Author: Chris P
Date: 2005-09-07 16:58
In response to vboboe's query:
"... by the way, who plays or knows anybody who plays the bass oboe? (not same instrument as bassoon) ... do tell us more about this rare instrument ... in C? F? A? range, etc."
Bass oboes are pitched in C, the same pitch as a bass flute and C melody sax, an octave below the oboe (C), a major sixth below the oboe d'amore (A) and a perfect fourth below the cor anglais (F) making them too a transposing instrument - the music being written an octave higher than it sounds, and their range is the same as that of the cor anglais - from low B to high whatever note you want to go to. They look and sound like a large cor anglais having the bulb-shaped bell and metal crook onto which the reed fits, being slightly larger than a cor reed.
A Heckelphone is a different matter from other deep oboes, being pretty much an oboe doubled in length and bore diameter - pitched in C and sounding an octave lower than an oboe, but the range descends to low A (right thumb key) below the treble clef, as opposed to only B for cors anglais and oboes d'amore, and Bb for oboes (and some cors built for the Italian and German market).
Then there's higher pitched oboes, called musettes - either pitched in Eb (the same as an Eb clarinet and sopranino sax - a minor third higher than an oboe and an octave higher than an alto sax), or in F (a perfect fourth higher than an oboe and an octave above a cor anglais) depending on the maker.
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