Heckelphone
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Heckel
Wilhelm Heckel GmbH is a manufacturer of woodwind instruments based in Wiesbaden, Germany. It is best known for its bassoons, which are considered some of the finest available....
and his sons. Introduced in 1904, it is similar to the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
but pitched an octave lower.
General characteristics
The heckelphone is a double reedDouble reed
A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. The term double reed comes from the fact that there are two pieces of cane vibrating against each other. A single reed consists of one piece of cane which vibrates against a mouthpiece made of metal, hardened...
instrument of the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
family, but with a wider bore and hence a heavier and more penetrating tone. It is pitched an octave below the oboe and furnished with an additional semitone taking its range down to A. It was intended to provide a broad oboe-like sound in the middle register of the swollen orchestrations of the turn of the twentieth century. In the orchestral repertoire it is generally used as the bass of an oboe section incorporating the oboe and the cor anglais (English horn)
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, filling the gap between the oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s and bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s.
The heckelphone is approximately four feet in length, and is quite heavy: it rests on the floor, supported by a short metal peg attached to the underside of its bulbous bell. An alternate second bell, called a "muting" bell, is also available, which serves to muffle the instrument for playing in a small ensemble. This arrangement is unique among double-reed instruments. It is played with a large double reed that more closely resembles a bassoon reed than an oboe reed.
Smaller piccolo- and terz-heckelphones were developed, pitched respectively in (high) F and Eb, but few were made, and they remain very rare.
Musical uses
The first use of the heckelphone was in Richard StraussRichard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
's 1905 opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
. The instrument was subsequently employed in the same composer's Elektra
Elektra (opera)
Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal...
, as well as An Alpine Symphony (though this part frequently calls for notes that are below the range of the heckelphone), Josephslegende and Festliches Präludium. It was adopted as part of the large orchestral palette of such works as Edgard Varèse
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
's Amériques (1918-1921) and Arcana (1925-1927).
The heckelphone was also used by Gordon Jacob in his 'Variations on Annie Laurie' which was performed in the first Hoffnung Music Festival Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London, UK in 1956. See Annetta Hoffnung's biography of Gerard Hoffnung and the sleeve notes to the complete Decca recording of the concert in question.
The heckelphone is often confused with Lorée's redesigned hautbois baryton which was introduced in 1889, the term "bass oboe
Bass oboe
The bass oboe or baritone oboe is a double reed instrument in the woodwind family. It is about twice the size of a regular oboe and sounds an octave lower; it has a deep, full tone not unlike that of its higher-pitched cousin, the English horn. The bass oboe is notated in the treble clef, sounding...
" being widely used to describe both instruments. Among English composers of the early-20th century there was some vogue for the use of a "bass oboe", for example in Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's orchestral suite The Planets
The Planets
The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
(1916), as well as in several works of Frederick Delius
Frederick Delius
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
(A Mass of Life, 1904-1905; Dance Rhapsody No. 1, 1908), Arnold Bax
Arnold Bax
Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
's Symphony No. 1 (1921), Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian
Havergal Brian , was a British classical composer.Brian acquired a legendary status at the time of his rediscovery in the 1950s and 1960s for the many symphonies he had managed to write. By the end of his life he had completed 32, an unusually large number for any composer since Haydn or Mozart...
's Gothic Symphony
Symphony No. 1 (Havergal Brian)
The Symphony No. 1 in D minor by Havergal Brian was composed between 1919 and 1927, and partly owes its notoriety to being perhaps the largest symphony ever composed...
(1919-1927) and Symphony No. 4 (Das Siegeslied), and supposedly in the original instrumentation of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
' A London Symphony
A London Symphony
A London Symphony is the second symphony composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams. The work is sometimes referred to as the Symphony No. 2, though it was not designated as such by the composer...
(1912-1913). However, it is not in all cases clear which of the two instruments is intended—indeed, it is possible that sometimes the composers themselves were unclear as to the distinction. Strauss, however, mentions both instruments in his 1904 revision of Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
's Grand Traité d'instrumentation et d'orchestration modernes
Treatise on Instrumentation
Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes, abbreviated in English as the Treatise on Instrumentation is a technical study of Western musical instruments, written by Hector Berlioz...
, and (like Varèse) specifies the instrument by name in his orchestral scores, so preventing any ambiguity.
The heckelphone has also been employed in chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, one of the most notable instances being Hindemith
Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Trio for Heckelphone, Viola, and Piano, Op. 47 (1928). Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse
Graham Waterhouse is an English composer and a cellist. He is known for chamber music and for unusual scoring, such as Piccolo Quintet, Bright Angel for three bassoons and contrabassoon, Chieftain's Salute for Great Highland Bagpipe and string orchestra, and works for speaking voice and cello,...
wrote Four Epigraphs after Escher op. 35 for the same instrumentation.
The heckelphone is also featured in the orchestral music of Finnish composer Kalevi Aho
Kalevi Aho
Kalevi Aho is a Finnish composer.- Career :Born in Forssa, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Einojuhani Rautavaara, receiving a diploma in 1971. He continued his studies for a year in Berlin with Boris Blacher...
. It is heard in his operas Insect Life (1985-87), The Book of Secrets (1998), and Before We Are All Drowned (1995/99), in the Symphonies no. 6 (1979-80), 11 (1997-98), 13 (2003), 15 (2009-10), and in his Piano Concerto no. 1 (1988-89), Contrabassoon Concerto (2004-05) and Oboe Concerto (2007). American composer William P. Perry
William P. Perry
William P. Perry is an American composer and television producer.-Life and career:Born in Elmira, New York in 1930, he attended Harvard University and studied with Paul Hindemith, Walter Piston, and Randall Thompson...
used the heckelphone as part of a double reed quartet in his score for the film The Mysterious Stranger.
There is a part for heckelphone in the concert band piece Two Sketches From The Orient by composer Cecil Burleigh, Op. 55 arranged by N. Clifford Page, published by Oliver Ditson Company 1926 and 1928.
Modern use
For all its potential in adding weight to the lower registers of the woodwind section, the heckelphone remains a rarity on the orchestral scene—only about 150 heckelphones have been produced, of which around 100 are believed to be extant—and is seldom carried on the regular roster of professional orchestras. Competent players are thus rare. The most prominent American heckelphone players now are Mark Perchanok and Andrew Shreeves, both of New York City. Shreeves plays regularly with the Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
while Perchanok has performed many new and older compositions for the instrument and has recorded with the Paul Winter Consort
Paul Winter Consort
The Paul Winter Consort is an American musical group, led by soprano saxophonist Paul Winter. Founded in 1967, the group mixes elements of jazz, classical music, world music, and the sounds of animals and nature. They are often classified as new age music or "ecological jazz", and their unique...
. Other notable American players include Robert Howe of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, most known for recital work, and Arthur Grossman of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
The first annual meeting of the North American Heckelphone Society took place on August 6, 2001 at the Riverside Church
Riverside Church
The Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with six heckelphonists in attendance—possibly the first occasion upon which six such instruments had been assembled under one roof. Later meetings have included as many as 14 instruments. The group met annually in New York through 2006.
The centennial of the heckelphone in 2004–5 led to the publication of a number of articles on the instrument in organological journals. Among these were two in the German-language Rohrblatt by the Cologne player Georg Otto Klapproth; a comprehensive review article by Robert Howe and Peter Hurd, "The Heckelphone at 100", in the 2004 Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society; and a two-part article by Michael Finkelman in the 2005 issues of The Double Reed.
Discography
- Robert Howe, Heckelphone; Alan Lurie, Michael Dulac, piano (2005). Centennial Recital for Heckelphone. Wilbraham Music.
- Paul Winter Consort (1990). Earth: Voices of a Planet. Living Music.
- Paul Winter Consort (1990). The Man Who Planted Trees. Living Music.
- Winter, Paul (1994). Prayer for the Wild Things. Living Music.
- Grossman and others (2002). Music by Paul Hindemith. Centaur Records.
- Arthur Grossman, Heckelphone; Lisa Bergman, piano. Arthur Grossman Plays Heckelphone. Wilhelm Heckel GmbH.
See also
- BassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
- Bass oboeBass oboeThe bass oboe or baritone oboe is a double reed instrument in the woodwind family. It is about twice the size of a regular oboe and sounds an octave lower; it has a deep, full tone not unlike that of its higher-pitched cousin, the English horn. The bass oboe is notated in the treble clef, sounding...
- Piccolo heckelphonePiccolo heckelphoneThe piccolo heckelphone is a very rare woodwind instrument invented in 1904 by the firm of Wilhelm Heckel in Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Germany. A variant of the heckelphone, the piccolo heckelphone was intended to add power to the very highest woodwind register of the late Romantic orchestra, providing a...
- LupophonLupophonThe Lupophon is a woodwind instrument invented and manufactured by Guntram Wolf of Kronach, Germany. It is in effect a modified heckelphone, with a slightly smaller bore and range down to low F. The lower portion of the instrument is folded back on itself in order to manage the considerable length...
- List of musical instruments
- List of woodwind instruments