Author: WoodwindOz
Date: 2018-04-19 18:41
It's funny that I've just stumbled upon this topic after spending my evening practising one of the Harry Potter suites (1st oboe). I play a 901 and find the short fingerings better on this oboe most of the time, and I am very glad that the short fingerings are familiar to me for the purpose of playing this work. I am most definitely relying on my 3rd octave key though!
I am having no dramas getting to F# and G, even at the end of slurred runs, though it seems a bit ridiculous as the 2nd oboe is 8vb and I wind up in unison with the flutes and Eb clarinet (thankfully all strong players with relatively good tuning). I agree with Chris's reference to 'squeaky gate' music...what exactly as a composer would one be achieving by writing anything higher? Sometimes I think it's more of a case of 'look what I can make these players do' than it is 'look at this aural picture I can create' (as a composition student in my uni days, I feel semi-qualified to make that judgement).
There is a top Ab in the Jacob Divertimento for wind octet (I know because I have to look up the fingering every time I play it each summer). The Ross Edwards oboe concerto written for Diana Doherty definitely goes up to a top Ab (I can't recall anything higher but I may stand corrected). I feel as though the functional range of the oboe for the majority is up to altissimo F, but if you are even having a sense of heading in the direction of playing professionally, I'd be heading to G, G# and A as well.
The other issue as well is that depending on the oboe, the reed setup and the player, past D the fingerings can be pretty variable, so you need to invest some quality time getting to know the best fingerings for your instrument.
Rachel
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