Hi everyone,

I've just started playing this piece with my teacher and really love it! Is anyone else familar with it? I see it as sort of like a sad dialogue between the oboe and the piano, in which the oboe is sadly and gently telling the piano that they don't want to see them anymore, and the piano is sort of accepting of that but throws a mini-strop right in the middle of the piece anyway

T xxx

Never heard of it, but your description makes me want to hear it...

It sounds just as lovely on the flute Sarah, I have a recording of it played on a flute - I got it off iTunes if you fancy checking it out

Ooooh thanks for the heads-up, toni, I did look for it on itunes but couldn't find *anything* for oboe by him - didn't think to look for flute....

*goes off to listen*

Search on "Nielsen fantasy" and it should come up

itunes is dangerous isn't it?

Very, very dangerous!!!!!!

I've just played this. I said I wanted something easier than the Schumann Romances as a bit of "light relief" and my teacher suggested this. I too like it very much but haven't yet played it with the piano. (Although I have tried the piano part to see what it sounded like).

Yay, it's good to see another adult oboe learner Kerioboe! Are you doing the Schumann Romances for Grade 7? Can you recommend any particularly nice music for me?

How many pieces are there in the "set", Oboebunny?

(I just listened to Rostropovich playing Vocalise - another itunes purchase.... oh so emotional!)

Luckily there are only two pieces in Opus 2....the other piece is called Humoresque. Well, I guess you need something to cheer yourself up after the Romanze!

I just listened - that IS beautiful... and I can hear just what you mean about the piano throwing a bit of a wobbly in the middle....

Oh dear, another pieces to add to my "I would like to own..." list.

The Schumann Op 94? Oooh scrummilicious....

I love the Schumann Romances - well the first one anyway (I don't know the others), I like to mess about playing it and hopefully I'll get to do it properly for Grade 7

I've not heard it on a flute, but when I bought the sheet music it came with versions for A and B flat clarinets and cello as well as the oboe version!

I only know them to listen to though I'm tempted to get the music because they really are beautiful...

Are you coming to Leicester? I'll bring the music for the Schumann and the Nielsen with me so you can have a play

Ooooh yes I am! That would be really fabulous thank you!

It is good to find another adult oboe learner - I read all your back posts when I joined the forum about a month ago just trying to see if you had the same sort of experiences as me. I have been playing for just over two years.

I'm not learning the Romances for a grade exam as I live in France where it's a completely different system. I actually started with the second Romance because it is my teacher's favourite and, according to him, just happens to be excellent for technique - loads of half holes, slurs over large intervals, tricky rhythm in the middle part etc. It is lovely but difficult (you will notice that grade 7 gives you a choice between N°1 or N°3). Having told him that I thought I would leave the other Romances for later a fortnight ago (which is when he produced the Nielsen) I decided this afternoon that maybe I would have a look at the first one and found it much, much easier than the second.

What sort of music do you usually play? I love slow baroque movements (just wish I could do vibrato) and one easy one which is on the grade 6 list is the Bach Adagio. My project for the summer (I learn at the local music school so there is a 10 week break over the summer) is to play Bozza's "Conte Pastoral." I'll have a look at my music downstairs tomorrow when my brain's a bit more awake) and tell you what else I have enjoyed playing. What about you? Any suggestions for me?

Hi Kerioboe,

I'm afraid what's easy for you is probably going to be really difficult for me!!! I'll have been playing for a year next month You've probably already played all the repertoire I have been playing......if you haven't tried the Cimarosa-Benjamin Concerto then I can really recommend that though; the slow movement (Siciliana) will be really easy for you, but it's beautiful.

At the moment I'm concentrating on technical exercises (specifically lots of stuff in F minor, to get me used to left hand E flat) and my teacher wants me to learn this Nielsen piece and also Bartok's Folksongs from the County of Csik, which are Grade 6 standard but aren't on the current syllabus. My teacher wants me to skip taking Grade 6 and go on to work for Grade 7 after I've done those, but I have to do Grade 5 theory first, which is going to be a pain in the ###### as I haven't studied theory before and don't really have much clue about even the really basic stuff!

It's a shame that you're not in the UK as it would be brilliant to try some oboe duets at a forums concert sometime! I love slow baroque movements too.....

Toni xx

Hello Oboebunny,
I'm not sure that I'm that much better than you - I've only been playing for a little over a year more than you and I still have problems with stamina.
Yes, I do like the Cimarosa Benjamin Concerto, both the first movement and the Siciliana. Cimaraosa also wrote another oboe conerto which is easier than the Cimarosa-Benjamin, but the slow movement is not as slow and I don't like it quite as much. Handel Sonata slow movements are nice too.

About the same standard as the Bartok Folksongs is Debussy's Little Shepherd. (It either is or was on the Grade 6 syllabus).

Two easier pieces that I played during my first year are Robert Planel "Chanson Romantique" which is a lilting piece with a piano accompaniment, and Cesar Franck "Pièce V" . This is exquisite when played by Lajos Lencses (my favourite oboist) but is not particularly difficult from a technical point of view

What do you use for technical exercices? Brod "40 études et 6 sonates" is quite tuneful (more so than Hinke and East). I have just started on Ferhling's 48 études which are much harder! You talked about getting used to the left-hand Eflat, just wait until you want to do third octave F and have to hold the left hand G sharp and E flat down at the same time with your little finger while raising your fourth finger!

If ever I do decide I want to do an oboe exam, Grade 5 theory won't be a problem as I did it years ago when I was still at school. Still, I would have thought you shouldn't find it too bad as an adult (at least for the first few grades you have an intellectual advantage. My eight year old, for instance, has trouble with the maths involved in adding half the length of the note on when you have a dotted note).

As for the forum concerts, I come to the UK twice a year so that the kids can visit their grandparents. Perhaps if one day a visit coincides with a forum concert we might be able to put something together, although I should warn you that I am not much of a performer as I suffer from dreadful nerves.

Hiya,

As you'll probably have read, I struggle with stamina too as I have limited lung function. It's really annoying and I almost conk out if I play a piece of music all the way through, but hopefully I'm getting used to it - at least the oboe doesn't require you to have great amounts of puff!

I'm working on the Hinke studies, they seem to work really well for me in terms of sorting out weaknesses in my technique. The Ferling studies are a lot more advanced I think! I'm doing a Brod study for my Grade 5 List C piece. I'm really enjoying studies at the moment as I can notice myself improve if I practice them hard enough, and that's really motivating.

As far as theory goes, I'm just learning about relative minor scales and what diminished sevenths are, and stuff.....gah!! I think I've worked up to about Grade 3 level. I find it all really confusing...there is so much to learn at once.

I get really nervous when performing too.....hopefully playing at the Forums Concert will help me feel a bit more confident!!

Do you ever record yourself playing the piano accompaniments to your oboe pieces? It must really help, being a Grade 8 pianist too! Are your kids musical too?

Toni, I *think* I dreamt I played oboe and flute duets with you last night random of me! (among some rather more random and less sensible dreams )

I certainly remember playing oboe duets with someone *laughs*

Yay! I hope I didn't sound too much like a duck in your dream

Not that I remember!!!

...the really annoying thing is, I have a very distinct memory of playing some really beautiful music. But I couldn't now tell you what it might have been if you paid me...

Would it help if I didn't pay you? I can not pay you very easily

I don't think that's helping either, unfortunately

Just out of interest, does anyone know what difficulty these are? There is an arrangement of them for viola and piano quite cheap on musicroom and I was considering getting them.

I've only seen the music for the first one, and don't know about the arrangement... but - looking at that one, and assuming it's roughly a straight transcription/transposition for viola, musically you wouldn't have any probs, but there would be some position work and quite a lot of chromatic-y bits.

You can see a page of a violin/oboe version here if that helps - I would imagine that it would stretch you at the moment! But you could always keep it on the back burner, work in sections, and have it as something to work toward. They're beautiful pieces though!

Oh I just noticed the skill level on the musicroom listing: 3/5 "3 Intermediate (Slightly simplified arrangements; Grade 4-6)"

Thanks Sarah, one for a little way in the future perhaps then. I'd hate to murder the pieces by playing them before I'm ready.

Hello Oboebunny,


That's true. My biggest problem is remembering to breath out before I breath in!

What else are you playing for your grade 5 apart from the Brod study?

These days I would hestitate to call myself a grade 8 pianist. When I was in the sixth form I used to play the piano at least two hours a day (more at weekends) and alas, these days with a job and children I no longer have that amount of time and I don't play as well as I used to which is quite frustrating. One of the things I like about the oboe is that I actually feel I am progressing and, because it is such a physical instrument, I have to stop after about 45 minutes anyway just because my embouchure won't hold any longer so I don't feel I am having to cut short my practice time because of other obligations. I tend to play the piano accompaniments partly because I like sight-reading and partly to see how they fit in with the oboe part but I hadn't thought of recording them and playing the oboe to them - you've given me an idea.

When I was pregnant with my elder daughter, I played the piano throughout my pregnancy because I had read that babies liked music they had heard in the womb. Unfortunately this daughter has never liked the piano! She used to cry when I played it when she was a baby and as soon as she was old enough to explain she said it was too noisy. When she was six, she came home from school one day saying she wanted to learn the cello as they had been to see a play with a cellist accompanying and she thought it was a lovely instrument. So this is what she plays and still shows no desire to learn the piano.

The younger one (exposed to no piano playing before birth as her sister didn't like it) shows much more interest in it but as she is a very petite six year old, I think she needs to grow a bit more first.

Good luck with the theory!
Keri

In my not-very-humble opinion, well worth waiting for

Quite tempted myself, now you've pointed out they're available for viola...


I have understood the oboe is like the recorder in that sense, only even more so? I struggled with working out the breathing when I did my recorder exam at Christmas - as a flautist, I'm used to having to use masses of breath, and I had to work out which was best between remembering to take shorter breaths more often/remembering to breathe out after phrases/playing really long phrases and risking falling over It was a real pain, & one of the things I got picked up on was breath control, very annoying for me considering it was having too much breath that was actually my problem... Does it just come with practice on the oboe? I suspect I just don't play my recorder enough

Hehe you monkey, I found them first! You'll have to let me know what they're like if you do play them though.

Well since you asked so nicely...

Sure will, though can't afford any more music at the moment

Actually, just listening to this MIDI file Sarah, the slow speed means that that piece that you have the screenshot of wouldn't be too difficult. Not considering I sight read the Gypsy Rondo through on Saturday evening in treble clef with my friend playing the bottom hand on the piano! Ok ok, so most of the notes were wrong but hey!

Well if you want to have a stab at them I'm sure they'll repay handsomely for your effort - if you get them before me, tell me what they're like, K?

I hate MIDI files but yep that's about the tempo of the recording that I have.

Sorry, Toni, talk about derailing a thread

Will do and vice-versa if you get them first! Indeed apologies Toni, so talking about Nielsen. . .

No worries, I've gone off on a tangent chatting away to Kerioboe anyway, so I officially declare this thread a free-for-all

Wooooo, partaaaaaay!!

OK, sorry I think I got carried away for a second

Hello Sarah,
I think oboe breathing is in a class of its own. It is true that like the oboe you use very little breath but, unlike the recorder, the air-stream has to be at high pressure and to get the pressure you need your lungs to be full of air. One of the problems with trying to play quietly on an oboe is that you still need the very high pressure, otherwise the note just doesn't come out so it is no good just reducing the air stream. The other thing (apart from breathing out) which I have found hard is not to pause between breathing in and blocking the diaphragm to build up the pressure.

All this does improve with practice - my head no longer spins when I play, I can now play piano (but not yet pianissimo) and I can manage long phrases. Sometimes to my surprise I can even play a long piece with the breathing almost in rhythm and without collapsing at the end of it.

Yes - I do find you need a decent lungful of air behind a recorder note ideally, but I do understand that compared with the oboe it's not much!

How *do* you play quietly? I've not really thought about it before, not being an oboist, and now you have intrgued me!

I'm not sure that I am the best qualified person to reply as I am still learning to do it properly but the basic idea is that you keep the high pressure but have a thinner air stream. One of my oboe teacher's many images (I think he has so many so that his pupils will eventually hit on one that makes sense to them) is to imagine a puncture in something. When you are playing piano the puncture is tiny but the air still hisses out under pressure, when you play forte it is a great big puncture. It is then just (???) a question of getting your abdominal muscles to produce the same effect while resisting the temptation to bite down on the reed.

This is when the oboe turns out to be a very unforgiving instrument. If the air pressure gets too low, the note just stops completly and the intended eight beat dimenuendo down to pianissimo turns out to be a two beat mezzoforte. One of the helpful ways of practicing, I found, was to "bring" the note which had just "died" back again by gradually tightening my abdominal muscles. This helps you to discover the "critical" point at which breath pressure is sufficent to produce a note.

I don't know, I think that sometimes someone who's learning how to do it is best - when you're busy trying to make it make sense to yourself, you're probably going to do a reasonable job at explaining it to someone else

Thanks, really interesting to have an insight