboe (figure 1) 9,79, which continued (with minor variation) to be used in Eastern Europe and Italy until the 20th century. Note the left hand F FIGURE 22. A simi- on this circa 1870 oboe. Borlar long F on Nich- olson model flute by rowed from the flute (figures Clementi (London), 21, 22), this key is found on Sellner oboes as early circa 1825. as 182514,71,80, although it only appears on French oboes before the 20th century in Barret’s 1855 system52,81. Figure 23 shows three Parisian oboes, two from circa 1830. The left oboe82 is by Frédéric Guillaume Adler (figure 24), yet another German émigré5 who worked in Paris from 1808 until his death in 1854. It has 10 keys, all of which appear original. The keys, including the speaker key, are now plate mounted rather than ring mounted. FIGURE 23. Oboes by There are no duplicate Fr éd éric Adler (Paris keys for F or Bb. Note 1808-1854), by Buffet, that the layout of the (Paris circa 1830) and right hand pinkie keys by Guillaume Tri ébert has been improved. The (Paris 1840-1848). All c#1 box is gone, replaced are boxwood with brass by a much more graceful keys and ivory mounts.

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apparatus that uses a touchplate to link the c1 and c#1 keys (Figure 25). The c#1 touch moves two keys in opposite directions to open c#1 while closing c1. Side keys for c2 and Bb allow an alternative to the use of cross fingerings. The top baluster is retained and may have been been shortFIGURE 24. Adler ’s trademark. ened by 7 mm (as suggested by the case, which may be original); however, the cylindrical reed well is the same depth (11 mm) as on the Triebert and the Buffet. A reed box which is preserved with the oboe suggests that the reeds had a length of 60-63 mm and a width at the tip of approximately 7.5-8.5 mm. Note the lack of a half hole key. Several cracks in the top joint have kept me from restoring this oboe to playing condition. With the Adler is an oboe by Buffet 83. The trademark does not match that of any FIGURE 25. C# apparatus on Buffet oboe. This is the of the seven Buffets typical French right hand making woodwinds in pinkie finger apparatus Paris then (Figure 26) 5; from the time of Brod I suspect it is by Denis to the mid 1840s. Buffet (flourished 1825-42) or Jean Louis Buffet, who founded the firm of Buffet-Crampon which flourishes today. The oboe is similar to the Adler but more slender (like a Brod), and has a single rather than double hole for 4. Several factors suggest it is later than the Adler. The speaker key is post mounted but has a flat spring rather than a needle spring. Note the new design of the baluster, which now displays a long finial that became fashFIGURE 26. ionable among French Buffet trademark. makers. The bore is


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narrower, and there is a thumb rest, which has been moved from its original position 84. It plays well with a reed such as shown in the center of figure 15, giving better longnotes with the traditional long fingerings than with the short fingerings using the speaker key. The simple system oboe with 10 to 12 keys had advantages over the 2 keyed oboe. It provided alternatives to cross fingerings for Bb1, c2 and F, allowed a well-tuned F#, and had a complete chromatic scale. The French simple system oboe is more complicated than the 8-key oboes discussed in the December column 8 but less complex than the Sellner system, as it lacks the duplicate touches for several keys; it is the equivalent of Müller’s 13 key clarinet. Every half step in the instrument’s range is available and it plays with facility in most keys. Both the old style forked fingerings and the new fingerings using keys are valid on this instrument. It is the apogee of a simple system oboe. By “simple system” I mean that the oboe is based upon the 2 keyed oboe, with keys added in a more or less standardized manner. The instrument has not been redesigned from ground zero, only improved. It is not “mechanized” in that most any individual key could be dispensed with and the oboe would still play; except for c1-c#1, there are no mechanical linkages between any two keys. Such an oboe meets the difficult, chromatic music of Berlioz, Mendelssohn and other mid 19th century composers with assurance. This is the oboe for which Berlioz wrote in the Sym- phonie Fantastique; his description of the oboe’s tone in his Treatise on Instrumentation is revealing: “Artless grace, pure innocence, mellow joy, the pain of a tender soul—all these the oboe can render admirably with its cantabile. A certain degree of excitement is also within its power; but one must guard against increasing it to the cry of passion, the stormy outburst of fury, menace or heroism; for then its small voice, sweet and somewhat tart at the same time, becomes completely grotesque85,86.” This oboe design had some flaws. First among them was the F# corrector, obligatory for f#1 and useful for f#2. It was awkward to use in fast passages; Berlioz describes the F# major arpeggio as being quite difficult 85. Excepting Brod’s oboes, venting of the half hole was inconsistent, depending on how much the player rolled his finger down; the note Eb2 was particularly unstable. The preferred fingerings for f#2, a2, Bb2, b2 and c3 did not match those of the lower octave. The right hand pinkie finger keys did not permit easy movement between c1, c#1 and Eb1. The

G# key was too small and high on the instrument (to avoid being located on the central tenon) and produced a rather strained sound compared to the half-holed G#, which could be shaded by the player. The c#1 key was likewise too small and high, placed where it was to avoid compromising the lower tenon, and producing a squawky sound. The side key fingering for c2, being vented from a very tiny hole, was of poor quality. There being no articulations between various keys, certain combinations were difficult to play quickly and impossible to trill. Berlioz noted that of 61 possible whole and half step trills within the range of the oboe (B to f3), 13 were difficult and 13 others impossible85. Having analyzed the flaws of the French simple system oboe, Guilliaume Triébert mechanized the oboe, introducing his Systeme 3 in 1840. The last oboe in figure 23 is an early Triébert Systeme 3 oboe, with a 3 merlon mark on all joints87. I leave this as a teaser, as I had intended to discuss this and later mechanical developments in this column. But the hour is late and I do not want to tire the reader (or myself) any more than I have already. Triébert’s mechanization of the French oboe will wait for the next issue of the Double Reed . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Drs. Geoffrey Burgess and Albert Rice reviewed the manuscript, provided references and offered innumerable helpful suggestions and corrections. I thank them both for their valuable help. REFERENCES & FOOTNOTES

1. Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence. 500 Years of Western Cultural Life. HarperCollins publishers, New York 2000. Pages 491-518 2. Bate, Philip. The Oboe. Ernest Benn Limited, London, 1956. Pages 52-81, “The Oboe in the 19th Century”. 3. Conrey, George A. The Paris Conservatory: Its Oboe Professors, Laureates (1795-1984) . Journal of the International Double Reed Society 14:7-17, 1986. 4. Waterhouse, William. The New Langwill Index. A Dictionary of Musical Wind-Instrument Makers and Inventors. Tony Bingham, London 1993. Pages 474-476. 5. Waterhouse, William. Opus cit. See references to individual makers.


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6. I use the pitch notation c1-b1 for the octave extending up from middle C. c2-b2 is the upper octave of the treble staff and low B is the note below c1. Notes that may apply to either octave are in capital letters (F, G#, etc). Fingers are labelled 1-6 from the top of the instrument down.

18. Burgess, Geoffrey. “ Le premier hautboï ste d Europe” ’ : A Portrait of Gustave Vogt: 19th-century oboe virtuoso, teacher and composer. In press.

7. Barbieri, Patrizio. Musical Instruments and Players in J.-A. Charle’ s Acoustique (Paris, c. 1787-1802) and Other French Technical Sources. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society XXIII: 94-120, 1997.

20. André Lardrot’s forthcoming biography and definitive worklist of Brod’s compositions (in Tibia, 2001, in press) shows that Brod died in Paris but that his oboe was then taken to Algeria.

8. Howe, Robert S. Historical Oboes 1— the Development of Keywork, 1800-1820. Double Reed, December 2000, pages 21-27. 9. Baines, Anthony. Woodwind Instruments and their History. W. W. Norton, New York 1963. 10. Bate, Philip. Oboe. In Sadie, Stanley (ed), The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musi- cians. Macmillan, London 1980. Volume 13, pages 468-471. 11. Joppig, Gunther. The Oboe and the Bas- soon. (Translation by Alfred Clayton of Oboe & Fagott , Halliwag AG Bern, 1981). Amadeus Press, Portland OR, 1988. 12. Robinson, Joel. Personal communications, 11/20/00, 12/8/2000 13. de Vries, Han. Hobo d ’ amore. The collection of oboes (1680-1980) of Han de Vries . Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (Holland), 1999. 14. Young, Philip T. Loan Exhibition of His- toric Double Reed Instruments . University of Victoria, 1988. 15. Goossens, Leon and Roxburgh, Edwin. Oboe. Schirmer Books, New York 1977. 16. Margelli, Tad. The Paris Conservatoire Concours Oboe Solos: The Gillet Years. Journal of the International Double Reed Society 24: 41-55, 1996. 17. Burgess, Geoffrey. Gustav Vogt (1781-1870) und Konstrukstionsmerkmale franz ösischer Oboen im 1. Viertel des 19. Jahrhunderts. (Gustave Vogt (1781-1870) and the French Oboe Design in the First Quarter of the 19th Century). Tibia 1/94 (1994): 14-26

19. Guide du Musee de la Musique. Editions de la reunion des musees nationaux. Paris, 1997. Page 81.

21. Brod, Henri. Method de Hautbois. Paris: Dufaut et Dubois, c1826. This is reprinted in Warner, Thomas E. An annotated bibliography of woodwind instruction books, 1600-1830 . Detroit, 1967. 22. In the original French, “Lorsqu’il s’agira de l’acquisition d’un premier instrument les commencants pourront bien, par mesure d’économie ne point s’attacher à l’extérieur, mais, il ne devront rien épargner pour qu’il soit bon, et pourvu surtout de toutes ses clefs: sans cette précaution ils s’exposeraient à contracter de mauvaises habitudes, ayant un instrument peu juste, ils seraient oblig és de ménager ou forcer certains sons, selons qu ’ils seraient trop hauts ou trop bas, et s ’habituraient a de mauvais doigtes, que leur ferait éviter l’usage des clefs. Les élèves ou commençants hors d’état d’apprécier la qualité d’un instrument feront bien d’en laisser le choix à un bon professeur....Les meilleurs hautbois. Se font a Paris chez Triébert... Ceux de Delusse sont aussi tres estimés mais on est toujours oblige d’y faire ajouter des clefs, car de son temps l ’instrument n’en avait que deux.”21 The translations from French are my own. I apologize to my French-speaking friends for any mayhem I may commit on their beautiful language. 23. “modèle du Haut-Bois d’après Delusse, dans ses proportions éxactes”. This and the next quote by Garnier are from Garnier, Joseph Francois. Methode Raisonnée Pour le Haut-bois, pages 2-3. Paris, circa 1798. Reprinted in Lescaut, Philippe and Saint-Arroman, Jean. Hautbois. M éthodes et Trait és-Dictionnaires, pages 150-51. Editions J. M. Fuzeau, Courlay, France, 1999. This invaluable book contains complete reprints of 17 French sources on the oboe, 1636-1798. The original French for the quote on boxwood is “Le buis, dont il est fait, doit être bien


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sec, sans noeuds et d’une porosité a peu près égale dans toute sa longueur; je dis a peu pr ès egale, par ceque le même morceau de buis n’a jamais la même porosité dans toutes ses parties; mais comme l’experience démontre que la partie du haut de l’instrument influe toujours moins sur le son que produit le corps entier, le facteur doit employer la partie du bois la plus dure pour le haut et la plus molle pour le bas.” 24. Delusse oboes are recommended in Veny, M éthode abreg ée pour le hautbois . Paris: Pleyel et Cie, 1828. This was reprinted with some changes by V. Bretonnière as: M éthode compl ète pour le hautbois à 8 et à 15 clefs nouveau edition augment ée de Tablatures des syst èmes Boehm et Tri ébert et suivie de 4 Grands Etudes par V. Bretonni ère. Paris: Cotelle, rue St Honoré, circa 1844-55 25. Susan Thompson of Yale University relates that students at the Paris Conservatoire in the early winters of the nineteenth century were forced to burn old harpsichords, by Taskin and others, for heat. They started with the harpsichord stands and when these were all gone, burnt the actual instruments. The harpsichords had been relegated to storage after being replaced by pianos years earlier. 26. Jean Jeltsch and Denis Watel. Maî tres et jurandes dans la communaut é des faiseurs d ’ instruments de musique a Paris. ( Masters and journeymen in the Parisian community of musical instrument makers ). Musique-Images-Instruments 1999. No. 4 pages 8-31 27. Rice, Albert. Personal communication, 1/14/01. 28. “Communauté des Ma î tres Luthiers” 29. These names are of worker-owned musical instrument making firms from late 19th century Paris. Le Union de la Facture Instrumentale = United Musical Instrument Makers. Association fraternelle d’ouvriers facteur d’instruments de vent = Fraternal Association of Wind Instrument Makers. Association générale des ouvriers = Workers’ Association. Ouvriers réunis association générale = Reunited workers’ association. Any relationship between these companies and the Communards of Paris (1871) is speculative but entirely plausible. 30. Young, Phillip T. 4900 Historical Wood- wind Instruments . Tony Bingham, London 1993.

See references to individual makers. 31. Mozart, W.A. Quartet, K370 for oboe and strings. Michel Piguet, oboe. Das Alte Werk/ Telefunken 6.42173AW (LP record) 32. The words ebony, ebène, and grenadilla are often confused. Ebony is a specific African hardwood, Diospyros ebenum, the dark-colored heartwood of which is used for piano keys. The French word ebène translates literally as ebony but is sometimes used to mean grenadilla, Dal- bergia melanoxylon, which is also referred to as African blackwood and ebène de Mozambique. Note how Brod42 specifies both ebène and grenadilla. Interestingly, the French word “ébéniste” means cabinet maker. Grenadilla (in French “la grenadille” ), the common material of modern oboes and clarinets, is denser and harder than ebony and is readily recognized by the fact that it is heavier than water; ebony is not (see reference 2, page 129). For safety, I use the terms ebony, ebène, and grenadilla exactly as they appear in original sources; if I describe an instrument as being of grenadilla, its bell sinks in water. Palissandre is rosewood, a Brazilian species of genus Dalbergia having a dark red color with a strongly marked grain and a striking appearance when varnished or polished. 33. Burgess, Geoffrey. Personal communication, 1/3/01. 34. Croll, Gerhard. Gluck, Christoph Willibald. In Sadie, Stanley (ed), The New Grove Dic- tionary of Music & Musicians. Macmillan, London 1980. Volume 7 page 465. 35. Giannini, Tula. A French dynasty of master woodwind makers revealed, Bizey, Prudent and Portheaux, their workshop in Paris, Rue Dauphine, St. Andr è des Arts, ca. 1745-1812: new archival documents. NAMIS vol. 27, no. 1 (Feb. 1998): 7-10 36. Jeltsch, Jean. Prudent a Paris: vie et carri ére d ’ un maî tre faiseur d ’ instruments de vent. Musique-Images-Instruments no. 3 (1998): 129-152. 37. Albert Rice lists these early French makers of clarinets, most with only one surviving example: Gilles Lot (Paris, 1752-75), Martin Lot (Paris, 1743-85), Dominique Portheaux (Paris, 1782-1824), Nicolas Viennen (or Winnen, Paris, 1788-1833, brother-in-law to Jean-Fran çois Prudent), Naust (Paris, circa 1780-90), Theodore


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(Paris circa 1780-90), Bernard (Lyon, circa 1800), Cuvillier (St. Omer, after 1792), Roberty (Bordeaux, late 18th century), and Proff (Tours, circa 1790).

48. Benade, Arthur H. Acoustics IV. Wind Instruments. In Sadie, Stanley (ed), The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians . Macmillan, London 1980. Volume 1 pages 77-82.

38. Young, Philip T. The Look of Music. University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1980. Pages 148, 189-193.

49. Haynes, Bruce. A Reconstruction of Tal- bot ’ s Hautboy Reed. Galpin Society Journal LIII, 2000. Pages 78-86.

39. Adkins, Cecil. William Milhouse and the English Classical Oboe. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society XXII; pages 42-88, 1996.

50. Hedrick, Peter. Henri Brod on the Making of Oboe Reeds. Journal of the International Double Reed Society 6: 7-12, 1978.

40. Howe, Robert. Communication on Adkins, William Milhouse and the English Classical Oboe. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society XXV; pages 164-65, 1999. 41. Adkins, Cecil. Proportions and Architec- tural Motives in the Design of the Eighteenth- Century Oboe. Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society XXV; pages 95-132, 1999. 42. Brod’s original text reads: “On a essayé plusieurs sortes de bois dans la fabrication de cet instrument, l’Ebène, la Grenadille, le Cèdre et le Buis, ce dernier est celui qui a toujours offert le meilleur résultant, il donne une qualite de son supérieure, soit sous le rapport de la douceur et du moelleux, soit sous le rapport de l ’énergie et du brillant. Le Cèdre cependant, n’est point à dédaigner, il fait de fort beaux instruments et donne un son tres doux qui convient dans les appartements.”21 43. Goossens derived this anecdote from Berlioz, Hector. Les Grotesques Ce la musique (Paris: Librairie nouvelle, 1951), page 256. 44. Brymer, Jack. Clarinet. Schirmer Books, New York 1976. 45. Shackleton, Nicholas. The development of the clarinet. In Lawson, Colin (ed), The Cam- bridge Companion to the Clarinet . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995. Pages 16-32. 46. Shackleton, Nicholas and Rice, Albert, C èsar Janssen and the transmission of M üller ’ s 13-keyed clarinet in France. Galpin Society Journal LII (April 1999): 183-194. 47. Benade, Arthur H. Woodwinds: The Evolu- tionary Path since 1700. The Galpin Society Journal XLVII (March 1994). Pages 63-110.

51. Burgess, Geoffrey; Hedrick, Peter. The Oldest English Reeds? An Examination of 19 Sur- viving Examples. Galpin Society Journal 42: 32-69, 1989 52. Barret, Apollon Marie Rose. A Complete Method for the Oboe. Second Edition, 1856. Boosey & Hawkes, London (ND). 53. Ledet, David. Oboe Reed Styles, Theory and Practice. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 1981. Page 38. 54. Brod’s reedmaking is discussed in reference 50. His original French text reads: “La qualité du son, dépend de l’anche de sa confection et surtout du choix du roseau. Je décrirai au commencement de la seconde partie de cette Méthode, la manière de les faire; il est bon qu ’un élève ait poué pendant quelque temps celles de son ma î tre, pour être en état de bien connaitre ce qui constitue une bonne anche. La facture des anches n’est point la meme dans les différens pays ou l’on joue le Hautbois; les Italiens, les Allemands et en g énéral presque tous les étrangers, les font plus fortes que nous, aussi ont ils un son dur et sourd qui d énature l’instrument, et rend leur ex écution si pénible qu’elle devient fatigante même pour les auditeurs. La qualité de son qu’on est parvenu à obtenir du hautbois en France est sans contredit la meillure, et qui rapproche le plus cet instrument du Violon.”21 55. Vichy (France) Auction Catalog. Instru- ments de Musique Vents et Divers. 4 December 1999. Lot 216 (illustrated) 56. Waterhouse 16 notes that Georg Tri ébert “Frenchified (his name) as ‘Guillaume Triébert’...”. However, every 19th century oboe and document that I have seen spells it “Triebert”, including the price list of circa 1860, where it appears 6 times. In deference to current usage I


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employ the modern spelling in this paper. 57. Lorée F, L. Lorée Fils Successeur (company). Prix-Courant 1913 . Paris, 1913. With, Lorée F, first page of 1881-82 sales ledger. Reprinted in Larigot 20: 20-29, September 1997. On the cover of the Prix-Courant (pricelist), François Lorée is described as “Ex-chef d’atelier de M. Triébert” (The Triébert company’s former foreman). 58. Silva, Jose da. Contribution aux Tentatives de Reperage Chronologique des Hautbois Tri ébert fils (Fr éd éric). Larigot number 10, February 1992. Pages 8-16 59. Giannini, Tula. Great Flute Makers of France. The Lot & Godfroy Families 1650-1900. Tony Bingham, London 1993. Pages 83, 174. 60. Triébert et Companie. Catalogue d ’ instruments et Nouveau Prix-Courant. Paris, circa 1860. Reprinted in Larigot 4, January 1989. Pp 4-7. 61. Silva, Jose da. Catalog de la Collection d Instruments ’ de Musique a Vent. Larigot 2 Special February 1993 62. Kampmann, Bruno. Catalog de la Collec- tion d Instruments ’ de Musique a Vent. Triébert, Hautbois Boehm en Re b. Larigot 9 Special September 1998. Pages 62, 63, 105. 63. Kampmann, Bruno. Catalog de la Collec- tion d Instruments ’ de Musique a Vent. Triebert, Hautbois en Si b. Larigot 1 Special September 1991. Page 66. This oboe is now in the author’s collection. 64. Posts and the equipment to place them were invented, but not patented, by Theobald Boehm around 1830. See Boehm, Theobald. The Flute and Flute-Playing. Translation by Dayton C. Miller, 1922, of Die Flote und das Flotenspiel , Munich 1871. Dover Publications, NY 1964 65. Vesian, Helene et al. Catalogue de l ’e xposition “ Le roseau et la musique” . In Le Roseau et la Musique . Editio Arcam/Edisud. La calade, Aix-en-Provence, France. 1988. 66. MacGillivray, James A. The Woodwind. In Baines, Anthony, editor, Musical Instruments Through the Ages. Penguin Books, Baltimore, 1961. Pages 237-276

67. Hedrick, Peter. A Ten-keyed Oboe by Guillaume Tri ébert. Journal of the International Double Reed Society 17: 19-28, 1989. 68. Francoeur le Neveu, Louis-Joseph. Diap- son G énérale de tous les instruments a vent. Paris, circa 1772, pages 13-14. Reprinted in Lescaut, Philippe and Saint-Arroman, Jean. Haut- bois. M éthodes et Trait és-Dictionnaires, pages 93-94. Editions J. M. Fuzeau, Courlay, France, 1999. His original French: “L’UT est toujours faux; cést à dire trop haut pour etre consid éré comme natural, et trop bas pour etre dieze, m ême en forçant; en conséquence j’ai mis ces deux notes sous un croissant pour faire connoitre que ces sons ne sont point déterminés. On ne doit pas y faire des tenues surtout dans les Solo, la seule maniere de l’employer n’est qu’en passant. Voyez l’Exemple cy-après....Dans cet Exemple comme l’ut forme un espece de repos, on peut lacher un peu les levres, ce qui le rend moins faux. Il en est de meme de l’Ut dieze, qui est sur le même degré.” Francoeur le Neveu is unusual in suggesting that one can obtain a c#1 on the two keyed oboe; certainly the lowest note on such instruments is too sharp to be an in tune c1, but it is much closer to c1 than c#1. Other texts of the time simply accept that the note c#1 did not exist. 69. Sotheby’s (London) auction catalog. Early Musical Instruments. Sale LN7691, December 17,1997, lot 96 (illustrated). This oboe was once Michel Piguet’s and is now the property of Geoffrey Burgess. 70. Lehrer, Charles-David. An Introduction to the 16 Oboe Concertos of Gustav Vogt and a Discus- sion of the Nineteenth Century Performance Prac- tices Preserved Within Them. Journal of the International Double Reed Society 16: 19-51, 1988 71. Sellner, Joseph. Theoretisch praktische Oboe Schule. Sauer & Leidesdorf, Vienna, circa 1825. French translation, circa 1830. 72. However, an anonymous English horn at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (accession number 1982.110.2) has a c1 corrector. The maker is unknown but the instrument is believed to be Italian or German, 1825-1850. I thank Herbert Heyde of the Metropolitan Museum for permitting me to examine this instrument. 73. Bates, Philip. Opus cit, The Oboe. Page 80.


THE DOUBLE REED

74. Baines, Anthony. The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1992 75. Montagu, Jeremy. The World of Romantic & Modern Musical Instruments. David & Charles Limited, London 1981 76. Remnant, Mary. Musical Instruments. An Illustrated History from Antiquity to the Present. Amadeus Press, Portland 1989. Pages 124-125 77. Hedrick, Peter, opus cit, page 45. 78. Carse, Adam. The History of Orchestra- tion. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Company, 1925. Reprinted by Dover Publications, New York, 1964. Page 202. 79. Sotheby’s (London) auction catalog. Early Musical Instruments. Sale LN8667, November 4, 1998. lot 7 (illustrated). 80. Joppig, opus cit. Page 68, oboe #4. 81. Storch, Laila. Georges Gillet — Master Per- former and Teacher. Journal of the International Double Reed Society 5:1-19, 1977. French resistance to the left hand F is puzzling, Storch implies that it was due to Gillet’s intransigence on the point. The Lorée price list of 1913 24 shows the forked F resonance key as an option, but left hand F is only shown on the Barret model. I own a Lorée system 4 oboe (serial G8, 1890) to which a left hand F, opening a new hole, has clearly been added. 82. Sotheby’s (London) auction catalog. Early Musical Instruments. Sale L#AN7691, December 17,1997, lot 21 (illustrated). Also seen in Sale LN8667, November 4, 1998, lot 9 (illustrated) 83. Sotheby’s (London) auction catalog. Early Musical Instruments. Sale LN7691, December 17,1997, lot 104 (illustrated) 84. Thumb rests do not appear with regularity on oboes until the 1840s. Many early clarinets

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(even a few five-key examples) include integral wooden thumb rests, as does the oboe in figure 21. Because museum catalogs rarely show the back of an old oboe or clarinet, information on this topic is difficult to obtain. The Triebert 12 key and the Buffet are my earliest oboes with thumb rests; of course, I cannot be certain if these are original. Müller did not include a thumb rest in his 13-key clarinet (1811) but Baumann used them for his 13-key clarinets (c1825). 85. Berlioz, Hector - Strauss, Richard. Trea- tise on Instrumentation (1843, second edition1855, revised 1904). Dover Publications, NY 1991 pages 163-164 86. The original French reads: “La candeur, la grâce na ïve, la douce joie, ou la douleur d’un être faible, conviennent aux accents du hautbois : il les exprime à merveille dans le cantabile. Un certain degré d’agitation lui est encore accessible, mais il faut se garder de le pousser jusqu’aux cris de la passion, jusqu’à l’élan rapide de la colère, de la menace ou de l’héro ïsme, car sa petite voix aigre-douce devient alors impuissante et d’un grotesque parfait.” An earlier English translation of this passage, prepared under Berlioz’ direction, is taken from Berlioz, Hector: A Treatise on Modern Instrumen- tation and Orchestration, dedicated to Frederick William IV, King of Prussia. Novello, London/New York, 1855. “Candour, artless grace, soft joy, or the grief of a fragile being, suits the hautboy’s accents; it expresses them admirably in its cantabile. A certain degree of agitation is also within its powers of expression; but care should be taken not to urge it into utterances of passion-the rash outburst of anger, threat or heroism; for then its small acid-sweet voice becomes ineffectual, and absolutely grotesque.” 87. Vichy (France) Auction Catalog. Instru- ments de Musique Vents et Divers. 13 June 1998. Lot 147, illustrated.

Historical Oboe

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