Excerpt: Film scores using heckelphone (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.
Steiner, Max (1888-1971): Gone with the Wind (film), 1939
Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Remarks: adapted from the 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell; heckelphone part played by Don Christlieb on heckelphone #33, according to Howe & Hurd (2004)
Duration: 221min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Raksin, David (1912-2004): Laura (film), 1944
Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox
Remarks: heckelphone part played by Don Christlieb on heckelphone #33, according to Howe & Hurd (2004)
Duration: 88min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Waxman, Franz (1906-1967): Objective Burma! (film), 1945
Publisher: Warner Brothers
Remarks: the original score (with arrangements by Leonid Raab) used heckelphone, while the 2005 Naxos re-recording (arranged by John Morgen) used bass oboe instead
Duration: 142min
Tags: heckelphone, bass oboe; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Steiner, Max (1888-1971): The Woman in White (film), 1948
Publisher: Warner Brothers
Remarks: based on the 1860 novel by Wilkie Collins
Duration: 109
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
Kaper, Bronisław (1902-1983): Secret Garden (film, 1949 [??]this entry has not (yet) been verified
Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Remarks: based upon the 1911 novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Duration: 89min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
Kaper, Bronisław (1902-1983): Green Mansions (film), 1959 [??]this entry has not (yet) been verified
Publisher: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Remarks: based upon the 1904 novel by William Henry Hudson
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
North, Alex (1910-1991): Spartacus (film), 1960
Publisher: Universal International
Remarks: orchestrations by Alex North, Maurice de Packh, Samuel Matlovsky, Arthur Morton, Edward B. Powell and David Tamkin
Duration: 39min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Amram, David (1930-): The Manchurian Candidate (film), 1962
Publisher: MC Productions
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
North, Alex (1910-1991): The Agony and the Ecstasy (film), 1965
Publisher: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Duration: 138min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
North, Alex (1910-1991): The Devil's Brigade (film), 1968
Publisher: United Artists
Remarks: heckelphone played by Charles Gould
Duration: 130min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Shankar, Ravi (1920-2012): Charly (film), 1968 [?]this entry is only partially verified
Publisher: Cinerama Releasing Corporation
Remarks: based on Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes; premiere on 28 June 1968 in Berlin, Germany
Duration: 106min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Blyton, Carey (1932-2002): Before the Party (TV play), 1969
Remarks: adaption of a short story by Somerset Maugham; received the 1970 Drama Series Production Award of the Society of Film and Television Arts; featuring Aubrey Johnson on heckelphone
Duration: 19min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
Perry, William (1930-): The Mysterious Stranger (film), 1982
Publisher: PBS
Remarks: orchestrations by Richard Hayman and Elman Anderson
Duration: 1h28
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Elfman, Danny (1953-): Mars Attacks! (film), 1996
Publisher: Tim Burton Productions
Duration: 106min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Arnold, David (1962-): Godzilla (film), 1998
Publisher: Columbia Pictures
Duration: 139min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Kamen, Michael (1948-2003): X-Men (film), 2000 [??]this entry has not (yet) been verified
Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox
Duration: 104min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.
Cody, Joshua: A Journey That Wasn't (film), 2005
Remarks: Filmed on 20 October 2005 in Central Park, New York City, NY (USA) as part of a public performance involving 40 musicians. The score calls for a standard string and percussion sections along with a woodwind section including heckelphone, tubax in E-flat, contra-alto clarinet, contra-bass clarinet and contrabassoon, along with an electric guitar, a sackbut and a theremin. The heckelphone part was played by Harry Searing on heckelphone #26.
Duration: 23min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
Gilberti, Adam (1981-): Soul Diaspora, 2009 [??]this entry has not (yet) been verified
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Farber, Andy (1969-): Star Trek Continues, Episode 5 (film) (“Divided We Stand”), 2015
Remarks: the heckelphone part was played by Harry Searing
Duration: 15min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here.
Mychael Danna (1958-): The Man Who Invented Christmas (film), 2017
Publisher: Elevation Pictures / Wildcard Distribution
Remarks: the soundtrack has been released as an album by Universal Music; heckelphone can be heard prominently in various parts, including "Humbug", "Scrooge Appears" and "The Second Ghost"
Duration: 104min
Tags: heckelphone; film music
Additional information can be found here; a recording is available here.