The Classroom Resource Oboe - NZSO · PDF fileAuxilliary Instruments The most popular...
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Auxilliary Instruments The most popular additional member of the oboe family is the cor anglais. Translated this means ‘english horn’, which is curious as the cor anglais is neither English nor a horn. The cor anglais looks different to an oboe as it has a curved mouthpiece, a bulbous ending, and it is quite a bit larger than the oboe. It produces a richer and deeper sound than the oboe, and is often used by composers to play their greatest melodies. The most famous cor anglais solo is probably that from the slow movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No 9. The Oboe What does an oboe look like? The oboe is a narrow tube that you hold and play vertically, like a recorder. It is usually made of black wood with silver keys running down the length of the body. A modern oboe has at least 45 separate parts for its keys. The oboe flares out a bit at the end, at the part called the bell. Unlike a recorder the oboe doesn’t have a mouthpiece. Instead the oboe player blows through two reeds lashed together. You can see the reeds sticking out from the top of the instrument. A bit of oboe history The oboe has been a popular orchestral instrument for quite a long time. As far back as 1695 there is a description of the oboe as “Majestical and stately, and not much inferior to the Trumpet”. High praise indeed! The development of different types of reeds has possibly had the greatest effect on the sound of the oboe. For instance reeds made in the German tradition make a completely different sound to those made the French way. For a long time the oboe was the instrument that usually played the tune in military bands until it was eventually eclipsed by the clarinet. The city of Vienna has kept its own special brand of oboe design which is different to the rest of the world. Viennese oboes have a very rich and deep sound and can play with great expression. The oboe isn’t often used in music other that western classical music, but it can occasionally be heard in folk music and even in jazz. Because of its haunting and unique sound the oboe has become very popular amongst film composers. John Williams used the oboe to great effect in his music for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Many people today associate the oboe with the sound of a duck, a relationship established firmly by Prokofiev’s quirky musical description of a duck in Peter and the Wolf. What is a reed? Blowing through a reed to make it vibrate is what produces the sound of all the woodwind instruments except flutes. Reeds are usually made out of very thin strips of cane, and when two strips are tied together they are called double-reeds. Oboes have double-reeds. Most oboe players make their own reeds to be absolutely sure that they are the right thickness of cane so that they will make exactly the sound that they want. Repertoire that features the french horn Composers from the baroque and early classical periods loved writing for the oboe. Vivaldi composed at least 15 oboe concertos, J.S. Bach included the oboe in the first two of his Brandenburg Concertos, and Handel used the oboe in his hugely popular Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. In more modern times the English composer Vaughan Williams wrote an oboe concerto as did American composer Elliot Carter. Composers seem to enjoy writing for the oboe, perhaps because it has such a strong sound and they know it will be heard over the orchestra! NZSO Music for Schools - Rachel Hyde ©2011 nzso.co.nz/education Research Task... What does it mean for instruments to be ‘in tune’ with one another? Next time you come to a concert, listen out for the oboe note at the beginning and see if you can work out what the other instruments are trying to do when they play along. bass oboe Bassoon Trombone TUBA percussion 2nd Violin trumpet french horn Viola double Cello harp 1st Violin timpani flute Clarinet The oboe in the orchestra Because of its double-reed, the oboe makes a very characteristic sound. It is crisp and clean and very penetrating. This is one of the reasons that it is used as the instrument to which all the other members of the orchestra tune. Although the oboe is often used to play quite lively and joyful tunes, it is probably most recognised for its plaintive and sorrowful sound. The Oboe Classroom Resource What Is... -8-38
Transcript of The Classroom Resource Oboe - NZSO · PDF fileAuxilliary Instruments The most popular...
Auxilliary InstrumentsThe most popular additional member of the oboe family is the cor anglais. Translated this means ‘english horn’, which is curious as the cor anglais is neither English nor a horn. The cor anglais looks different to an oboe as it has a curved mouthpiece, a bulbous ending, and it is quite a bit larger than the oboe. It produces a richer and deeper sound than the oboe, and is often used by composers to play their greatest melodies. The most famous cor anglais solo is probably that from the slow movement of Dvorak’s Symphony No 9.
TheOboe
What does an oboe look like?The oboe is a narrow tube that you hold and play vertically, like a recorder. It is usually made of black wood with silver keys running down the length of the body. A modern oboe has at least 45 separate parts for its keys. The oboe flares out a bit at the end, at the part called the bell. Unlike a recorder the oboe doesn’t have a mouthpiece. Instead the oboe player blows through two reeds lashed together. You can see the reeds sticking out from the top of the instrument.
A bit of oboe historyThe oboe has been a popular orchestral instrument for quite a long time. As far back as 1695 there is a description of the oboe as “Majestical and stately, and not much inferior to the Trumpet”. High praise indeed! The development of different types of reeds has possibly had the greatest effect on the sound of the oboe. For instance reeds made in the German tradition make a completely different sound to those made the French way. For a long time the oboe was the instrument that usually played the tune in military bands until it was eventually eclipsed by the clarinet. The city of Vienna has kept its own special brand of oboe design which is different to the rest of the world. Viennese oboes have a very rich and deep sound and can play with great expression.
The oboe isn’t often used in music other that western classical music, but it can occasionally be heard in folk music and even in jazz. Because of its haunting and unique sound the oboe has become very popular amongst film composers. John Williams used the oboe to great effect in his music for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Many people today associate the oboe with the sound of a duck, a relationship established firmly by Prokofiev’s quirky musical description of a duck in Peter and the Wolf.
What is a reed? Blowing through a reed to make
it vibrate is what produces the sound of all the woodwind
instruments except flutes. Reeds are usually made out of very thin strips of cane, and when
two strips are tied together they are called double-reeds. Oboes have double-reeds. Most oboe
players make their own reeds to be absolutely sure that they are
the right thickness of cane so that they will make exactly the
sound that they want.
Repertoire that features the french hornComposers from the baroque and early classical periods loved writing for the oboe. Vivaldi composed at least 15 oboe concertos, J.S. Bach included the oboe in the first two of his Brandenburg Concertos, and Handel used the oboe in his hugely popular Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. In more modern times the English composer Vaughan Williams wrote an oboe concerto as did American composer Elliot Carter. Composers seem to enjoy writing for the oboe, perhaps because it has such a strong sound and they know it will be heard over the orchestra!
NZSO Music for Schools - Rachel Hyde ©2011 nzso.co.nz/education
Research Task...What does it mean for instruments to be ‘in tune’ with one another? Next time you come to a concert, listen out for the oboe note at the beginning and see if you can work out what the other instruments are trying to do when they play along.
bass
oboeBassoon
Trombone TUBA
percussion
2ndViolin
trumpetfren
ch
horn
Viola
double
Cello
harp
1st
Violin
timpani
flute
Clarinet
The oboe in the orchestraBecause of its double-reed, the oboe makes a very characteristic sound. It is crisp and clean and very penetrating. This is one of the reasons that it is used as the instrument to which all the other members of the orchestra tune. Although the oboe is often used to play quite lively and joyful tunes, it is probably most recognised for its plaintive and sorrowful sound.
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NZSO Music for Schools - Rachel Hyde ©2011 nzso.co.nz/education
Classroom
Task...
• Word Search
Remember what you have learnt about the Oboe and see how well you can complete the word search puzzle below. Circle the letters of each word you find, words are hidden in horizontal, verticle and diagonal directions.
Find these words:
DuckBlackwoodOboeCrispSorrowfulStatleyCor AnglaisBellDouble ReedsKeysIn Tune
S I N E S L D Y Q M E SC B O I Z T Y O F N X OC B E R R T A K U K H RO J F T S L S T G T W RR O S D L T N U L A I OA Q P S U I O F V E C WN W O P A C R I S P Y FG R B L A C K W O O D UL C K D I R A L S E P LA W P E C N B Y T U L II D O U B L E R E E D SS L M O D K E Y B Y S E
