Hello Itchy,

I would say that seeing as you haven't done an exam for many years that it is maybe better to hit grade 7 before you plunge into grade 8...as for the scales well I am sure you know them but my teacher insists that I play a major then the relative minors Harmonic and melodic and just keep going as far up and as far down as I can keeping the key in mind...this increases flexibility in the scales and keeps me going right up into the top of the instrument and likewise all the way down. Come the exam you will only need to do the 2 octaves or a twelth so that would be very straightforward. Also do the same with arpeggios...mind you wouldn't it be a blast to take A major 2 octaves in an exam...I suspect the examiner would be most surprised...not sure if you would get penalised for it as it really is not a true note in the sense of it is out of the expected playing register for the Oboe but it is quite achieveable with a little pressure and a bit of luck...you should really get a medal for getting all the way up there...

Glad that the Hayden is going well its a lovely concerto, Goritzki's recording of it is fabulous..

Glad to see you hope its not too wet where ever you are...

regards

Andrew

Gosh, you're all in the lofty heights of Grade 7 & 8 and all doing so well, well done to all of you..... think it might be a while before I can join you!

I'm working towards my Grade 3, hopefully in November. I've chosen a piece by Handel, I love it though I'm betting my rendition isn't too good just now... and I get to try out my first trill in a piece Then I have a Polonaise and a Hornpipe for the others.

I'm not really worried about the pieces, I know I have time to polish them up. I'm more worried about the sight reading and the aural tests, but then the unknown always scares me. Guess I should try to take heart from the fact that I haven't taken any music exams beofre and not picked up any instrument for nearly 20 years but still managed to get a distinction in my Grade 1 after only 4 months.

Hello Sophie,

you will be surprised it wont take you too long to get up to the higher grades...it all comes down to practice. As for sight reading well I can only reccomend that you sight read as much as possible, feel the pulse, read it through in your head and don't play too quickly. Count the quaver or crotchet beats, tap your toe if necessary but keep it subtle and trust your judgement. Naturally the more you play the quicker your hands will get at going straight to the note without you thinking about it...

As for the Handel, is it one of the three authentic sonatas ? the one in Bb is lovely, in fact they all are...remember that in Baroque trills you start on the note above...articulate the first note with the tongue and off you go..., Mordants are acceptable but dont go mad, Baroque music needs to be a phrase then echo the phrase maybe quieter whenever possible to keep it interesting but above all give it style...and think of it as a singer would...

we are all striving to be better Oboists, even me (yes I know thats hard to imagine but try.. ) I actually have just mastered 3rd Octave A, it was one heck of a push but there it was and I had to double check with a tuner but sure enough it was on the button. Now all I need to do is add it to the Arpeggio and a scale of A major or minor and Bobs your uncle.. For those of you who are interested I used, lifted 1st finger of the half hole key in left hand with the A and the G and G# key down, Right hand low C key some use the D key instead according to a friend in Germany or check your Gillet if you have one, plenty of diaphragm and a relaxed throat.....HEY PRESTO..TAA DAA

Happy playing and don't get worried because everyone else is doing the higher grades...we all started somewhere.

OOH YES and by the by, get a copy of the Geminiani Sonata, thats a pretty one and not overly difficult...

Regards

Andrew

Evening everyone
Congratulations to everyone on fantastic exam results

Sorry to put a downer on everything, but I'm just feeling a bit rubbish about my Oboe at the moment I can't seem to find a decent reed to play on, whether that's not being helped by the weather or something stupid, or I'm just playing REALLY badly at the moment I don't know, but I'm so disheartened by my horrendous tone and general sound, that I am seriously considering putting it in it's box and leving it till the end of the summer...but then I know that I'll be really really bad...and I don't know what to do
Any suggestions, just to get me back into the swing of things?? Anything muchly appreciated and thanks in advance!

Sorry for sounding so miserable everyone!
xxx

No problem, I'm kind of in the same situation. I'm feeling really uninspired on my oboe at the moment. I've just changed piano teachers and that's going really well, but I don't feel like I have any sense of direction on the oboe and it's so bad in comparison...the pieces are boring, she didn't set me anything to do - just suggested I buy a book and choose what I want to play. Yes, I suppose it's freedom, but I'm still young, and with plenty of other things in the competition for what I spend my time doing, if there's no structure, I'm unlikely to spend as much time doing it, if any, each day. Anybody got any suggestions, to get me moving?

Nice to know someone's in the same situation, Chevvychev. Sorry for the rant, everyone. And I know I haven't been around for a while either.

Pianoboe

As for the Handel, is it one of the three authentic sonatas ?

Hi Andrew

It's the 4th movement from his Sonata in C minor, Bouree anglaise. I think my teacher has recognised that I like playing Baroque music since she was the one to suggest I tried this piece. It needs a lot of work, but then I have 3 months to do it . I think she did the piece too for her exams way back as she had the music.

Thanks for the music suggestion, I'll look out for that. I'm always looking for new pieces to try.

ChevvyChev, whilst I am no expert I'd say maybe before giving up completely you should try a different reed. I've tried several different ones but at the moment have just discovered Fortay Reeds, a favourite of Andrew's. I can't believe the difference it has made to the sound I make.

Equally, I know how difficult it is to play when you're feeling a bit down about your sound. I wouldn't advise you miss a whole summer's worth of practice but maybe don't feel like you absolutely HAVE to practice every night. Then you might just actually feel like you want to do it, and because you want to you'll just automatically play that bit better.

Good luck anyway, and I'm sure you don't sound half as bad as you think you do. Hope I've helped a bit

Sophie

Ah yes the Bouree Anglais is lovely I remember it. There is nothing to stop you having a look at the Bb sonata 1st movement and I will check out the other Handel Movements and see whats not too terrifying.

I will also have a dig through my old music and see what else you might enjoy. Which studies are you using?, I have box fulls of music some of which might be fun and god for you to have a bash at, it will also help your sight reading..

Kindest regards

Andrew

Chevvy you have a PM

regards

Andrew

I will also have a dig through my old music and see what else you might enjoy. Which studies are you using?, I have box fulls of music some of which might be fun and god for you to have a bash at, it will also help your sight reading..


Well, I've just about exhausted "Tune a Day". My teacher and I are working our way through "Learn to play oboe" and she's supplementing that with various other pieces from some of her old music and with some of the other pieces in the books I bought for Grade 1.

I'd love any advice about other pieces to try, practice can get a bit trying when you've only got the same pieces to try out over and over again. And of course, that won't help me with my sight reading at all.

Emsoboe was in a very similar position too! I think this is something that happens if you are not careful. We had an awful few weeks where it looked like she would be playing the same pieces until Christmas. Eventually it was decided that she would take the G6 and did so in a very short timescale.

This of course didn't solve the problem of direction over the summer so I persuaded her Teacher to carry on with lessons. It's made a huge difference to her motivation, having an hour is much better than the half hour she normally has, there is much more guidance. Sorry I know this won't help you in your position.

I'm currently using "Oboe Music to Enjoy" which has quite a fair selection of tunes up to Grade 3 (including several on the syllabus). I just had the Handel Sonatas out of the music library and will be buying a copy. The bouree in the Cm looks OK but having upgraded to an oboe with a LHF the G - F - Eb area is a bit rickety at the moment (to say the least)
I also have "Going Solo" which looks pretty good from Grade 4 up.

I recently heard my teacher play one of the Telemann fantasies and now have a recording of those and music from the library. They are a long way off yet !! (Grade 7 ish?) but I've managed a few bars of no. 6 which is fun.

As for studies, I'm using Hinke which should keep me busy for quite some time yet.

Roy.

Hinke is very good. It's about grades 1-6 and has loads of studies in it which are in the syllabus for trinity/ab

I use the Bach difficult psssages for sight reading practice and work on it as a study if there's techincal bits.

For pieces, try time pieces for Oboe. vol.1 is grades 1-3 and vol 2 is 4-6.
First repertoire pieces is a little harder (grades 3-5) but quite good.

For sight reading, just get loads of very easy stuff (don't know what would be good) and work upwords untill your comftorble with the standard needed. It doesn't have to be perfect to get a good mark in the exam. Concentrate on the rythm and dynamics and other instructions (i never can)

Personally, I'd use a forked F there, unless the F is a very long note. LH-F is more useful for combinations of D, E and F, IMO.



Depends on which fantasy/movement, obviously, but...
To play them after a fashion: grade 6/7 ish. To play them WELL / properly - grade 8 or beyond. I'm learning them now (and I'm well past gr.8) and they're harder than they seem at first glance, to play decently.

Thanks Claire, I had wondered, but was waiting for my teacher to return from holiday to try and get some "ground rules" established. Meanwhile, I am trying to get used to LHF now I have it. Interestingly, I have discovered that my new S40 has a much better forked F tone than the old Buffet.

Roy.

"Interestingly, I have discovered that my new S40 has a much better forked F tone than the old Buffet."


Mmm, despite everything I have read about forked F it's quite good on my little Howarth B too.... maybe it's Howarth oboes in general.

isn't it just a horrible feeling...it's like I want to play, and improve and play well and when it's just not happening and you try and try and try and you end up getting disheartened and grrr with yourself...
Also nice to know I'm not the only one feeling bad about my playing! Although I'm sorry to hear you feel as bad as I do if that makes sense...?


I've tried breaking in a few, but, on suggestion I bought a box of reeds, a couple of each of a few makes, because I wasn't getting on with my reeds about 6 months ago and to break a few in at a time and play around with them and things until I found a make I liked...I'm not sure if this is the best way of going about things, but at the time it seemed like a good plan!
Do Fortay Reeds have a website? (I shall google it in a minute!) I'd be interested to try a reed that comes with reccommendation, rather then being asked to go into a shop and "pick" some having played for about a minute on it in the shop, unbroken in which I find preeeetty useless it has to be said!
Yes, I have been "forcing" myself to play which hasn't helped, going into a session already thinking bad things is not helpful either!!


Thank you, I am about to reply to it

Thank you for everyone's advice and for listening to me rant!

Here You go Chevvy...Fortay Reeds website, lovely people, very helpful producing a first class reed...try them you will never look back...

http://www.fortayreeds.co.uk/

Andrew

Chevvy I bought several reeds for Emsoboe for when her teacher isn't able to make them and she likes the Fortay ones too.

Hope they improve things for you!

Thank you both for your reccommendation, I shall have a look now!!!

Andrew, are you on commission?! (For them as well as Loree)

Sadly no I am not Claire, not a single penny in commision from either Fortay or Loree, the latter being a national disgrace...shame on them, I am probably Loree's biggest fan and most loyal client

In truth I have played many reed makers reeds and have had a bit of luck with some but have never had the consistency from them that I have had from Fortay reeds, add to that the personal and very high level of service they have given me has way outstripped the others...

So I apologise for shouting so loud and so consistently about Fortay Reeds but if a business is turning out a great product then I think everyone should know. I probably don't need to shout about Loree, surely everyone knows how fabulous they are...

Regards from a non commision earning me,

Andrew

Haha, thanks! Same here though.

I got 2 new reeds from my teacher before we broke up for summer, and because I hadn't practiced that much, I'd only really 'broken in' one of them :S and the other's a lot harder, and I'm trying to play on it at the moment, but it's really hard work for me and I have to really persevere to get through 1/2 hour with it, and I don't think it's helping that I've been away so it wouldn't be as easy to play any reed as normal. Is it a good idea to keep going with this reed to 'break it in' or should I just go back to a softer one?

Depends *how* hard it is. If it's really hard, you could do your embouchure some damage, not to mention split your lip (ouch!). How about doing 15 mins on each? But if you really can't get a sound out of the harder one without struggling, then just leave it until you've seen your teacher again.

It's not as hard as that (and it's getting better) but I get headachey if I play it for too long which is ouch! 15 minutes sounds like a good compromise, I'll try that, thanks.

Is it normal when playing 3rd octave G to need slightly more reed in your mouth?

Yes!

3rd Octave G requires as Claire said the reed to go in a little more and add a little punch from the diaphragm.

You will rarely find top G necessary, yes it does come up in Ravels Daphnis and Chloe and in Finzi's Interlude and a few other works which I cannot think of at the moment but its pretty rare... Its not a bad note on the Oboe and if you have your first finger (LH) hole filled in and you adjust the movement in that key you should get a really nice full sound..The danger is that the upper notes can be a bit thin or worse piercing and penetrating...The adjustment takes a bit of fiddling with but it opens up the 3rd octave very nicely and all your 3rd octave notes should sound as good as your 2nd octave. I know Nicholas Daniel does this and his 3rd octave is outstanding..

Good luck with top G its a fabulous note and when you hit it right it sings.

As we are talking about top G's and getting up to them I am currently working on Finzi's Interlude, its beautiful...there are a couple of top G's in this and some wonderful runs and cadenzas...its well worth the work and is one of the best pieces in our repetoire in my opinion. If you haven't had a look at it I do reccomend it..its one heck of a blow, in all about 13 minutes but there is space to breathe so not entirely impossible.

Andrew

Now that I know that my first question wasn't stupid I'll ask a second .
How do you change the amount of reed in your mouth? I seem to be able to somehow roll some more in if I play chromatically up to the G but can't get back to my "normal" position on the way back down.


It occurs once in the third movement of the Saint Saens Sonata, although there is also an alternative given which (I think) stops at D and comes back down. When I was playing the Sonata last term, before I'd even tried it, I told my teacher that I was playing the alternative version. He didn't say anything about it at the time but in my last lesson before the summer break he said something along the lines of "The fingering for third octave G is really easy. Do some work on it over the summer."


What do you mean have the first finger filled in? What do you then do about all the notes that are usually half-holed (including for me quite a lot of the 3rd octave notes)?


I don't know this piece but I think 13 minutes would be beyond me.

Morning Keri,

I am ashamed to say that I hadn't noticed the Saint Saens has a top G, I haven't looked at that in a very long time...Lovely Sonata though.

As for filling in the half hole well I mean exactly that. This does require some adjustment to the key itself afterwards by a technician and some adaptation with your embouchure but given a little time the 3rd ooctave notes really sing out like the 2nd octave notes do and rather than half hole you can simply lift. My own teacher has her half hole filled almost completely and swears by it there is also very little play on the key itself. I am also seeing my technician on thursday to have the very same thing done and will then tweak the key with a good freind of mine who is coming over from Germany and who also has this done. It may not suit every Oboe but it's worth a try.

As for rolling the reed back in and then back out again well that takes practice and a certain amount of control with your lower lip...

Finzi's Interlude...quite lovely, well worth a listen and you may decide to have a go...there are many places to catch your breath and rest your lip.

regards

Andrew

Which key is it exactly Andrew? I'm asking becauseone of the keys on my daughter's s40 was closed and her Teachers open. We recently had a majoy service and the technician drilled a hole in the key. We did think it was odd from the off but maybe it wasn't and was always intended.

Hi Berni,

1st finger left hand (index finger), the hole can be filled and the movement in that key can be minimised to a fraction of movement..I will post more when mine is done.

Regards

Andrew

That's the one that has just been undone Her Teacher had tried altering the position but the note just didn't come out. Incidently we didn't ask for the hole to be drilled in it. It's been for a service and the middle section needed to be realigned. When we got it back the said key had a hole!!

I must say I'm a bit sceptical about having the hole filled in. On my previous oboe the pad had worn unevenly and lwas leaking so I had it replaced. The repairer (not an oboe specalist) did not do a particularly good job and managed to block the hole up with glue. I didn't realise immediately but was finding it impossible (amongst other things) to slur up to 3rd octave D. My teacher kept insisting that I wasn't supporting the note enough until one day, in desparation, I said to him you try and handed him my oboe. To my immense relief he couldn't do it either and he immediately started to look at the key work to find out why. When he realised that it was blocked by glue he got a needle and carefully opened the hole up and hey presto all the notes came out again!

That said, prior to having the pad replaced, my teacher had put a tiny slither cut off the plastic stick of a cotton bud inside the hole to change the aperture slightly which, he said, would improve the tone. As I had only just started I can't say I noticed a difference when I was playing.

The movement of this key on both my oboes has always been minimal.

Had it been filled? My S40 has a hole.

Slight change of subject...

In the 4th (fast) movement of the Telemann Sonata I am working on there is a passage of semiquavers slurred in fours; in the middle of the passage is:
(D# B# C# D#) (G#, B# C# D#)
The brackets are supposed to indicate the slurs.

Given that I am using left-hand D# because of the C#, is it essential to use right-hand G#? Or can I justify using left-hand G# (which I find much less awkward) by the fact that I am tonguing this note and so it doesn't matter if there is a slight break as I slide my little finger from one key to the other?

I'd say it depends how smoothly and unobtrusively you can do the left-hand shuffle. If you can do it, there's no rule that you *have* to use RH G#! But if it slurps, the RH key might be better.

I suspect it was always like that, bought it secondhand through a third party, It wasn't filled with a pad, the key was just the same as the other closed keys. S40's normaly come with a hole and I can honestly say that at the moment it's definately better with.

Emsoboe went back to band tonight, first time since Oboe overhaul, she couldn't believe how loud she now is. The clarinets were amazed at how long she can play for without taking a breath!!

What'sa everyones plans for the next term or so?

Morning everyone...Morning notmusicmum, Glad that emms is doing so well what a find that Howarth was and how lucky was that...

I don't have term plans as such not being in full time education but I do have a plan which is to go over some of the Baroque concertos I have learned and to ornament them again, work on phrasing and dynamics...I am also going to work on one of the Albinoni concertos for two Oboes the F major which I love..The notation looks simple enough but there is always so much more to getting the bounce and feel of Albinoni's work...Polish is everything when it comes to Baroque music, just thumping about won't do, it has to be very clean...

Thankfully I have some fabulous new reeds which are sensational from my reed maker and thats a huge leap in the right direction to getting a decent performance.

Currently having my morning tea and toast and listening to Brittens Temporal variations so a bit of a contrast to my planned practice.

Regards

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Albinoni here too!! I'm not very good at knowing which movements they are though. Emms did well with the G6 Al (as we call it) I think she quite likes the bouncy nature of his works.

The one success I've not had is getting her teacher to play duets with her. Do you think the Albinoni ones would be ok for someone working towards G7? Maybe if they are not too easy he might crumble

Andrew,

I know that baroque scores generally leave a lot of freedom for the player to add their own ornamentation, but how do you do this? Are there recommended editions of the music that you use or do you add your own trills, turns, appogiaturas...etc when you feel they're needed?

If so, are there any recognised guidelines for doing this - apart from your own common sense? Ornamentation can improve music, but too much makes it sound.."frilly". New word for music critics there!

I'm sure I can't be the only one who occasionally feels that a certain phrase is just 'begging' for a trill, accent or similar.

Steve

I'm pretty chuffed with MY newly acquired S40 too

I had a month struggling over the summer which my teacher, when she came back, confirmed was largely down to grotty reeds. I now have a couple from her dad (!!) which now I'm used to them are working really well - I shall be having some more I think. I'm now feeling much happier than a couple of weeks ago and feel I'm progressing again.

My master plan when I started in February this year was that perhaps I could make G3 my first exam in November or March. Given that the closing date for November is only a couple of weeks away, I think it will be March (I'm looking for good marks after all). That'll be my first ever grade exam. I played viola for a bit about 20 years ago but never did any grades. At Andrew's suggestion, I got a copy of the Handel sonatas which look approachable. Teacher says give it a couple of weeks and we'll make a start (Roy says, "I'll just give these Bourees a looking at anyway" ).

Otherwise it's onward and upwards with Hinke (Stacatto studies now), more scales, arps, long notes, etc. and someone around here continues to drop hints about some do in Eccles.

Oh, doesn't that count?

Roy.

What is her teacher's reasoning behind not wanting to play duets with her? I'm trying to think of the more technically challenging duets I have played (without going down and looking on the bookshelf); there are some in E. Rothwell's "Difficult passages from Bach" (probably not quite the right title but something like that) and also some in a Bach study book in two volumes - if you're interested I can go give you precise references for them. Handel also wrote six sonatas for two oboes.



Have you seen Telemann's Methodical Sonatas? (They were originally written for flute or violin but are perfectly playable on the oboe). My teacher has given me two of these to work on over the summer. The first slow movement has the unornamented melody on the top line and then a second line underneath with Telemann's ornaments fully written out. They are called "methodical sonatas" because they are supposed to be used to learn how to add ornaments.

Hello Berni,

No the Albinoni will be fine for someone heading towards grade7. I never find that the notation itself is beyond most mortal capabilities but that it comes down to the phrasing and answering of a phrase that things can go horrbily pear shaped. Crispness is essential, clarity in what the Oboist is trying to do is paramount, sloppyness, woolyness and untidyness is unacceptable, unlike the romantics or later works you have to be on the nail yet still keep some sense of style without sounding like you have a metronome stuffed somewhere unfortunate. It must of course be musical but the temptation to let it run away with you is enormous and I believe as do most it is vital that the period of the piece must be respected....up to a point. You can be slavish about it, yes trills must start on the note above and don't add romantic turns or too much rubato if any at all. I always say to myself think in period, let the music reflect the day, and keep that in mind when playing. Imagine if you will some poor bewigged musician playing at court for his supper and the audience, the discipline that he would have to play with whilst contending with big flouncy cuffs and a powdered wig...talk about uncomfortable...Yes I know thats a bit of an od way to think about approaching a piece of music but if you get your head thinking in a Baroque fashion and all that goes with it it may help...I don't think anyone facing grade 7 will crumble but don't overdo the ornamentation if it proves to be a bit much, just keep it simple...

Andrew

He's never actually said that he won't. I have mentioned a few times and bought a couple of duet books about a year ago, that have never been played. Just thought it might be worth trying again now she's at a higher level.

Thanks for the suggestions! We have the difficult passages by Bach wasn't aware there were any duets in it, this might be a good starting point. They are working on lots of pieces at the moment one of her favourites is Gallop by Jacob.

Hello Roy,

I am glad that all is going so well and that you like the Handel Sonatas, the Bouree Anglais will be quite straightforward for you and the Bb sonata is lovely, just tackle it a phrase at a time, don't try to over ornament it, Holliger didn't and his recording of this sonata is one of the best...Also note it tends to say Allegro on the first Movement and I can assure you it is most definitely NOT an Allegro but an Andante, this is a major misprint shown on most modern copies and I am assured by some Baroque specialists that this is quite inaccurate, I got positively shrieked at when I went along with a brisk allegro...Whoops, the Germans were beside themselves when the saw the misprint.

Glad that you got your reed crisis sorted out, how nice of your teachers father to give you a couple of his...

Keep going Roy with the Hinke and all that you are doing it sounds ideal... Most of the hurdles learning the Oboe come at the beginning so once you have the embouchure sorted and stamina under your belt, the fingers get easier as does the tuning, the reeds don't become such a chore though they are never easy or straightforward it does get easier as you progress, sure the music gets harder but the technique should be installed and provided you get the notation, rthyhm, phrasing etc the rest should naturally follow. Yes there are some hedious studies, Gillet for example which according to on of the great french player/teachers are completely unplayable (thats up for debate) and add to the list technical excercises by James Brown (not the soul singer) which are also fairly dreadful but SO GOOD FOR YOU and your fingers. The ferling are pleasant enough and there is another set of studies which I will look out for you later which are used at the Paris Conservatoire which though dull as ditchwater are awfully good for you...I think they are the Selmer studies but I will have to check..

All that aside well done Roy keep up the work, you will soon be battering the door down..

Regards

Andrew

Hello Steve,

I am very flattered that you would ask me the best way to ornament a Baroque work I will have a go but there are probably many here who will have their own opinions and dissagree with me completely..

Firstly style. The whole point of any ornament is that it must remain in the style of the work so we can't go rushing off modulating from key to key and must try to stick within the composers remit of the original text. Yes certain performers do push the boundries a little or a lot and who I am to question them, they are after all recorded and published musicians and know far more than I.

Trills must start on the note above, mordants or turns must be rthymical, no romantic approach i.e. don't stretch the phrase beyond what the bar can take...Yes I know that sounds obvious but many do. Always allow the phrase in its original state to be played first before you ornament it second time around, don't go mad from the outset...build all the time and just when they think they can't take anymore of the beauty that you are giving them back off again, always leave the listener wanting more...

Simplicty is the key, little runs in the set key are nice, small turns top and bottom of the phrase, nice tidy mordants, quick and clean...delayed trills on closing a phrase...Leleux does this beautifully in his Bach recordings, the Easter Oratorio is breathtaking...Listen to other masters and you will get the idea of what I mean.

Common sense is really your best allie, don't go off the chart, use the suggested ornament on the published copies if you are unsure and then fiddle with that if you feel brave...ask your teacher or a more experienced player to help you...even the great players don't go it alone I can assure you...there is much brainstorming and knashing of teeth prior to any new approach...Cadenzas are written and re-written time and time again, they don't just happen..and even the greatest players get it wildly wrong sometimes...I have heard some staggering nasties now and then when it all went horibbly wrong. Somehow it all seemed fine in rehearsal I am sure then the idea fell apart.

Above all have fun but keep it pretty, less is more...

Regards

Andrew

Thanks as ever Andrew for your advice and encouragement. I have recordings of the Handel Sonatas by Sarah Francis (http://www.euravent.co.uk/acatalog/SarahFrancis.html) and did think the Bb was a bit leisurely for Allegro. Sounds right though.

Oh someone was asking about ornamentation recently (can't recall who). I'm no expert (far from it) but the recordings just mentioned and Telemann Fantasies by Francois Leleux (http://www.euravent.co.uk/acatalog/FrancoisLeleux.html) seem to me nicely done. Doubtless some baroque specialist will pop up and put me in my place.

Roy.

I couldn't agree more Roy, leleux is a master with ornamentation...He has a tendency to stay very close to the orchestra with his playing and not to stand out too much, this is either appealing or not depending what you like.. I have not heard Leleux's recordings of the unaccompanied Teleman Fantasies though I gather they are excellent.. A friend of mine in Germany says that this recording is really first class. I did have the Holliger recording of the same work which was a study in perfection...really it was staggering. They either get them right or are way off in my opinion...Again its all about the style and feel of the works. I sincerely doubt that any Oboist would queery your opinion on the Leleux/Teleman, yes there are Baroque specialists who play on authentic instruments and who know more than I do but you don't get where leleux has got without being something of a master of the art...Personally speaking I have never played a true Baroque Oboe but the modern ones seem quite hard enough so why bother with an early relative which I am sure would present me with even more problems than I already have. NO TRILL KEYS FOR INSTANCE...

I am glad that you have a recording of the Handel, that gives you an idea at least but you really should try to hear the Holliger version, though he is not exactly my cup of tea tone wise his interpretation of this sonata is beautiful. I am relieved that Sarah Francis took the first movement at the Correct Andante and didn't go Hoofing off at an Allegro...She is a very nice lady and well known in the Oboe world...

Right back to my painting, I am doing the kitchen EEEEEKKKK, then another practice...its a fun filled life.

Regards

Andrew

I luuuurve albinoni's concertos. (I have 4 of them already and about ot get a fith one). yes, it has to be bouncy and have clear articulation.



I don't think any of them are too technically difficult, but there are many different ways to tongue, ornament and choose the dynamics.

I've got a NEW OBOE!
Its so beautiful. its a 2 year old Puchner, I got it from Howarths today, honestly its the nicest oboe I've ever played. Well happy.