Baroque Oboe

My first experience with the baroque oboe, or "hautboy", came in 1969 during my senior year at the University of Michigan. It was during this period that my friend Jim Ostryniec--who would later win the job of Assistant Principal of the Baltimore Symphony--taught himself to play the original Rottenburgh hautboy of the Stearns Collection. He bravely played it in a Collegium concert--the piece was Bach's Cantata No. 152, "Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn". Jim did amazingly well with the big solo in the opening Sinfonia, especially considering that there was no one on the faculty at the time who might have given him guidance on reeds and technique.

In 1975 I had the good fortune to hear the renowned baroque oboist Bruce Haynes give a lecture/demonstration at the Detroit Institute of Arts. I was 'smitten' and immediately after the lecture asked him if I might order one of his Denner copies. For various reasons Bruce declined, but pointed me in the direction of a young maker named Michael Seyfrit. A few months later I took delivery of one of Michael's Denner copies, and it served me well for four years.

Since then I have owned several other makes of hautboy: a Stanesby copy by Harry Vas Dias, a Saxon oboe by Joel Robinson, three Eichentopf copies by Sand Dalton of Lopez Island, WA, a Denner copy by Harry Vas Dias, a Bizey copy by Mary Kirkpatrick (a'= 392 Hz), a Sattler copy by Jacqueline Sorel of the Netherlands, and most recently, a copy after Kenigsperger by Owen Watkins.

In 2016 I took delivery of the Sand Dalton Eichentopf copy pictured below.

Here's the opening movement from Sonata No.2 in B-flat ("Fitzwilliam") by G.F. Handel played on this oboe:

Click to watch the video

I now use a 'reed finishing machine' from Udo Heng for all my reed making. It's pictured below, along with two reeds made using the machine. This machine is fantastic--I can't recommend it highly enough!

Hautboy Sound Sample - From Francesco Mancini, Cantata "Quanto dolce e quell'adore" - aria for soprano, oboe and BC:

Linda Munch, soprano
Christopher Brodersen, baroque oboe
David Schreiner, baroque bassoon
Diana Munch, harpsichord

Click here to play the sound

I took delivery of a Sand Dalton oboe da caccia in 2017, also copied after Eichentopf -

Oboe da caccia Sound Sample - From J.S. Bach, Cantata No. 1 "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern"

Click here to play the sound

In 2018 I took delivery of a Sand Dalton oboe d'amore, another copy after Eichentopf -

Click here to play a sound sample of this oboe d'amore

In 2019 I took delivery of a beautiful hautboy, a Bradbury copy by Randall Cook of Basel, Switzerland:

Here's a sound sample of the Bradbury:

Handel, Sonata in B-flat, first movement (excerpt)

Just before the outbreak of COVID in 2020, I acquired an outstanding Denner copy by Harry Vas Dias of Decatur, Georgia:

Vas Dias Denner Sound Samples:

from Cantata 31, "Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubiliert"

from Cantata 44, "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun"

from Cantata 56, "Ich will den Kreutzstab gerne tragen"

Another hautboy, acquired in May of 2022, a Sattler copy by Jacqueline Sorel of the Netherlands:

Sattler Sound Sample:

from Jacques-Martin Hotteterre Le Romain, Troisieme Suite, Prelude

Here's a comparison of the Bradbury and Sattler, a snippet from Telemann's Trio in F TWV 42:F9:

Click here to hear the two hautboys

A recent acquisition (March of 2023), another Eichentopf copy by Sand Dalton, this time in cocobolo:

Eichentopf Sound Sample:

"Air noblement" from Couperin's Huitième Concert, with Yago Mahugo, harpsichord

Another recent acquisition (December of 2023), a taille, or tenor oboe, a Johann Christoph Denner copy by Sand Dalton:

Taille Sound Sample:

"Marche du Roy de la Chine"

My most recent acquisition, purchased in July of 2024 at the IDRS conference in Flagstaff, AZ, a copy after Kenigsperger by Owen Watkins:

Kenigsperger Sound Sample:

From the Huitieme Concert of Couperin, No.9 - Air tendre

Here's a fun video I did in 2020 while "sheltering in place" at home. I used an app called Acapella to multi-track the
Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670) of Jean-Baptiste Lully:

Click here to play the video

Here's another, a little march by Handel for trumpet, two oboes, and bassoon (the trumpet part is played on oboe).
I'm joined by my colleague David Schreiner on bassoon.
We recorded this in memory of the great American trumpeter and scholar Edward H. Tarr, who died on 24 March 2020.

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