Excerpt: Compositions for bass oboe and keyboard accompaniment (chronological)
by Peter Hurd; reorganized and amended by Holger Hoos, editor-in-chief since 2020
version 2 (1 February 2022)
This collection is based on the catalogue of musical works requiring heckelphone or bass oboe instrumentation assembled by Peter Hurd beginning in 1998. For this new edition, the original version of the repertoire list has been edited for accuracy, completeness and consistency, and it has been extended with a number of newly discovered pieces.
Some entries could not (yet) be rigorously verified for accuracy; these were included nonetheless, to provide leads for future investigation, but are marked clearly. Pieces were selected for inclusion based solely on the use of heckelphone, bass oboe or lupophone, without any attempt at assessing their artistic merit. Arrangements of pieces not originally intended for these instruments were included when there was clear evidence that they had found a significant audience.
We gratefully acknowledge contributions by Crawford Best, Ulrich Brokamp, Michael Finkelman, Francis Firth, Alain Girard, Thomas Hiniker, Robert Howe, Gunther Joppig, Georg Otto Klapproth, Mark Perchanok, Andrew Shreeves and Michael Sluman.
Whittaker, William Gillies (1876-1944): Swedish Impressions, 1939
Publisher: University of Glasgow Special Collections (ms, MSWhittaker 81/1-7)
Remarks: sextet for piano, violin, flute, horn, bass oboe and bass clarinet
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Whittaker, William Gillies (1876-1944): Suite for Bass Oboe & Pianoforte, 1941
Publisher: University of Glasgow Special Collections (ms, MS Whittaker 72)
Remarks: dedicated to Bernard Hague
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Blood, John: Dark Scenes of Winter, 1981
Publisher: Gonzaga Music Publishers, GZ026 (2005)
Remarks: for bass oboe (or tenor saxophone) and piano; commissioned in 1981 by Richard Smith; premiere on 22 April 1982 at a British Music Society concert in Chelsea College, UK, by Richard Smith (bass oboe) and John Lindsay (piano)
Duration: 15min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Strutt, Clive (1942-): Introduction and Protiazhnahyah with Variations, 1993
Publisher: Amoris International (AI SI 013)
Remarks: for bass oboe (bassoon) and piano; dedicated to Derek Bell
Duration: 5min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Harman, Chris Paul (1970-): Poem, 1987-1994
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano
Duration: 5min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
A recording is available here.
Ross, Walter (1936-): Scherzino, 1999
Remarks: for bass oboe (or bassoon) and piano; dedicated to Jennifer Paull
Duration: 4min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Ross, Walter (1936-): Portraits from La Commedia dell'Arte, 1999
Publisher: Amoris International (AI SI 016)
Remarks: for bass oboe (or bassoon) and piano; dedicated to Jennifer Paull
Duration: 17min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Rønnes, Robert (1959-): Three Nocturnes (Hommage à Frederick Delius), 1982-2000
Publisher: TrevCo Music Publishing (68651)
Remarks: for bass oboe or heckelphone and piano; dedicate to A. Schmidt and R. Wolschina; premiere on 17 May 2000 in Lodz, Poland, by Axel Schmidt (bass oboe) and and Reinhard Wolschina (piano); the composer changed the original version to heckelphone in 2000 and also produced a version for bassoon and piano
Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Butterworth, Arthur (1923-2014): Sonata, op. 132, 2007
Publisher: ms
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; commissioned by Elizabeth Kenwood and Richard Herriott; premiere in July 2009 at the Birmingham Conservatoire in Birmingham, UK, by Elizabeth Kenwood and Richard Herriott, as part of the International Double Reed Society's 2009 Convention
Duration: 15min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Tipp, Devon Osamu (Devon Yasamune Toyotomi) (1991-): Lithium Daphnae, 2011-2013
Remarks: for heckelphone (or bass oboe or lupophone), viola and piano; premiere on 7 October 2013 in Rostock, Germany, by Sabine Kaselow (bass oboe), Christoph Stark (viola) and Jenns Hoffmann (piano)
Duration: 6min
Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe, lupophone; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Kram, Richard (1953-): Easy Miniatures for Heckelphone (or Bass Oboe), 2014
Remarks: for heckelphone (or bass oboe) and piano
Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Cavallaro, Lenny (1947-): Adagio for Bass Oboe (or English Horn) and Piano, 2016
Publisher: unpublished
Remarks: it is unclear whether this piece has been performed
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Clark, Bill: Sonata for Bass Oboe and Piano, 2016 [?]this entry is only partially verified
Remarks: commissioned by Michael Sluman; premiere on 2 October 2016 in Sydney, Australia, by Michael Sluman (bass oboe) and Neal Peres Da Cost (piano)
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
A recording is available here.
Kendall, Elliott (1993-): Pastel on Call, 2016
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; commissioned by Michael Sluman; premiere on 1 October 2016 in Sydney, Australia, by Michael Sluman (bass oboe) and Christopher Pelly (piano)
Duration: 7min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
A recording is available here.
Vincent, Carl (1966-): Let Not the Poet's Soul Be Frozen, 2016
Publisher: Kirklees Music
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; commissioned by Michael Sluman; premiere at the Australian Double Reed Society in 2016
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Keeley, Rob (1960-): Two Dances, 2018
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; premiere 2018/09/01 by Michael Sluman (bass oboe) and Jordi Torrent (piano) at the 47th Annual IDRS Conference in Granada, Spain
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Lavelle Golding, Miles (2000-): Prison, 2018
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; premiere 2018/09/01 by Michael Sluman (bass oboe) and Jordi Torrent (piano) at the 47th Annual IDRS Conference in Granada, Spain
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Oehring, Helmut (1961-): Melencolia I, 2019
Remarks: for bass oboe/voice and modified piano; original 2010 version for flute/voice and piano; several other versions also exist
Duration: 20min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Windels, Ed (1967-): Cheek, op. 33, 2019
Publisher: Gyre and Gimble, NY
Remarks: for bass oboe and piano; commissioned by Michael Sluman
Duration: 10min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Additional information can be found here.
Meyouhas, Yoram (1967-): Sonata for Baritone Oboe and Piano, 2021
Remarks: dedicated to Jaime Gonzalez; premier perfomance (recording) on 28 November 2021 by Jaime Gonzales (bass oboe) and Pietro Ceresini (piano) in Freiburg, Germany
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument
Saint-Saëns, Camille (1835-1921): Bassoon Sonata in G major (arrangement by Scott Hostetler), op. 168, 2021
Publisher: Editions Durand & Cie, Paris
Remarks: arrangements for bass oboe and piano; original 1921 version for bassoon and piano; dedicated to Clément-Léon Letellier
Duration: 13min
Tags: bass oboe; keyboard instrument, arrangement
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.