Like a chilled clarinet. This is among the less flattering depictions of the oboe sound, signed by the humorist Victor Borge. In the musical adventure “Peter and the Wolf”, the oboe has been given the role of a duck. Perhaps it is precisely this slightly sore and nasal sound that gives the oboe all the most wistful and heartfelt solos. That perhaps also explains why you hear him in important film scenes from, for example, “Star Wars” and “The Lion King”. But this exquisite instrument has some challenging aspects to it. High effort – high payoff: It could have been piano or saxophone, but Viviana Ilea would rather take on the challenges the oboe offers. Photo: Robert Rønning / news Firstly: It is difficult to get sound in the oboe. The air must be forced through an opening twice seven millimeters in size. This high pressure can cause headaches and make you dizzy. Secondly: playing the oboe can cause strain injuries, usually in the neck and right arm. The weight of the entire instrument rests on the right thumb. Thirdly: The oboist must spend a LOT of time nailing, adapting and preparing the highly whimsical bamboo reeds that make up the mouthpiece. If you have never practiced that much: A dry or bad reed can make the beautiful oboe solo fake, and lead to humility for the open stage. In other words, there are good reasons not to choose the oboe. So what makes a teenager do it anyway? In the middle of the orchestra – Young Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra played together in Oslo Concert Hall. Photo: Robert Rønning / news – I asked mum and dad to play on one like the angels play on. Viviana Ilea’s parents had taken her to Vienna as a child to see musical performances. The four-year-old was completely on board. Viviana wanted to play the harp. There was no harp. Instead, his musical career began with piano at school age, and then saxophone in the school choir. Then the band lacked an oboist. Yes, because who takes that challenge? Viviana was asked. – It was difficult. I really liked the saxophone, but I said it was okay to try. The challenge attracted her. She was allowed to borrow an oboe before the summer holidays and took him on holiday in Romania. It went pretty well. She had already learned the basic technique when she got home and had lessons with an instructor. Suddenly, the band had a new oboist. Viviana Ilea is in her final year at Langhaugen, continuing with a music major in Bergen. This summer, she and teacher Hege Sellevåg worked with Haydn’s oboe concerto on an orchestra course in Halsnøy. Photo: Marion Hestholm / news To oboe or not to oboe But Viviana still practiced the piano a lot. She was very good, and signed up for the Youth Music Championship, with both instruments. She made it to the final, on both piano and oboe. That is very unusual. – I have never worked so hard before. I practiced piano and oboe every other day so as not to get too tired. My parents then tried to make me choose. The oboe – a composite instrument – here in a disassembled state. Photo: Robert Rønning / news The two instruments are in many ways opposite extremes: While the oboist works with high pressure in his head and has to spend an absurd amount of time on strumming, the pianist comes to the table and covers the keyboard and can conjure up the notes that lie right in front of his nose, without lifting a single knife, just a finger or ten. Perhaps that is why there are fifty pianists for every oboist. “Spiking” – the word keeps coming up. This means that the oboe is for those who are really particularly interested. Reed. And nailing reeds. The resonance of the oboe is created by air passing through a very tight tube. The reed is the oboist’s best but most capricious friend. Photo: Marion Hestholm / news Teacher Hege Sellevåg explains that bamboo reeds are grown in the south of France, and you have to buy them from specialist dealers. – These have to be nailed down. This means splitting into three parts lengthwise, planing the parts thin, folding one of the parts in half, and fixing the ends in a sleeve. Then you have to scrape the outside, and tie the parts tightly together with nylon thread… The oboist is the orchestra’s Mr. Gadget. The equipment list includes planers, knives, micrometer (which measures how thick the pipe is), guillotine, nylon thread, and of course, bamboo pipe. The pipe splitter was not present when the picture was taken. Photo: Marion Hestholm / news The nylon thread holds the two pipe ends together. Reminiscent of fly tying? (And yes, plasters can also be good to have in your bag.) Snickarboa hopfallera…. Viviana in the final phase of the nailing work. A new oboe ear will soon be ready. The big question is: Will it work? Spit literature? Then ask! There are up to several books about nailing oboe ears. Hege Sellevåg presents a representative selection. A little overwhelmed? When Viviana chooses to be an oboist, she chooses a lifestyle. Soon there will be auditions for further music education. Photo: Marion Hestholm / news Hege plays oboe and English horn in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and has played an average of five reeds a week throughout the 23 years in the position. There will be a total of approximately 5,980 reeds. – An arsenal of equipment is needed for this work. Pipe splitters, special knives, plane, thread, micrometer, guillotine… Guillotine? Isn’t it a killing machine, like they used during the French Revolution? – Yes, but the mini version. The guillotine is an important journey for oboists. With it, you can cut the pipe to exactly the right length. Photo: Marion Hestholm / news The bamboo reed must be beheaded in the hunt for good sound. Then follows more scratching on the outside of the tube. – If you are a pet meter, you get full credit for it in this process, says Hege Sellevåg. – And then, when you have done this job, you can just enjoy the fruits of your labor? Have. – Of the finished reeds, barely half are usable, and even fewer are good, she says. A lot of waste, that is. – Oboe students should receive higher equipment grants. Right must be right: You can buy pre-assembled pipes, but they are more expensive, and these must also be adapted. Hege Sellevåg splits bamboo reeds.Hege Sellevåg Light, hope or sorrow If “most people” have a relationship with the instrument oboe, it is “Gabriel’s oboe”: Ennio Morricone’s lovely melody, and the theme song for the film “The Mission” from 1986 with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons. It was with this melody that celebrity Adam Schjølberg paid tribute to his late friend, the singer Jan Werner Danielsen, in the news program “Maestro”. The beautiful oboe melody is used in both funerals and weddings in Norway. MOVED TO TEARS: See Adam Schjølberg and the Broadcasting Orchestra’s version of “Gabriel’s Obo”. Viviana has not seen “The Mission”, but knows that her instrument is often used in the loving and emotional film scenes. – The oboe comes with light, hope or sorrow. All professional oboists must also learn English horn – the oboe’s slightly bigger and deeper older sister – and Viviana played English horn on this project with the Oslo Philharmonic. One of the most beautiful solos for the instrument can be found in Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, 2nd movement. Photo: Robert Rønning / news She felt completely safe when she finally made the choice. – When there is something I cannot do, I have to master the challenge. As you can see from this article, one does not choose the oboe to have a comfortable life as a musician. Therefore, oboists are rare. Quick facts about the oboe The oboe is one of the oldest woodwind instruments with roots dating back to the middle of the 17th century. The name comes from French: Hautbois – which can be translated into “tall (sounding) tree”. The oboist can avoid headaches with good enough technique, but here you have to think a little counter-intuitively: After a long phrase, you still have air left in your lungs, so you have to exhale the remaining air – before you take in fresh oxygen! There are a total of 33 professional positions for oboists in Norway. Most are employed in one of the corps of the Norwegian Armed Forces, while the Opera Orchestra and the two national orchestras in Oslo and Bergen have four oboe positions each. Many amateur bands have oboists. There are seven oboe students on higher music education, and five young oboists associated with the talent program at Barratt Due in Oslo and Bergen. Tala was brought in by oboist Bente Hage with the help of DOR – Norwegian Double Pipe Orchestra, organization for oboe and bassoon. In order to find more tough guys, the oboe has become a focus instrument, leader Ole Rasmus Bjerke tells “Instrumenterer i fokus”. – Recruiting oboists is absolutely necessary for Norwegian music life. It is important to have an even influx of musicians on all instruments, but the oboe is one of those that needs an extra effort to increase the number, and to ensure that the oboists reach a good level. Ole Rasmus Bjerke heads Instruments in focus – set up to ensure recruitment for the ‘endangered’ instruments. Photo: Magnus Skrede “Obotigrene” in Kristiansand is another recruitment initiative for children, where training takes place in easy-to-play baroque houses. But why is it important to get more young people to choose the oboe? – We need oboists to fill places both in the professional and voluntary music life. Not least, we need good teachers to take over and continue the solid work that is being done today, and sew for the coming generations of oboists, says Bjerke. Englar also plays the oboe, if this depiction by the 19th century painter John Roddam Spencer Stanhope is to be believed. Or is it an English horn (see fact box)? In any case, the technique looks suspiciously relaxed, but hello, one must have some heavenly privilege. Graphics: John Roddam Spencer Stanhope Viviana is in any case hooked. She aims for further oboe studies, preferably abroad. – And if you’re an oboist, you’re like nothing else. Being an oboist is a way of life. She knows that one must have musicality regardless of the instrument. – But what is special about the oboe is being able to play with the soul and show the musicality – that you have something to tell – even if it is an incredibly difficult instrument, and even if you have to think about a hundred other things while you play. – It should sound like it’s very easy and you can do what you want with it, and shape the music in your own way. One must have some stamina to choose to become a professional oboist, but on the other side of the threshold lie some of the most beautiful moments in music literature. For example, have you heard the 2nd movement of Tchaikovsky’s 4th symphony? Photo: Robert Rønning / news
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Viviana Ilea plays one of the world’s most difficult instruments – the oboe – Kultur
