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Re: A strange B&H Oboe ..

Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-01-13 13:17

Sounds like it's an older ebonite-bodied B&H Imperial - they made these in all manner of guises from pure thumbplate with simple 8ve keys through to automatic ring key conservatoire. They never made full Gillet conservatoire Imperials - the nearest you'd get to one of these is a Ward&Winterbourne or now the Armstrong-Ward oboes.

I can't remember the oboist who played on 'I Got You Babe' but he played on fully auto thumbplate system oboes - when he retired around 10 years ago he sold his automatic Howarth S2s with gold plated keywork through Howarth.

The fingerings for these are as thumbplate, but you can use just the thumb 8ve key for all the upper register notes from E-C and high E upwards. The 2nd 8ve touchpiece is there simply for players who previously learnt on simple or semi auto 8ves for playing 8ve leaps of A-C whereby force of habit they'd want to use the 2nd 8ve touch for these notes instead of using the thumb touch (the same reason I had a 2nd 8ve touch fitted to my fully auto Marigaux d'amore as I'd go for the 2nd 8ve key which wasn't there for these notes and end up nudging the trill keys open).

Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.

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