Paul Hindemith: Heckelphone Trio op. 47

Hindemith's trio for Heckelphone, Viola and Piano, probably one of the most notable pieces composed for this rare woodwind instrument.
The Heckelphone, often confused with bass oboe or baryton oboe, is a double reed instrument of the oboe family, pitched an octave below the oboe, about twice long and ending in a bulbous bell. Its soft and full sound reflected the early 20th century romantic sound ideal: R. Strauss employed it in his operas Salome, Elektra and in the Alpine Symphony.

Category:

Music

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• heckelphon
• heckelphone
• heckelfoni
• bass
• oboe
• baryton
• paul
• hindemith
• trio
• viola
• piano
• op
• 47
• musical
• instruments
• woodwind

[akseli88]

What a useless debate! mine was a practical discourse! obvious that the two instruments are constitutionally different. Enjoy Hindemith rather than continue this discussion!

[cellofellow1223]

The heckelphone and bass oboe are two very different instruments.

[akseli88]

two VERY different instrument?????

I have already explained that, in my opinion, this difference is not so strong...

is not to be polemical: we talk about two different instruments, of course, but extremely similar, as the basset horn and the contralto clarinet, for exemple.

If they were so differents, don't you believe that their use would be more differentiated?

[Trey5511]

@akseli88 Okay, to show you how wrong you are, here's the downward progression of pitch in the clarinet family from the Basset Horn to the Contralto: Clarinet in A  -> Basset Horn in F -> Alto Clarinet in E-flat -> Bass Clarinet in B-flat -> Contralto Clarinet in EE-flat. See, the Basset horn is pitched an octave and one whole step apart from the contralto clarinet. not to mention contralto has a double octave key. they are different in virtually every way, save both being clarinets...

[akseli88]

@Trey5511 I meant by "alto / contralto" something different from "contra-alto / sub-contralto". It's esay to misunderstandings... Then stop, please, I prefer to enjoy the trio!!!

[TheThomasChannel]

Not to be a pain, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say "all major orchestras can get ahold of a heckelphone." Man, I wish every orchestra in the world had one.

[NoirOrchestre]

The heckelphone and the baryton oboe are not the same, the sonority is different.

[MaestroTJS]

@Trey5511 Not QUITE right. The Basset Horn goes down to F2 (the bottom space on the bass staff); the alto only goes down to G2 or G-flat2 in some cases. Not much of a distinction in terms of range, but they sound different from what I've read.

The contra alto (that is the correct name) is pitched an octave lower than the alto (apparently some can go lower).

There is also a B-flat contrabass.

[ViolerMuxa]

is it midi-file?

[leuven1945]

THis is really great !! Thank you !

[pinturner]

thanks a lot for letting to hear how the instrument sounds