From Adam Adolphe's O holy Night to Au claire de la Lune by an unknown 18th-century composer, 208 musical works are mentioned in the book
and found in the List of Works. For most of these, recordings are widely available, and listening to (some) of those will add to the reading experience.
The following list provides links to recordings, in the order in which the respective works are mentioned in the text. In addition,
some pieces and recordings are included that showcase instruments mentioned in the book.
Currently, this is work in progress and will likely be completed later in October 2024;
in the meantime, do come back to check for additions. Enjoy!
Prologue: Basse de Musette
- Benjamin Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, 1945 (see pp. 4-5):
This well-known piece provides an excellent introduction to the instruments of the classical orchestra. While he included the piccolo flute,
Britten sadly omitted the recorder, the saxophone, the cor anglais, the heckelphone, the bass clarinet and the contrabassoon.
- Shawms and pommers (see p.6):
These early double reed instruments were commonly used in the Renaissance.
They are rarely heard nowadays and quite limited by their lack of complex mechanics, as later developed for the oboe
and other woodwind instruments.
- Dulcians and rackets (see pp.9-10; p.18):
Like the shawms and pommers, dulcians and rackets are double reed instruments that were commonly used in the Renaissance
but are rarely heard nowadays. The dulcian is a precursor of the modern bassoon. It existed long before the first oboes and may have
been the first double reed instruments played with a fully exposed reed.
The racket (or sausage bassoon) was made from a compact cylinder of wood, into
which nine parallel bores were drilled and then connected to
form a single, intricately wound passage. Some racketts had a
looped bocal, similar to that of the basse de musette.
- Basse de musette (see p.13):
The following recordings can be found on the GEFAM website (see Online publications / Les hautbois d'église)\
and showcase the basse de musette, solo and in its use for accompanying congregations in psalm-singing.
The first recording was made at the Schweizer Radiostudio in Bern for an audio installation at the Grenette Museum in Burgdorf, Switzerland,
featuring Alain Girard playing a historical basse de musette from the collection of K. Burri, Bern.
The second recording was made during a service on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Centre du Sornetan in the church of Sornetan, Switzerland
on 20 May 2001 and features
The instrumentalists are Michel Piguet (dessus de musette), Christophe Pidoux and Alain Girard (basses de musette) and Nicolas Rihs (basson d'amour),
playing on historical instruments from the collection of the Centre du Sornetan.
Chapter 1: Rheingold
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Matthäus-Passion (oratorio), ~1727 (see pp.23):
The piece, which would ultimately become one of Bach's best known and most frequently played compositions,
was first performed 1727 in the St. Thomas Church (Thomaskirche) in Leipzig, where over 80 years later, Richard Wagner would be baptised.
After Bach's death in 1750, it fell into oblivion and was not heard for almost 80 years, until 1829, when Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's performance of an abridged version of the
Matthäus-Passion reignited broad interest in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Nowadays, it is performed regularly all over the world, and countless recordings are readily available.
- Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz (opera), 1820 (see pp.24):
One of the most iconic romantic operas prior to the work of Richard Wagner, Der Freischütz surpassed its composers hopes and, following
its première, on 18 June 1821 in Berlin, quickly became an international success.
A performance he experienced at the age of nine made a deep impression on the young Richard Wagner.
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio (opera), 1805/1806/1814 (see pp.24-26; 55-56):
Beethoven's only opera took three versions to find its ultimate and rather successful form.
The "grave digger duet" from Act 2 (Nur hurtig fort, nur frisch gegraben) prominently features the contrabassoon.
Beethoven's use of the instrument in Fidelio is the first in any of his compositions, and the instrument at his disposal was rather basic,
compared to that realised and demonstrated to Richard Wagner by Wilhelm Heckel in the late 1800s.
- Richard Wagner: Rienzi (opera), 1840 (see p.29):
Wagner's rise to fame began in the autumn of 1842, with the première of Rienzi in Dresden,
with Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient in one of the lead roles.
Despite its length of over three hours (without a series of cuts that later became widely adopted, Rienzi is four hours long),
which was atypical for the time, the performance was a great success, with the audience as well as with the critics.
- Richard Wagner: Wesendonck-Lieder, 1858 (see pp.32-33):
Wagner wrote these five songs during his exile in Zurich, for the poet Mathilde Wesendonck, who also inspired his opera Tristan and Isolde.
The deep and intense connection between Wagner and Wesendonck led to a bitter breakup between Wagner and his wife, Minna.
The songs are set to five poems written by Mathilde Wesendonck:
Der Engel (The Angel), Stehe still! (Stand still!), Im Treibhaus (In the Greenhouse), Schmerzen (Pain), and Träume (Dreams).
- Richard Wagner: Symphony in C major, 1832 (see p.44f; p.104):
The only symphony completed by Wagner, at the age of 19, this work uses a rather small orchestra, but does call for a contrabassoon
- an instrument for which Wagner would not write again until 50 years later, in Parsifal.
His symphony in C major was also the last work conducted by Wagner, on Christmas Day 1882, at the opera house La Fenice in Venice - a present for his wife Cosima, whose birthday was the day before.
Only seven weeks later, on 13 February 1883, Wagner, whose health had been deteriorating for months, died from a heart attack at Ca' Vendramin Calergi, the 16th-century palazzo where he stayed with
his family.
Despite being sometimes seen as an immature work, Wagner's symphony is performed quite regularly, and a fair number of recordings are readily available.
- 🌡 Kalevi Aho: Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra, 2005 (see p.57):
This piece not only features the contrabassoon, rarely heard as a solo instrument, but also includes a heckelphone as part of the orchestral accompaniment.
- [YouTube] Lewis Lipnick (contrabassoon), Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester, Andrew Litton, 2007
- heckelphone is prominently heard, e.g., in the first movement at at 7:35 and in the last movement at 0:33)
- [Apple Music] Lewis Lipnick (contrabassoon), Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester, Andrew Litton, 2007
- [Spotify] Lewis Lipnick (contrabassoon), Bergen Filharmoniske Orkester, Andrew Litton, 2007
- Franz Liszt: Eine Faust-Symphonie, 1854 / revised 1857 and 1880 (see p.58):
One of only two works other than Richard Wagner's operas that has been performed at the Bayreuth Festival, in recognition of the close friendship between
Liszt and his son-in-law.
The three movements of Liszt's large-scale symphony portrait the three main characters of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's drama, Faust:
Faust, Gretchen and Mephistopheles.
Liszt revised the work in 1857, three years after its première in Weimar, adding a solo tenor and male chorus to the large orchestra at the end of the last movement.
A further, minor revision was made in 1880, adding several bars of music to the second movement.
The symphony is counted among Liszt's most important works, and many recordings are readily available.
- [YouTube] London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir, Marco Jentzsch (tenor), London Symphony Chorus
under Vladimir Jurowski, 2011
- live recording from the Proms
- [Apple Music] Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Jerusalem (tenor), Chicago Symphony Chorus
under Sir Georg Solti, 1986
- [Spotify] Orchester Wiener Akademie, Steve Davislim (tenor), Chorus sin nome
under Martin Haselböck, 2017
Chapter 2: The Seven Veils
- Richard Wagner: Parsifal (opera), 1882 (see p.61; p.103, p.108):
Wagner had produced first sketches of Parsifal in 1857, after moving with his first wife, Minna, into the house made available to him in Zurich
by his patron, Otto Wesendonck, but then put aside the project for many years. After the completion of the Ring cycle and its première at
the first Bayreuth Festival in 1876, Wagner's second wife, Cosima, encouraged him to revisit Parsifal,
and her diaries provide many details on Wagner's progress over the next five years.
Loosely inspired by the medieval epic Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, which links to the legend of King Arthur and the holy grail,
Wagner's ambition with Parsifal was an artistic representation of religious concepts, notably compassion, self-renunciation and re-incarnation.
The première of Parsifal took place in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, on 26 July 1882, under the baton of Wagner's long-time friend, Hermann Levi,
and a resounding success. In the audience that evening was Richard Strauss, then 18 years old and quite sceptical of, yet increasingly fascinated by
Wagner's music. In the weeks that followed, fifteen additional performances were given, and towards the end of the last of these, Wagner appeared in the orchestra pit,
his "mystical abyss", took the baton from Levi and conducted the final scene of act III. This was the only time Wagner conducted a public performance in his opera house.
Less than a year later, on 13 February 1883, Wagner died in Venice.
- Richard Strauss: Konzert für Waldhorn und Orchester, op.11, 1883 (see pp.67):
Written for Franz Strauss, the eminent horn virtuoso, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, this work soon became
one of the most frequently performed solo concertos for the instrument.
Franz Strauss preferred the sound of the valve-less natural horn over that of modern horns, which used valves to
achieve much higher technical versatility and ease of playing.
Richard Strauss therefore composed his first horn concerto such that it could, at least in theory, be performed on the much simpler natural horn,
and the original German title, Konzert für Waldhorn und Orchester, reflects this intention. In practice,
however, even Franz Strauss found the piece to be too demanding to be played on the natural horn.
Until today, the concerto is performed often, and countless recordings exist.
- 🌡 Richard Strauss: Salome (opera), 1905 (see pp.74, 83, 108-109; 110):
This was the first piece of music prominently featuring the heckelphone. From the beginning, Salome caused a scandalous sensation
and to this day remains one of the most frequently performed operas. Orchestral versions of Salome's dance
are also often performed. Consequently, many recordings exist of the full opera and of the dance.
- [YouTube] Salome's dance; Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice, Genova, Fabio Luisi, Salome: Beate Vollack, 2016
- the heckelphone can be heard prominently at 5:49
- [YouTube] Salome's dance; Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg, Friedrich Haider, Salome: Cynthia Makris, 1994
- the heckelphone can be heard prominently at 5:49
- [YouTube] Salome's dance, concert version; Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly, 1997
- the heckelphone can be seen at 6:39
- [YouTube] Film version of Salome's dance; Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm, Salome: Alla Nazimova, 1922
- [YouTube] Complete opera; Semper Oper, Dresden, Hans-E. Zimmer, Salome: Deborah Raymond, 1988
- Salome's dance begins at 1:06:10
- [YouTube] Complete opera; Royal Opera House, London, Christoph von Dohnányi, Salome: Catherine Malfitano, 1997
- Salome's dance begins at 1:02:57
- 🌡 Max Schillings: Moloch (opera), 1906 (see p.90):
Schillings (who, at the time, had not yet elevated to nobility) was one of the first composers to decide to use the newly developed heckelphone, and he did so prominently in his third opera, Moloch.
When the opera was premièred on 8 December 1906 in Dresden, it was well received by the audience, but critical reviews were mixed.
There were few further performances, and today, no complete recording appears to exist.
The following recordings of the prelude to Act III (Erntefest) give an impression of the piece.
- 🌡 Richard Strauss: Elektra (opera), 1908 (see pp.90-92; p.109):
After the run-away success of Salome, Strauss was initially reluctant to tackle a subject that he feared might be too similar.
However, after finishing the opera in late 1908, Strauss came to see Elektraas the culmination of his exploration
of the frontiers of harmonics and "psychic polyphony". In fact, he had deliberately tested the outer limits of musical expression
accessible to contemporary audiences. Predictably, the initial response to Elektra was mixed; still, performances were soon staged around the world,
and it didn't take long for the opera to make it into the standard repertoire.
Today, Elektra is performed regularly, and a many recordings exist. The heckelphone is used less prominently than in Salome, but still
can be heard, often in combination with other instruments.
- [YouTube] Film version; Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm, 1981
- the heckelphone can be heard, e.g., at 8:21 (in combination cor anglais and strings)
- [YouTube] video with score; Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti, 1967
- [Apple Music] Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, 1994
- [Spotify] Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim, 1994
- 🌡 Richard Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie, 1915 (see pp.99-102; 109, 110):
One of Strauss's most frequently performed works and his last to use the heckelphone; countless recordings of the piece exist.
- 🌡 Richard Strauss: Josephs Legende (ballet), 1914 (see p.102):
One of only two ballet compositions by Strauss, and the only one to make use of the heckelphone; the piece is rarely performed and few recordings exist.
- 🌡 Claudio Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (opera), adaptation by Carl Orff, 1923/1929/1939 (see p.112):
Monteverdi's late Rennaissance opera L'Orfeo, had its successful première in January 1607, and there is some evidence that the work
was still admired across Italy in 1650, seven years after the death of its composer.
The work was then mostly forgotten, until interest in it reawakened in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The first public performance since the mid-1600s took place in early 1904 - the same year the heckelphone was unveiled.
The noted German composer and music educator Carl Orff first arranged Monteverdi's material for a performance using mostly period instruments
in 1925, substituting the two cornetts for which Monteverdi had written by piccolo heckelphones.
This version of L'Orfeo was not too well received by the audience, prompting Orff to make further changes, which ultimately resulted in
an adaptation completed in 1939 and first performed in 1940 in Dresden that used modern instruments, including the heckelphone.
Two recordings exist of this latter adaptation of Monteverdi's Orfeo.
Chapter 3: Paa Vidderne
- Frederick Delius: Piano Concerto in C Minor, 1904 / revised version 1907 (see p.115):
Three versions exist of this work. Delius completed the first, entitled Fantasy in C minor for Piano and Orchestra,
in 1897, but it was never performed in public.
This was reworked substantially into the version mentioned in the chapter, premièred on 24 October 1904 in Elberfeld,
with Julius Buths at the piano, under the baton of Hans Haym.
The third and final version, which moved the piece somewhat closer to its first incarnation, saw its first performance under the lead of Henry Woods
at the Proms, in 1907, with Theodor Szántó as soloist, to whom this version was also dedicated - partially in light of his substantial involvement in changes to the solo piano part.
Although the concerto remained one of the lesser known pieces of Delius, several recordings exist.
- [YouTube] Clifford Curzon, piano, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Pritchard, 1981
- revised version from 1907
- [Apple Music] Piers Lane, piano, Ulster Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones, 2005
- original version from 1904
- [Spotify] Piers Lane, piano, Ulster Orchestra, David Lloyd-Jones, 2005
- original version from 1904
- Frederick Delius: Florida Suite, 1887 (see pp.123-124; p.159):
Delius wrote this piece in 1887, after returning from Florida, where his family had sent him to operate an orange plantation.
Instead, the landscapes, moods and people of the American South inspired his musical imagination.
The first of the four movements of the Florida Suite prominently features a memorable melody Delius referred to as La Calinda,
and which he later reused in his opera Koanga. First performed in 1888 in Leipzig, where Delius studied at the time,
the piece showed much of the style that would later bring him great success. To date, the piece if performed occasionally, and several recordings exist.
- 🌡 Frederick Delius: Eine Messe des Lebens / A Mass of Life (cantata), 1905 (see pp.130-132, 136-137, 142, 144-145; 160):
Part 2 of this monumental work was premièred 1908 in Munich, using a heckelphone, as per Delius's intentions.
The first full performance took place one year later in London, arranged and conducted by Thomas Beecham and using a baritone oboe instead of the heckelphone
Delius had explicitly requested in his instructions leading up to the concert.
Today, Delius is considered mostly a British composer, and - following Beechams lead - his works, including Messe des Lebens, that originally called
for the heckelphone, tend to be performed using the baritone oboe.
The instrument is heard prominently in various parts of the piece, notably in Part II, "Heisser Mittag schläft auf den Fluren".
- [YouTube] Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Bach Choir, David Hill, soloists, 2011
- [Apple Music] Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, choirs and soloists, 2023
- [Spotify] Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder, choirs and soloists, 2023
- 🌡 Fredrick Delius: Dance Rhapsody No.1, 1908 (see pp.140-144, 151, 152; 163, 165):
This piece prominently features the heckelphone. It is known that Delius intended for this instrument to be used and that it was heard
at the première 1909 in Hereford; however, following a practice dating back to Sir Thomas Beecham, most later performances used baritone oboe instead.
Unfortunately, Delius's first dance rhapsody is rarely performed. Still, a fair number of recordings exist.
- Queen's Hall Orchestra, Henry Wood, 1923
- the first known recording of a piece by Delius; the heckelphone can be heard prominently, and it is instructive to compare this recording with
others, including these below, in which the heckelphone part is played on baritone oboe. (This and other rare recordings of works by Delius can be found here.)
- [YouTube] Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, 1946-52
- [Apple Music] Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, 1946-52
- [Apple Music] Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, 1990
- [Spotify] Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, 1990
- 🌡 Gustav Holst: The Planets, 1917 (see pp.151, 153-155; 166-167):
One of the most prominent pieces featuring the heckelphone.
The piece is performed frequently, and countless recordings exist. As in the case of Delius, British performance practice is to use, likely contrary to Holst's intentions,
the baritone oboe instead of the heckelphone. While Holst's score calls for a "bass oboe", recent research has demonstrated
that very likely, the heckelphone was intended by the composer and used at the première of The Planets on 29 September 1918.
- Young People's Concert: New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, 1972
- at 4:08, Bernstein misleadingly introduces the heckelphone as "the bass oboe";
sadly, he also decided to skip "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age", known to be Holst's favourite movement,
as well as "Neptune, the Mystic"; he ended the concert with a collectively improvised additional movement,
"Pluto, the Unpredictable".
- [Apple Music] Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, 1981
- the heckelphone can be heard heard prominently in "Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age", at 1:19.
- [Spotify] Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, 1981
- [Apple Music] London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, 2003
- as in most British performances, a baritone oboe is used instead of the heckelphone
- [Spotify] London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, 2003
- 🌡 Max von Schillings: Mona Lisa (opera), 1915 (see p.152; p.169):
This opera, which intriguingly weaves together the history of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting with a tragic love story,
quickly became von Schillings's greatest success and quickly became one of the most widely performed pieces in Germany.
Nowadays it is performed very rarely and only few recordings exist.
Even more so than in his earlier opera, Moloch, here, von Schillings made prominent use of the heckelphone,
often treating it together with the cor anglais in a manner quite similar to that chosen by Delius in his Dance Rhapsody.
- Jean Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela (tone poem); 1893 / revised 1895, 1897, 1900 (see p.154; p.167):
Originally written by Sibelius in 1893 as prelude to an opera project he subsequently abandoned in 1894, in 1895, The Swan of Tuonela was integrated
into the Lemminkaïnen Suite of four tone poems.
The piece contains a very prominent, haunting solo for the cor anglais; the music is based on the image of a mystical black
swan guarding the river that separates the realms of the living and the dead.
The Swan of Tuonela eventually became the most prominent tone poem from the Lemminkaïnen Suite and is often performed on its own;
many recordings are readily available.
Chapter 4: Aeolian
- George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, 1924 (see pp.173-177, 208-209, 211, 213; 215-216):
Many versions exist of this piece; here are some of the most prominent and interesting ones:
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Wellingtons Sieg, 1813 (see p.182):
Originally written for Mälzel's panharmonicon, a fully mechanised orchestra comprising a large number of wind and percussion instruments,
Wellingtons Sieg was soon expanded into a "battle symphony"
for an unusually large orchestra. This latter version was first performed, to great success, on 8 December 1813 in Vienna.
The last panharmonicon, located in Stuttgart, Germany, was destroyed in World War II, and no recording of the piece performed on an actual panharmonicon
exists. Over time, the orchestral version lost most of its original appeal and is now rarely performed; still, several recordings exist.
- 🌡 Paul Whiteman & Ferde Grofé: Oriental Fox Trot, based on Orientale by C. Cui and material
from Samson et Dalila by C. Saint-Saëns, 1922 (see pp.197-200, p.203, pp.206-207; pp.222-223):
One of the most popular pieces of Paul Whiteman's band, the Oriental Fox Trot is essentially a version
of César Cui's Orientale, arranged in the style of a fox trot, with an insertion of another well-known melody,
from the aria Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix (Softly awakes my heart or My heart at thy sweet voice) - the centre piece
of Camille Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila.
Paul Whiteman and his band recorded three takes of
Oriental Fox Trot on 23 May 1922 in New York City, and a second set of four on 15 June 1922 in Camden, New Jersey, of which the third
was released as Victor 18940, while all other takes were purportedly destroyed. Information from the DAHR database suggests that
heckelphone might have been used only for the first three takes.
Since the quality of the final acoustical recording is rather poor, it is difficult to determine, whether heckelphone or tenor saxophone are
used for the melody from My heart at thy sweet voice.
The instrumentation was further changed for a new, electric recording, which took place on 9 February 1928 in New York City; this version
prominently uses oboe instead of tenor saxophone in the opening solo, and tenor saxophone in My heart at thy sweet voice.
- 🌡 Percy Grainger: The Warriors - Music to an imaginary ballet, 1916 (see p.206):
This massively orchestrated piece, dedicated to Frederick Delius, has a part for bass oboe or heckelphone; which instrument was used in the 1917 première
remains unclear. All known recordings use bass oboe, but there is was least one relatively recent performance (in 2001), in which heckelphone was used.
The bass oboe / heckelphone part contains a long and very exposed solo.
- (🌡) George Gershwin: Concerto in F, 1925 (see pp.212-213; pp.216-217, p.218):
This piece was commissioned by Walter Damrosch shortly after the première of Rhapsody in Blue.
Unlike Rhapsody in Blue, Gershwin originally orchestrated Concerto in F himself,
and that version was premièred on 3 December 1925 in Carnegie Hall, New York City,
by the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch, with Gershwin at the piano as soloist.
Three years later, on 7 October 1928, the piece was prominently performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra in Carnegie Hall,
in a new, abridged arrangement by Ferde Grofé, which rather prominently included the heckelphone.
Gerswhin is known to have been irked by Whiteman's insistence on the use of Grofé's arrangement, but in the end had come to accept it.
Grofé's arrangement was also the one used in the first recording of the piece, made mere days before the 1928 Carnegie Hall Concert,
by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, with Roy Bargy,
Whiteman's regular pianist, on piano. On that occasion, as in the liver performance at Carnegie Hall, the heckelphone was played by Charles Strickfadden.
- [YouTube] Roy Bargy (piano), Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, 1928
- the first recording of the piece, arrangement by Ferde Grofé; heckelphone can be heard prominently from 2:02 onwards.
- [Apple Music] Roy Bargy (piano), Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, 1928
- the first recording of the piece, arrangement by Ferde Grofé; heckelphone can be heard prominently from 2:02 onwards.
- [Spotify] Roy Bargy (piano), Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra, 1928
- the first recording of the piece, arrangement by Ferde Grofé; heckelphone can be heard prominently from 2:02 onwards.
- [YouTube] Frank Dupree (piano), NDR Radiophilharmonie under Eiji Oue, 2023
- Gerswhin's original orchestration; the heckelphone solo in Grofé's version is here played by the cor anglais and the violas (from 2:33 onwards).
- 🌡 Ferde Grofé: Metropolis - A Blue Fantasy, 1928 (see pp.213-214; 217):
This symphonic jazz tone poem was premièred in the same concert as Grofé's arrangement of Gershwin's Concerto in F
for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, on 7 October 1928 at Carnegie Hall, with Charles Strickfaden on heckelphone.
Metropolis, prominently uses woodwind instruments, including the saxophone and the bassoon.
According to several sources, including Thomas DeLong's biography of Paul Whiteman, the piece was not too well received by the audience.
The piece has been rarely performed and very few recordings exist.
- 🌡 Victor Herbert: Suite of Serenades, 1924 (see p.215):
Like Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue this piece was commissioned by Paul Whiteman and premièred on 12 February 1924,
in Aeolian Hall, New York City (NY), USA, by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, with Ross Gorman playing the heckelphone in No. 4 "Oriental".
The historical recordings referenced here were made in December 1924.
- Au claire de la Lune, phonautograph recording, 1860 (see p.220):
In 1860, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, a Parisian typographer and inventor,
recorded the song Au claire de la Lune using the phonautograph, a
device he had patented three years earlier. Unlike later devices
by Charles Cros and Thomas Edison, the phonautograph was never intended for
recording sound for later reproduction, but solely for creating visual
representations of sound waves for scientific study. This was
accomplished by mechanically transcribing sound waves into lines
on a glass cylinder covered in a thin layer of soot.
In 2008, a team of American researchers used computer-based
image processing techniques to achieve an intelligible playback of
Scott's visual recording of Au claire de la Lune, which thereby
became the oldest known intelligible recording of the human voice.
Chapter 5: Potpourri
- 🌡 Paul Hindemith: Trio for piano, viola and heckelphone, op.47, 1928 (see pp.233-234, 238-241, 253, 255; 273):
This is arguably the most prominent piece of chamber music for the heckelphone. While Hindemith's wrote the piece for the heckelphone,
he also authorised a version for tenor saxophone, which is performed occasionally.
- [YouTube] Stefania Redaelli (piano), Carlo Feige (viola), Francesco Pomarico (heckelphone), 1995
- the Arioso, in which the heckelphone is heard prominently, begins at 0:60
- [Apple Music] Kalle Randalu (piano), Enrique Santiago (viola), Ingo Goritzki (heckelphone), 1995
- [Spotify] Inge Lulofs (piano), Sven Arne Tepl (viola), Ernest Rombout (heckelphone), 2013
- [YouTube] Liz Ames (piano), Katelyn Hoag (viola), Edward Goodman (tenor saxophone), 2016
- tenor saxophone version
- 🌡 Raymond Moulaert: Andante, fugue et final, 1907 (see pp.255-256; pp.278-279):
This is believed to be the first piece of chamber music written to expressly include the heckelphone.
The Andante, fugue et final for oboe, oboe d'amore, cor anglais and heckelphone
was likely inspired by Richard Strauss's treatment of the oboe family in
Salome, which had been performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in March 1907.
Moulaert, a professor of organ and counterpoint at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels,
had been involved as an accompanist in the rehearsals of Salome and thus studied Strauss's score in great detail.
Likely because he was well aware of the scarcity of heckelphones, shortly after completing the original version for double reeds,
Moulaert prepared an arrangement of his new piece for saxophone quartet.
While no recording appears to exist of the original version of Andante, fugue et final,
this latter arrangement became quite popular, and several recordings are readily available.
- 🌡 Carlos Chávez: Sinfonía de Antígona, 1933 (see pp.260-262; 280):
Based on the music had Chávez had written for Jean Cocteau's modern version of the tragedy by Sophocles,
the Sinfonía de Antígona turned out to be a powerful and unique piece, archaic and modern at the same time,
austere yet permeated from its very beginning by an intense feeling of impending doom.
Chávez's treatment of the woodwinds, and in particular, the oboe family comprising the heckelphone,
plays a significant role in establishing the captivating character of the piece.
In the many perfor-mances following its première on 15 December 1933 under the baton of the composer,
audiences and critics alike picked up on the exhilarating intensity of the piece, on its unique harmonic treatment,
and on the unusual combinations of timbres making up much of its sparse harmonic structure.
- 🌡 Aaron Copland: Short Symphony, 1933 (see pp.262-264; 280f, 283):
Aside from several pieces in a romantic style written before and while studying composition, up until his
Short Symphony, Copland's music was decidedly modernist in a way that was appreciated by his peers, but unappealing to broader audiences.
This changed after Copland met and befriended Carlos Chávez, to whom he dedicated this 15-minute piece, which
originated around the same time Chávez worked on his Sinfonía de Antígona, and it is almost certainly no coincidence that both
pieces made use of the heckelphone.
Copland's Short Symphony was rarely performed during his lifetime.
The piece, whose complex rhythmical structure was significantly influenced by Copland's interest in jazz,
was considered "difficult to perform and difficult for an audience to comprehend" by its composer,
who nonetheless considered it "one of the best things I ever wrote".
To make the Short Symphony easier to perform, in 1937, Copland arranged a sextet version,
scored for clarinet, string quartet, and piano, which was met with considerable praise by critics and musicians alike.
- (🌡) Paul Hindemith: Des kleinen Elektromusikers Lieblinge, 1930 (see pp.265-266; p.285):
Not unlike the way in which Richard Wagner is believed to have inspired the construction of the heckelphone, Paul Hindemith encouraged
Friedrich Trautwein, an electrical engineer with an interest in music who had been involved in establishing the first radio station in Germany,
to build the trautonium, an electronic instrument designed to produce a wide range of timbres and sounds via a standard radio receiver.
The instrument was first presented to the public in June 1930, when three trautoniums were used to perform seven short trios Hindemith
had composed specifically for the occasion. Little could anyone know that these pieces, intriguingly entitled Des kleinen Elektromusikers Lieblinge
(The little electro-musician's favourites), would be arranged for three heckelphones and broadcast globally nine decades later.
The trautonium was also used prominently in the soundtrack of Alfred Hitcock's film The Birds.
To find out more about the trautonium, we also recommend the following:
- 🌡 Marcel Tyberg: Symphony No. 3, 1943 (see pp.270-271; 285-286):
Completed shortly before his deportation by Gestapo, Tyberg's third and last symphony (and his only work to contain a heckelphone part)
remained unperformed for more than sixty years, until 10 May 2008, when JoAnn Falletta
- working closely with Dr. Milan Mihich, to whom Tyberg had entrusted his scores before being arrested - conducted its prèmerie
in Buffalo (NY), USA.
- 🌡 Graham Waterhouse: Vier Epigraphe nach Escher, 1995 (see p.274):
Written for the same instrumentation as Paul Hindemith's trio, op. 47, namely heckelphone, viola and piano, the four movements of this piece
have been inspired by prints of M.C. Escher.
One recording of the piece, with bass oboe rather than heckelphone, exists and is readily available on CD.
Chapter 6: The Agony and the Ecstasy
- 🌡 Max Steiner: Gone with the Wind (film score), 1939 (see pp.289-292, 299, 305; 323-324, 326):
Gone with the Wind was an instant success with audiences throughout the United States and would become the highest earning film in history.
It won an unprecedented eight Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screen-play,
as well as five additional nominations, one of which was for Max Steiner's soundtrack - the first known to make use of the heckelphone.
- Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder, 1948 (see pp.315-316):
Dealing with the subject of dying, based on poems by Herman Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff, these four songs for soprano and
orchestra are Strauss's last major composition.
They were first performed on 22 May 1950 in the Royal Albert Hall in London, eight months after Strauss had passed away in his home in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
- 🌡 Eduard Erdmann: Symphony No. 3, 1947 (see p.317):
A celebrated pianist and noted composer, Eduard Erdman wrote four symphonies and several further pieces for orchestra, as well as a number of works
for piano and violin. After the second world war, his works were mostly forgotten for sixty years, when a German music label began producing and distributing a series of recordings of his works,
including his Symphony No. 3, in which he used heckelphone.
- 🌡 Gordon Jacob: Variations on Annie Laurie, 1956 (see pp.318f; 333):
Composed for the first Hoffnung Music Festival and first performed there, in November 1956, under the baton of the composer,
the piece features the most unlikely ensemble of instruments:
two piccolo flutes, heckelphone, two contrabass clarinets, two contrabassoons, serpent, contrabass serpent, harmonium, hurdy-gurdy and subcontrabass tuba.
At the time, Gordon Jacob was among the most recognised composers in Britain. Nonetheless, in the spirit of Gerhard Hoffnungs festival,
in this piece, he aimed to surprise and delight the audience not only with rarely heard (and seen) instruments,
but also with some rather bizarre combinations of timbres. Heckelphone, played by James McGillivray, can be heard prominently in the theme
and many of the variations.
- 🌡 Paul Dessau: Deutsches Miserere, 1947 (see pp.312-313; 331):
Performances of this large-scale oratorio are accompanied by projection of 28 photographs from Berthold Brecht's book, Kriegsfibel,
which was completed in 1945, but published only in 1955.
The première of Deutsches Miserere took place on 20 September 1966 in Leipzig and was directed by Kegel.
The piece is scored for a very large orchestra, including alto flute, heckelphone, bass clarinet and contrabassoon;
it is rarely performed and very few recordings exist.
- 🌡 Alex North: The Agony and the Ecstasy (film score), 1965 (see pp.320-322; 335):
The film is based in part on Based in part on Irving Stone's meticulously researched novel on the life of Michelangelo with the same title.
Soon after the initial release, in September 1965 in Western Germany, it became clear that, despite the enormous effort that had gone into making the film,
its audience appeal was limited - a picture that did not change one month later, when The Agony and the Ecstasy started showing in the United States.
Still, Alex North's score was praised by the critics and ended up being nominated for an Academy Award in 1966.
This film score was the second in which Alex North included a heckelphone part.
- Theatre organs (see pp.329-330):
First developed in the early 1900s in by Robert Hope-Jones, an English organ builder who had emigrated to the United States, theatre organs
were used for decades to accompany the projection of silent films.
Conceived as a "one-man orchestra", the typical theatre organ included percussion instruments, such as bells, drums and marimbas, as well as special effects,
such as gunshots.
The Wurlitzer company, the largest and most widely known producer of theatre organs, built over 2000 of these instruments between 1914 and 1942.
While most of these were installed in the United States, some were shipped to the UK and other overseas destinations.
After the advent of sound film in the late 1920s, the use of theatre organs declined; today, very few of them remain installed in cinemas,
where they are sometimes played before movie screenings and on special occasions.
Epilogue: Fermata
- Hans Eisler (see p.343):
A prominent student of Arnold Schoenberg, who wrote national anthem of the German Democratic Republic and became a close collaborator
of Bertold Brecht as well as John Cage (see next entry). After returning from his 10-year exile in the USA to Vienna in 1948, Eisler soon realised that it would be difficult for him to find work there as a composer.
This led to his move to Berlin in June 1949, two months before the official establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) sealed the division of Germany that would last for the following forty years.
Hans Eisler composed the national anthem for the GDR, numerous chamber and orchestral works, incidental music for several plays,
some collections of songs, as well as music for over 40 films.
- John Cage (see p.343):
One of Arnold Schoenberg's most prominent students, John Cage became one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde in music.
Here are recordings of two of his most prominent works, as well as an excellent film with background information.
- 🌡 Marc Blitzstein: Romantic Piece for Orchestra, 1930 (see p.343):
It appears that this piece, which includes a heckelphone part, has never been performed by an orchestra.
However, later in 1930, Blitzstein transcribed and slightly revised the middle section of the 16-18 minute orchestral piece for piano.
At least two recordings of the resulting Scherzo: Bourgeois at Play exist and give an impression of at least parts of Blitzstein's larger
orcherstral piece.
- 🌡 Harald Genzmer: Sonate für Heckelphon und Klavier, 1993 (see p.344):
This piece was written for noted heckelphone player and expert, Dr. Gunter Joppig, motivated by the desire to further expand
the chamber music repertoire for the instrument.
Genzmer was a student of Paul Hindemith who also worked closely with Oskar Sala, the inventor and virtuoso player of the trautonium.
Sadly, no recording of Genzmer's sonata for heckelphone and piano is known to exist and performances have been, and continue to be, very rare.
The sheet music is, however, readily available from Wise Music / Edition Peters.
- 🌡 Hans Mielenz: Concerto für Heckelphon und Orchester, 1959 (see pp.346-348; p.354):
This was the first solo concerto written for heckelphone (not counting Wilhelm Hermann Heckel's 1946 concertino for bassoon and piano,
which expressly allows for heckelphone as an alternate instrument) and remained the only such piece
until 1990.
It is based on Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, yet does not shy away from tonal harmony, especially in the slow middle movement.
The piece was first heard in a recording broadcast on public radio in November 1982, performed by Georg Otto Klapproth (heckelphone)
and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie under Reinhard Peters. The first (and only) live performance took place on 5 May 1985 in Darmstadt,
Germany, again with Georg Otto Klapproth as soloist, with the Staatstheaterorchester Darmstadt under Hans Drewanz.
A version for heckelphone and piano also exists.
The author of these pages has heard the 1982 recording, but unfortunately, so far, has not succeeded in ensuring that it is made publicly available.
- Arnold Schoenberg: Moses and Aron (opera), unfinished (see pp.353-354):
Originally planned as an oratorio, Schoenberg began writing this opera 1930 and completed the first two acts by 1932.
His intention to finish the piece remained unfulfilled.
Schoenberg's pathological fear of the number thirteen led to his insistence to avoid the biblical spelling Aaron in the title of this piece.
In 2010, the Hungarian conductor and composer, Zoltán Kocsis, completed Act 3 of the opera, based on Schoenberg's libretto, sketches and tone rows/themes,
with permission of his family.
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