ON THE RECORD: INTERPRETING RECORDED ORCHESTRAL EXCERPTS FOR THE OBOE, 1910 – 2016

Abstract

This monograph analyzes recordings of three orchestral excerpts for the oboe made between 1910 – 2016 and studies trends in interpretation, showing how performance practice is continually evolving as musical tastes change. The chosen excerpts span several style periods from the early nineteenth century to the twentieth century. The first excerpt, the cadenza from the Allegro con brio movement of the Fifth Symphony by Beethoven, has been under-studied by oboists and musicologists and yet it plays a pivotal role in the first movement of this iconic piece. The second excerpt, the Adagio solo from the second movement of Brahms’s Violin Concerto, has much room for individual interpretation and soloistic freedom on the part of the both the oboe and violin soloists. Finally, recordings of the technically-challenging twentieth-century excerpt, the “Prélude” solo from le tombeau de Couperin by Ravel, show how standards of musical perfection have been raised overtime as a result of the recording industry. Preference is given to recordings from countries with strong traditions in oboe performance, such as the United States, England, Germany, and France. To give a clear picture of performance trends, I study approximately ten recordings per decade. A large-data recording study such as this has never been attempted of orchestral excerpts for the oboe. Findings common to all three excerpts over time include: a decline in small-group, rhetorical phrasing; a decline in national schools; tempos becoming slower in the mid-twentieth century and faster towards the end of the twentieth century; and strongest similarities in playing styles of oboists with a shared pedagogical lineage.