 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: kevint
Date: 2014-07-02 10:36
Attachment: IMG_2745.JPG (429k)
Attachment: IMG_2747.JPG (428k)
Attachment: IMG_2749.JPG (367k)
Dear oboists,
I just joined this list, in hopes that some of you could help me identify an oboe that I recently purchased here in Germany. There is no visible maker's stamp nor serial #, but it looks like a German instrument, perhaps 100 or so years old. The keywork is unlike anything I've seen in my limited experience with old oboes: automatic register mechanism; upper-joint side keys for Bb and C (as in some 19th-c. oboes); but also a 3rd side key (seems to play C#), and a LH thumb key for Bb. The lower joint has roller keys for C and C#, with the Eb set off to the side. The low Bb hole is on the lower joint, not the bell. Is this a Markneukirchen product, by any chance? Any clues you could supply would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance
Kevin
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-02 13:07
Attachment: germanoboe 001.JPG (638k)
That could be anything - there are so many older German style oboes out there with no maker's stamp or serial numbers. I've got one which I bought as a curiosity which is probably of a similar age (which is anyone's guess) and that too has no maker's stamp on it. While it may not be related to any modern maker, the same outer bell shape is currently being used by Ludwig Frank on some of his oboes.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kevint
Date: 2014-07-02 18:13
dear Chris, Thank you for the quick answer and the photo of your instrument. I bought mine out of curiosity as well (it cost 200 euros), but found that it played quite well in the shape that it was sent to me, with a surprisingly strong tone from low Bb to upper D. Even the intricate register mechanism works well. But I am puzzled by the Bb thumb key -- do any of you have oboes with this feature?
thanks
Kevin
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-02 18:32
Not a thumb key that's pressed to give Bb as such, but thumbplate and dual system oboes have a thumbplate that's released to give Bb and C. You will only see this on older French oboes and current British oboes as the thumbplate system still lingers on here in the UK.
Here's what the thumbplate looks like and the elongated 3rd 8ve touchpiece is to the left instead of overlapping the 1st 8ve touchpiece as on conservatoire system oboes:
http://www.howarth.uk.com/pic.aspx?pic=./wo/HowarthXLBWTPOboe.jpg&pid=35115
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: kevint
Date: 2014-07-03 15:11
Thanks once again for the information, Chris. I'm still having no luck finding other cases of a Bb thumb key like the one on my oboe. Maybe it was inspired by the thumbplate system you describe, but assigned a different function?
Kevin
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2014-07-03 16:35
You only find this kind of thumb Bb key on the older German style oboes from the mid to late 1800s until some time in the 20th Century when the French style ring key conservatoire system oboes with fully automatic 8ve mechanisms eventually took over.
The thumbplate system was Triebert's invention which duplicated a single side key for Bb and C (Barret action).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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