The bass oboe or baritone oboe is a
double reed
A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and c ...
instrument in the
woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...
family. It is essentially twice the size of a regular (soprano)
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
so it sounds an
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
lower; it has a deep, full tone somewhat akin to that of its higher-pitched cousin, the
English horn. The bass oboe is notated in the
treble clef
A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical stave. Placing a clef on a stave assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines, which defines the pit ...
,
sounding one octave lower than written. Its lowest note is B
2 (in
scientific pitch notation
Scientific pitch notation (SPN), also known as American standard pitch notation (ASPN) and international pitch notation (IPN), is a method of specifying musical pitch by combining a musical note name (with accidental if needed) and a number ide ...
), one octave and a
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
below
middle C, although an extension with an additional key may be inserted between the lower joint and bell of the instrument in order to produce a low B
2. The instrument's bocal or crook first curves away from and then toward the player (unlike the bocal/crook of the
English horn and
oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore (; Italian for "oboe of love"), less commonly , is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the me ...
), looking rather like a flattened metal question mark; another crook design resembles the shape of a
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
neckpiece.
[Example: See 1:04 at ] The bass oboe uses its own double reed, similar to but larger than that of the English horn.
Etymology
The instrument is known popularly as the "bass oboe" in the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
and "hautbois baryton" (baritone oboe) in French. The bass designation is in resonance with that of the bass flute in the flute family and the bass clarinet in that family: an instrument pitched an octave below the principal instrument of its genre.
History
Early bass oboes were modeled after bassoons, with a boot joint and bocal (such as the Triebert's'instruments, which still had a bulb bell) and some holes drilled obliquely; later an enlarged English horn design was adopted. The concept of the bass oboe as an enlarged English horn survived, and the ''hautbois baryton,'' redesigned by François Lorée, was introduced in 1889.
Some confusion exists between the bass oboe and the
Heckelphone
The heckelphone (german: Heckelphon) is a musical instrument invented by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. The idea to create the instrument was initiated by Richard Wagner, who suggested it at the occasion of a visit of Wilhelm Heckel in 1879. In ...
, a double reed instrument of similar register introduced by the firm of Wilhelm Heckel in 1904, and which is distinguished from standard members of the oboe family by its wider bore, different fingering system (on older instruments), and larger bell. As a result, it is not always clear in English orchestral works of the early 20th century which of the two instruments is intended when the composer requests "bass oboe".
The instrument has been manufactured sporadically by various companies, including F. Lorée,
Marigaux
Marigaux, also known as SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire) is a French manufacturer of high quality woodwind musical instruments.
Marigaux is considered one of the world's best oboe-makers. The company has made a line of woodwinds that has also inc ...
, Rigoutat, Fossati, and others. It is usually a "special order" instrument, and its purchase price normally exceeds that of a top-of-the-line English horn.
Repertoire
*''In the Great Museum of our Memory'', for Bass Oboe by
Brian Cherney
*''The East Coast'' Concerto for Bass Oboe and
Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
by Gavin Bryars
*''Earth Spirit'' for bass oboe and orchestra by Yuang Chen
One of the most notable uses of the bass oboe is in
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...
's "
The Planets
''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...
", where the instrument is used to great effect and provides a tone of which no other instrument is capable. Notable solo lines include some faint parts during "Mars", during the bitonal runs in the woodwind in "Mercury", numerous exposed lines in the quieter moments of "Saturn" (probably the best example of a solo in the whole work), and in the fifth and sixth bars of the
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
's soli after the opening notes of "Uranus". The bass oboe is also prominently featured in the First Interlude of
Sir Michael Tippett
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an English composer who rose to prominence during and immediately after the Second World War. In his lifetime he was sometimes ranked with his contemporary Benjamin Britten ...
's Triple Concerto. There is also a very substantial solo in the second movement of Thomas Ades' "Asyla".
Frederick Delius
Delius, photographed in 1907
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...
scored for the bass oboe in six of his works:
Songs of Sunset
''Songs of Sunset'' is a work by Frederick Delius, written in 1906-07, and scored for mezzo-soprano and baritone soli, SATB chorus and large orchestra. The words are by Ernest Dowson.
It was published in 1911, and a German translation was ma ...
,
A Mass of Life
''A Mass of Life'' (German: ''Eine Messe des Lebens'') is a cantata by English composer Frederick Delius, based on the German text of Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel ''Thus Spoke Zarathustra'' (1883-1885). In 1898, Delius had written a m ...
,
Requiem,
An Arabesque,
Fennimore and Gerda
(subtitled ''Two Episodes from the Life of Niels Lyhne in Eleven Pictures'', RT I/8) is a German-language opera with four interludes, by the English composer Frederick Delius. It is usually performed and recorded in English, as ''Fennimore and Ge ...
and
Dance Rhapsody No. 1
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its reperto ...
, however, the latest research reveals that despite his use of this term, Delius' intended instrument was the Heckelphone.
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...
calls for it in his Symphony No. 1, and
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian (born William Brian; 29 January 187628 November 1972) was an English composer. He is best known for having composed 32 symphonies (an unusually high total for a 20th-century composer), most of them late in his life. His best-known ...
requires an instrument in both the
Gothic Symphony
The Symphony No. 1 in D minor (''The Gothic'') is a symphony composed by Havergal Brian between 1919 and 1927. At around 105 minutes it is among the longest symphonies ever composed (others include Mahler's Symphony No. 3 at 90 to 105 minutes (t ...
and his Symphony No. 4 ''Das Siegeslied''.
Humphrey Searle
Humphrey Searle (26 August 1915 – 12 May 1982) was an English composer and writer on music. His music combines aspects of late Romanticism and modernist serialism, particularly reminiscent of his primary influences, Franz Liszt, Arnold Schoen ...
calls for the instrument in his Third Symphony (1960).
Percy Grainger
Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...
includes the bass oboe in
Children's March and
The Warriors.
The bass oboe has not as yet come into its own as a solo instrument; only two solo
bass oboe concertos have been written to date (''The East Coast'', by English composer
Gavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer and double bassist. He has worked in jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, avant-garde, and experimental music.
Early life and career
Born on 16 January 1943 in ...
, composed in 1994 and a 2016 Concerto by Canadian composer Christopher Tyler Nickel). The former work was written for the Canadian performer
Lawrence Cherney
Lawrence Cherney, CM (born May 1, 1946) is a Canadian oboist and the current Artistic Director of Soundstreams Canada. A proponent of new music in Canada, Cherney commissioned more than 30 new works for oboe during his career. He is a charter mem ...
, who uses a bass oboe manufactured by
F. Lorée
F. Lorée is a manufacturer of double reed musical instruments based in Paris, France. Lorée produces professional-level instruments in the oboe family under the brand ''F. Lorée'' and student-level oboes under the brand ''Cabart''.
F. Lorée ...
. Two concerti have been written featuring the bass oboe in addition to the other four members of the oboe family, these works being
David Stock's "Oborama" and James Stephenson's "Rituals and Dances", both written for Alex Klein.
British oboist Michael Sluman has commissioned approximately 60 works for the Bass Oboe, a number of which have been performed at recitals in the UK, the 2016 Australian Double Reed Society in Sydney, and the 2018 International Double Reed Society Conference in Granada. These works consist of solo, orchestral, chamber and recital pieces, along with a number of quartets for Oboe, Oboe d'amore, Cor Anglais, and Bass Oboe, written for the Asyla Oboe Quartet. Michael has given lectures on the Bass Oboe at the Royal Academy of Music, London, Kings College, London, The University of North Texas and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Robert Moran
Robert Moran (born January 8, 1937) is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works.
Life
A native of Denver, Moran studied twelve-tone music privately with Hans Apostel in Vienna an ...
's ''Survivor from Darmstadt'', for nine amplified bass oboes, was commissioned by oboist Nora Post and premiered in 1984. At least one sonata for bass oboe and piano, by Simon Zaleski, has been written.
References
External links
Baritone oboe pagefrom Rigoutat site
Bass oboe pagefrom F. Lorée site
Bass oboe pagefrom Gebrüder Mönnig site
{{Authority control
Oboes
Single oboes with conical bore
Bass (sound)