Author: sömeone
Date: 2005-11-08 07:06
Well.......it's a very subjective question.
To follow the flow or to kick on your personal preferences?
I say it takes more understanding of both the orchestra you are handling in, what is generally accepted in your area, and the most important of all, the technical aspects of playing in an ensemble, or as a soloist to decide.
Firstly....Ohsuzan, to reply your previous questions on previous threads....
No i am not Dutch. I am a Malaysian Chinese. Haha. I never studied long term with any teacher, which is quite funny because the classical community here do not indulge in oboe not even so as much orchestral music, and for those who do, they learn from a specific player of a school, and that small group is very rare.
I cannot define myself as a learner of a particular style, at least for now, due to my lack of experience and not to mention still an amateur of sorts. But my reed maker and long time teacher, a player from the country's radio symphony, had mentors of different schools of playing, and that too applies to me. His permanent teacher had long been the co-principal player of the Malaysian Philharmonic, Joost Flach, who is a Dutch school player.
I had all sorts of teachers, and fortunately (would that possibly be unfortunate in some ways? ), had all taught me intensive classes. So you can see how 'international' i have become. Haha. An American style player from Hong Kong, a Russian school player who has now migrated to the US, an English player, adjudicator for the ABRSM, and of course a Dutch player from the country's Philharmonic.
'Dutch School' as they call it, i will quote a post from last year by one of Diana Doherty's student, Kai, a Singaporean now currently living in Sydney:
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Author: Kai (---.adsl.wanadoo.nl)
Date: 2004-05-14 09:51
Hi guys,
I am an oboe student studying in Holland but I won't be able to answer your question on what is a Dutch scrape. This is probably because I have a swiss teacher with classmates from all over the world (except from Holland); the majority of Dutch oboe students I guess go to schools such as the Amsterdam or the Royal Conservatory because that's where the Dutch style is taught. These teachers of course, include musicians from the Concertgebouw. But here are some information about the oboe tradition in this country.
This Dutch style or scrape has a lot to do with the accoustics of the Concertgebouw itself - which in many's opinion, one of the best in the world. (I am looking forward to experiencing it for myself next month!) One player from the orchestra once said that this richly reverberent hall allows you to play and be heard without forcing your tone. Hence, for listeners who enjoy the Concertgebouw's sound, there is a 'unforced and relaxed' feel about it. The 2 most influential oboists who adopted this 'strategy' to play in the Concertgebouw were Jaap and Haakon Stotijn (father and son) with Haakon going on to become principal oboist. From their teachings, we then have the other fantastic Dutch oboists such as Jan Spronk, Han de Vries and more recently Pauline Oostenrijk (just to name a few). As far as I can gather, the scrape is still a U-shape but from the few samples that I can look at, the scrape is extremely short, playing is at the very tip and there is something to do with the gouging as well. I have also seen reeds with 2 wires, each at different 'heights.' Sorry I cannot provide any more substantial data!
One of the few Orchestras in the world in present times to still have a highly distinction sound of its own. I amy not be playing with their reeds but I do hope that this tradition carries on.
Personally, I do think the player makes more of the difference than the dimensions and measurements. So, to really understand what all this translates to, no better way than to listen to a Concertgebouw recording!
Happy reed-making!
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Coincidentally, Kai was the oboist who sold me his Loree DM and who's first teacher was Joost, the Dutch teacher of mine which i've previously mentioned. What a small world!
Technique wise the Dutch school emphasized breathing ideas a lot and the formation of a flat chin, other than that, i too aint qualified & knowledgeble enough to tell you how they differ from other schools of playing.
Back to the main topic of this thread:
Historical aspect:
The general development of the symphony orchestra, which came to a standard in just about Wagner's time, defined what we call now as the symphony orchestra, which is rather huge when compared orchestras of Mozart's period. This led to a huge change in oboe design, and in particular reed design, due to the fact that oboe players needed to project more than ever. And nowadays, schools are not as prominent as in the old days, when you can easily distinguish a style from another, globalisation and communication technology has led to a mixture of ideas and styles.
Technically....
When one plays in an ensemble (any!), one does not define a sound needed by sheer color, but with one general idea, one which projects and blends easily. I always tell my students who are so prone of a particular style, that it's really a personal preference more than a necessity, but bounded by what i mentioned above. I am sort of lucky to be born in this area because ensembles here do not need to abide to rules of having a particular sound to survive, and even the Malaysian Philharmonic from what i have learnt, has 4 oboists of different styles.(www.mpomusicians.com/winds.htm) But they are one of the most versatile woodwind sections i've ever seen, and despite having different tonal concepts, they blend incredibly well together, sounding the same! (I guess that really depends on good leadership of the principal and the cooperation of the players.) Of course i won't say that it will be that easy with American style players, because the tone is so much more different from the European stream of players, but again differences do arise even in the same school of playing, so how they do it? It's amazing....
I forgot where but i have read about an article of some player (it was a prominent one in the scene, Holliger or someone else.....) who said that homogeneity is very important. As in its best to keep a sound of the same means, but in a chamber situation, where with good accoustics you might not need to work harder on projection, but you will have to in a Symphonic scene. Simply put it, to maintain the sound you want, you must first consider whether it will work in both situations (i.e. symphonic or chamber, solo or ensemble), and if it doesnt, you will have to figure out how to fix that. (find a tone that you want, making sure that it projects, blends, and of course has good intonation.)
On a solo point of view (with piano in a small accoustical environment.), it might be less obvious if you are not projecting. So your tone can be more flexible than ever, and most distinguished soloists of such ARE indeed more preferred in this scene than others. (like in the previous thread where someone said something about favouring Eugene more than Alex in a symphonic situation, but i have heard Alex with CSO, conducted by Pierre Boulez, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite on DVD, and i loved it! So it really does depend on ones own ears.)
Having a flute like sound? Maybe he wants you to blend with others better, and might mean that your tone is a bit more edgy than you think. There is too much to consider, so study more and listen to more of other players, and of course there are so many other things that you can do to improve yourself.
Symphonic playing is about too many things. And i am still learning. Haha.
Howard
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