frozen memories; the worst musical job – ever!

The heating up of the political season is bringing back memories of a musical experience I will never forget. It was January of 1993. Bill Clinton had just been elected as President, and a huge concert-event was being put together to welcome the new commander-in-chief to Washington. A full symphony orchestra was assembled using wind and string players from all the branches of the military. Quincy Jones produced the extravaganza. Ray Charles performed with us, Kenny G., Dianna Ross, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan, Whoopie Goldberg, Kathleen Battle, – oh, and Michael Jackson was the special surprise guest – who simply didn’t have to rehearse, and who’s limo was stuck in traffic, so it held up the whole show until his weirdness could make it to the stage. There they were – Bubba & Jacko together – both soon to have sexual abuse charges aimed at them.

The most unforgettable part of this event was not who it was for, or who performed, but where and when; It was January… and it was outdoors – on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The temperatures never rose into the 30s, and the wind next to the Potomac River whirled around us constantly. Rehearsals ran for several days prior to the actual concert – all day long. I held in my gloved hand a $5,000 Loree English horn. Thank goodness, it belonged to my Uncle Sam. There were no provisions for heating afforded us. We simply sat, huddled together until it was time to try to play the next number. Tens of Millions of Americans proudly watched the event on HBO from the warmth of their living room sofas.

Without a doubt – the worst musical job I have ever played!

ha giocato il suo oboe mentre un cantante

I performed the Requiem by John Rutter this evening . The sixth movement has a huge oboe solo/obbligato accompanying the chorus. The performance went very well, and I had a good time playing this big oboe solo to a packed house.

The great reward I received, aside from an appreciative audience, was the comment made to me by the conductor after the concert. He told me that he assumed I must have extensive vocal training, due to the way I shaped the musical phrases and tonal colorations. Engelbert Brenner always taught me to think musically as a singer would, and his every note played was this way.

Lessons learned 20 years ago are still with me.

paul hindemith – oboe sonata

Among the many musical treasures left to me by Engelbert Brenner, I have a wall in my music studio lined with autographed photos of famous musicians, conductors & composers from the 20th century.

Here is a photograph of legendary composer Paul Hindemith. In addition to his autograph for Brenner, he hand-wrote the opening bars of his oboe sonata (written in 1938).

casimer’s machine

While still in high school, I realized that store-bought gouged oboe cane was not compatible with my unique style of reed making. The gouge used by my mentor, Engelbert Brenner was significantly thicker than anything commercially available. Brenner suggested I get my own gouging machine.

60 miles away from my childhood home, Hans Moennig sat in his woodwind repair shop for decades. His craft was so highly in demand, one had to “know someone” to have an instrument worked on by Herr Moennig. Brenner was that “somebody” for me, and I was allowed to be a customer. Moennig overhauled and repaired my instruments for several years while still in high school, and later at the New England Conservatory.

Moennig had an assistant named Casimir Luczycki. Casimer learned his craft from Moenning, and his work was first-rate as a result. Brenner made a call to Herr Moennig on my behalf, and requested a gouging machine for me. Moennig assigned Casimer to the project, and I was informed that there would be a waiting period of several months while the machine is ‘made’.

Later that year, I received a call from Casimer – the gouger would be ready for pick-up at the end of the week. We set that Friday as the day I would come to Philadelphia to get my new gouger. Mr. Brenner’s oboe was in need of a tweak from Moennig’s magic hands, so we both drove together to Moennig’s shop. Mr. Brenner was treated like royalty in the old, rickety downtown Philly shop. Orchestral “War Stories” were exchanged. Stevens Hewitt was there that day, and had never met Brenner before, but told him that he traveled weekly from Philadelphia to New York to hear him play principal oboe in the Stadium Concerts over the summer months. 2 Curtis students were there that day as well – in awe watching the two symphony oboists share stories (me too!).

The strange thing about this trip for me is that it was to be an empty-handed trip back to New Jersey; Casimer had not finished my gouger in time, and it simply wasn’t ready for delivery! He showed it to me – it was in pieces in a cardboard box. He told me he would call me as soon as the machine was finished.

About 2 weeks later, Casimir Luczycki called me to tell me that the machine is complete, and that he needed directions to my house so he could hand-deliver it to me. It was a classy thing to do in light of the situation. He brought me my machine and told me a bit more about it. It is a stock Graf gouger that he disassembled completely, replaced the Graf blade with an experimental blade (different metal composition) of his own design, and used an invention of his to ensure the bed & guide are machined perfectly straight & true to one another.

I used this gouger successfully for 10 years, until Mr. Brenner passed away and left me his own gougers in his will. The ‘Casimer Gouger’ needs a good cleaning – sitting in a drawer unused for 20 years hasn’t done much for it cosmetically, but I’ll clean her & bring her back to life. I’ll bet it works as it did 30 years ago.

I suspect I may have the only machine of this lineage. Anyone know of another?

the original roxy oboist

In 1927, Engelbert Brenner (legendary English horn player from the New York Philharmonic) was a member of the Roxy Theater Symphony in New York. The photo is of a 23 year old Brenner on the roof of the Roxy at the theater’s grand opening.

Often cited as the most impressive movie palace ever built, the Roxy was called “The Cathedral of the Motion Picture” by its creator and namesake, Samuel ‘Roxy’ Rothafel. Roxy was arguably the greatest showmen of his time and he built a theater that has seemingly outlasted his own legend.

With its 5,920 seats and multi-tiered balconies, the Roxy was the showplace of New York City and of the nation. Erected in 1927 and designed by architect W.W. Ahlschlager of Chicago (who also designed New York’s Beacon Theatre), its rather modest entrance at the Taft Hotel disguised one of the most cavernous lobbies ever built and a magnificent auditorium that has lived on in its patrons’ imagination. Whatever adjectives can be used for the Roxy, they all fail to signify the theater’s achievement.

Sadly, the decline in attendance that had begun in the 1950’s spilled over into the early 60’s and the Roxy, despite numerous protests, was razed in 1961. In its place sits a non-descript and unremarkable office building. The neighboring Taft Hotel survives to this day and is the only evidence that this epic structure was ever here. A TGI Friday’s occupies its original entrance.

*from cinematreasures.org

george, bruno & bert

In this rare photo, George Gershwin sits at the piano while legendary oboists Bruno Labate & Engelbert Brenner (with pipe) observe the conductor/soloist collaboration. Any help in identifying other musicians in this photo would be greatly appreciated!

oboe shapers everywhere!

Before there were online doublereed supply houses – before American oboe giants such as John Mack had his name attached to a specific shaper model, oboists had few options of shapers to use. There were a few American oboists who also were machinist. Wally Bhosys (formerly of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) learned how to fashion shaper tips. This is how I acquired my first shaper. Engelbert Brenner loaned me a backup shaper tip to send to Bhosys. The resulting copy was a decent shaper which I used for years. After Brenner’s death, I inherited all of his reed-making equipment. Here is a picture of the collection. Absolutely none are stamped with a ‘maker’s mark’, so I can only report that many (with the old, short handles) were French-made, and many were probably ‘tweaked’ by either A. Wales or Wally Bhosys. I have been using both the oboe & English horn shape that Brenner used in the latter part of his career since 1986, when they became part of my studio.

harold gomberg revisited

For over 30 years (1943 to 1977), Harold Gomberg sat in the principal oboe chair of the New York Philharmonic. For my generation of oboists, he was the standard. A New York Times article written in 1977 stated;

“Part of the Gomberg legend is in his instrumental expertise. He can produce a fatter tone than any of his colleagues, or a thinner one when he wants to; or he can make his oboe sound like an English horn, a clarinet, a saxophone. His breath control indicates that he was born with a bellows in his chest rather than lungs. His rhythm is infallible, he never makes a false entry, he has the entire repertory at his disposal.

That is part of the Gomberg legend. The other is his reputation as a musician who eats conductors for breakfast. “Who, me?” says the stocky Gomberg demurely, looking innocent. Never Harold Gomberg. Except from the green rooms of concert halls throughout the world come stories of the incorrigible Mr. Gomberg, who has never hesitated to tell man or devil what he thinks. He has told conductors to pack it in. “I can’t play it this way!” And he won’t. To one conductor who tried to correct him: “If you think you can play it better play it yourself!” To another, who has a reputation as a cold fish, Gomberg said good-bye at the end of the season with a parting injunction: “I hope you meet Venus during the summer.” Conductors put up with this. They have to. There are many conductors, but there is only one Harold Gomberg.”

It was Gomberg’s artistry, along with his colleague Engelbert Brenner that formulated my idea of what an oboe was and how it should sound.

Mr. Gomberg was also a painter, and his works were exhibited publicly for over 30 years. After he retired from the orchestra, the Gombergs moved to Italy, where he died in 1985. He sent a hand-painted card to Mr. Brenner from Italy one year – It is now one of my rare treasures. Enjoy!

 

oboe and english horn reed cases – heckel style

I own dozens of reed cases – all filled with either old, current or future reeds. Reed cases come in a variety of sizes and styles. Some hold only three reeds, while others are huge, designed to hold scores of reeds. Reeds are generally held in place in these cases by one of two methods – squeezed between two pads, or slipped on a mandrel (either a springy wire clip or a solid brass peg). Years ago, famed bassoon maker Heckel made oboe and English horn reed cases. These used the springy clips, and held the reed firmly in place, and also offered the reed up to the player by depressing the little tab on the mandrel’s base. I have several of these older cases, left to me by Engelbert Brenner. The above picture shows 3 of his Heckel reed cases, and a more modern rendition (wooden) which uses a solid brass peg instead of the springy clip. The reeds are Brenner’s also – decades old, but somehow they belong there still.

a unique oboe reed knife

Here’s another rare and unique piece of oboe reed-making equipment that I inherited from Engelbert Brenner when he passed away in 1986. It is a reed knife that has a discarded oboe top joint as its handle. I do not know who made this for him, and in my recollection of oboe lessons gone-by, I don’t think I ever remember him using it. I do, however, clearly remember seeing this knife among the multitude of tools he used, and always thought it was cool! Click here to see a unique oboe gouging machine, and here to read about Engelbert Brenner.