In the past month, I’ve had 2 colleagues brave the bass oboe part in Holst’s Planets, one here in Chicago and one in Nashville. It’s a very cool part and doubles on oboe, and there are some juicy low B solo tidbits that are pretty scary.

I’ve tried a Heckelphone before, but the few notes my friend let me honk out this past month was the only time I’ve tried a bass oboe. Both folks rented horns from Forrests. They have a Rigoutat and a Loree, and they come with a bunch of reeds, though most professionals opt to make their own.

The hardest thing about the instrument was its height coupled with the odd angle of the bocal–it made for an awkward playing position and a sore neck. I’ve heard of petite players having to sit on stools to play it.

Have any of you ever played the bass oboe?

When this time of year rolls around, I always get nostalgic for all of those good school memories I have of being at Eastman, in Rochester NY. By now, it is REALLY fall in Rochester and I associate that with getting back into the swing of things, oboe-wise.

The school year always started with an oboe studio meeting (and sometimes a party) that allowed all the new and old oboists to meet. The thing that was always so special about going to school there was how all of the oboists interacted and treated each other. We certainly weren’t all best friends, but our teacher fostered a feeling of unity among us that always stuck.

Along the same lines, we didn’t audition for our “seatings” in orchestra. It was at this first fall meeting where our teacher would read off the assignments for the year. Everybody always seemed to get the concert, or piece assigned to them that suited them the best. It was divided equally, in that we all played a concert as principal oboe, but the repertoire was vastly different from one concert to the next.

I don’t remember ever being disappointed at these assignments, and it wasn’t because I was always assigned the “best” piece. There seemed to be a reason that only you and he knew, based on what you had been working on and what the “big picture” was for your long-term oboe playing goals.

Also at these yearly meetings was a feeling of excitement about the year ahead and all that you hoped to accomplish. I don’t always miss being in school, but I do miss the camaraderie and vision that our studio of oboists shared with one another at this first meeting, and throughout the school year.

It was truly a special time and a special place.