Author: JRC
Date: 2010-09-17 15:31
I agree with Robert completely; the history, evolution, sentiment, and perhaps predicament of oboe in general. The term "dark" sound became to mean "good", especially in the United States. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on one's point of view) that is spreading to Europe as well to an extent. Whatever the tone color preference of an individual, music must be produced at the end. Obviously, a wide range of "dark" to "bright" sound can be produced with an oboe.
On one end, there is legacy German sound that somewhat mimics the sound of French horn. Karajan's Koch was typical in the past and Yeon-Hee Kwak appears to maintain the healthy tradition today. It is very dark sound and completely void of reediness in the sound. It always reminded me of cream of wheat. One could make a meal out of it.
On the other end, there are Casier, Pierlot and Holliger, all from French school with distinctly different styles of sound that still produce more variety of wonderful oboists. Some are reedy bright (Pierlot and Ladrot) and some just bright without being reedy (Holliger). One could actually call Holliger sound "dark" compared to Pierlot and not being wrong, definitely smoother. The French sound always reminded me of fruits. Some are sweeter than others, everyone has the unique aroma and taste, but all has the underlying sour taste.
Then there is another end of the spectrum, an extreme end of Tabuteau legacy that Gomberg brothers made famous. I used to call it a huff-n-puff style; mysteriously haunting tone quality that underlined solo orchestral passages beyond any other sounds could. Audience and critics alike all over the world loved it (I should say they went crazy over it) for several years. It reminded me of heavy creamy sweet chocolate. I do not think most people could make a meal out this.
And all others were and still are in the middle somewhere of these three ends.
The huff-n-puff style does not seem to be in fashion any more mainly because the style is best suited for orchestral solo passages. The opening passage of the 2nd mov of Brahms violin concerto pushed the limits of physical ability of most oboe player, so did most music written for oboe, old and new. Music always demands more than mere collection of phrases and passages. Such style demanded more physical endurance than most players could sustain just to produce the notes. There are more to music than beautifully haunting sound.
Early to mid 20th century, many tried to find middle ground of French (bright) and German (dark) school of oboe playing. Another way to characterize these two different sounds was reedy and French horn like. Yet another way to characterize was creamy or fruity sound. Either has advantages and disadvantages in musical expression; range of articulation, dynamic range, range of tone colors and of course intonation. The German sound is completely void of reedy quality so it is soothing to ears, therefore comfortable to listen to, and blends well with the sounds of other instruments. But it limits the range of articulation, dynamic range, and range of tone colors. Some overcome the limitation but they are few and far in between. The French sound is just the opposite. A French oboe sound does not always blend well with different instrument. Leon Goossens was known to successfully blend French with German during his time. If one listen to him today, he seemed to have cut down the reedy sound somewhat. But that was considered a big step at the time. Leon Goossens stressed the importance of lyrical quality of oboe and bring out oboe from stuffy orchestra and chamber music scene into singing into people’s heart. Then there is Holliger whose later years produced the tone color that is bright yet not reedy. Han De Vries and many others found some success in blending French and German sounds. The latest being Albrecht Mayer. Ultimate challenge is to gain ability to express music with limited use of “unpleasant” sound quality while blending in with other instrument. This might be unattainable goal. We will have current favorite now and then.
People’s taste change and evolve. Even instrument makers jumped in and make it easier for oboe players to produce popular tone of the day. Today, that means to satisfy greatest number of consumer tastes in America. They have to sell lots of them to be profitable, so the American taste is in. That is to produce “good” or popular “dark” sound (meaning, no reedy sound and somewhat French horn like quality) from a wide range of “good” to “poor” reeds. This means in acoustical term, promote all available frequencies to resonate as much as possible, therefore naturally producing complex waveform as much as possible. So the bore became a bit narrower and every manufacturer have their secret formula to season and treat the wood to enhance that quality. This is wonderful development for beginners. A store bought reed usually sound half way decent in a modern oboe. Most who seek to make his or her own tone quality would be constrained to a limited range. That is the down side. If one wish to learn to make reed, so called American style dominates the American scene; lumpy style long scrapes, which goes very well with “modern” popular oboes. That is a good thing for most.
How about music making? Some oboe players want to make music rather than just play oboe in a band or orchestra. Actually these make up small minority of oboe players today. Play chamber music, play songs with piano accompaniment, duets, unaccompanied solos, obbligato with singers… An oboe player is demanded to stand up and become a musician rather than just blend in with others. A “dark” and “horny” sound quality becomes limitation in the ranges of expression. Fortunately one could order an oboe with larger bore that allows one to make his or her own sound more easily than most modern oboes allow. Most reputable oboe manufacturers would do it for you. But one has to ask for it and one must know what to ask for. That knowledge is disappearing quickly. On the other hand, one could take a chance with old oboes. Mike’s spectrum analysis of different tone could be a part of quantitatively characterizing the knowledge for the future.
Well… returning to the subject matter of “dark” sound, I tend to think that blindly equating “dark” sound with “good” sound is a misnomer in my opinion.
Post Edited (2010-09-17 16:25)
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