While on a sabbatical leave I visited with Manfred Kautzky, professor of oboe at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik. In addition to our discussion of players, the differences between Viennese and American reeds, and the difference between French and Viennese oboes, Kautzky showed me a set of 6 beautiful volumes of an oboe method which has been written by his teacher Hans Hadamowsky. Hadamowsky's biography, as translated by Kautzky follows below.
At this time only parts I through V constituting the six volumes are available for purchase. They are rather expensive at an average $20. each, but when I have described them thoroughly they may be of interest to some of our members. I shall be willing, of course, to give the address of the Vienna bookseller who handles these for Hadamowsky. Over 200 copies have been made available.
While you are reading Hadamowsky's own description of the parts of the method, please keep in mind that he did all of the work himself, the composing, the text, copied the manuscript, did the reproduction and even the binding. Here is Hadamowsky's autobiography, then some words (my words) of review of the method.
I was born on March 5th 1906 as the son of a baker, at Purkersdorf near Vienna.
My mother, a grade school teacher, fell in love with my father's beautiful tenor voice in the church choir and marriage followed shortly afterwards.
My childhood in the countryside was a very happy one. We made a lot of music in our home and when I was ten, a member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra became my violin teacher. He was very strict (many tears trickled down on my three-quarter violin), yet I was extremely fond of him. Therefore, it was a big blow when he left Vienna in order to accept a position as director of conservatory in Yugoslavia.
My parents had become poor during World War I and would have been unable to continue paying for my violin lessons. In order to be able to stick to music, I joined the village band of my home town. A clarinet was lent to me and I received free instructions. In return I had to play at any given event, such as village festivities, parish fairs, dances and the like.
But all my love belonged to the sound of the oboe which I had heard once from my professor to be: Alexander Wunderer.
Encouraged by a colleague in the village band I asked Prof. Wunderer at an opportune moment whether he would accept me as his pupil.
Following a short entrance examination he accepted me and this was the beginning of my studies at the academy.
After graduating from high school I continued my studies but at the same time I began to study the history of music at the University of Vienna. I received my BA in 1930 and my oboe diploma in 1931. A year later I also received my diploma for composition from Franz Schmidt. It was Prof. Wunderer's custom to encourage his more talented pupils to compose oboe etudes. I wrote some rather difficult ones myself while still a pupil {They are contained in part two of volume three of my 'School for Oboe').
Prof. Wunderer suggested that I should enlarge them to a complete book of instructions for oboe. From then on I never gave up devoting myself to that task.
After a bitter five year interlude of unemployment I came out first in a contest held by the Vienna State Opera and Philharmonics. And shortly afterwards I was appointed teacher for oboe at the School of Music Of The City Of Vienna.
In 1950 I was called to the Academy Of Music and Pictorial Art as a teacher for oboe and the theory of music.
White still attending the academy as a pupil I thought out a plan for a comprehensive and profound work of instructions for oboe.
Learning from my own mistakes and those of my colleagues I realized that a crystal clear and sovereign technique can only be achieved by the systematic execution of its individual elements. And further, that only by concentration on the most basic and essential elements and by constantly practicing them, a learning oboe player can achieve a state in which the technique enters his subconscious mind and becomes his second nature.
The aim of part I is the achievement of a permanently strong and well sounding Forte-Sound (free of any vibrations, of course in all positions). In view of the natural disequilibrium of sounds (caused by acoustic differences) this is a task that requires a very good ear. All exercises in these "Forte-Straights" as I call them, ought to be performed (up to chapter "Dynamic").
All basic exercises in part I have simple piano accompaniments, the reason being my conviction, that no single sound ought to be played without consciousness of harmony (the most elementary and important training of the ear).
Conforming to the basic exercises are "The Eighteen Little Studies" and "The Pieces Of Old Masters". In these exercises a musical aspect has been added to the purely technical one.
Part IV contains comprehensive studies of scale and chord.
Part V -- concluding the basic studies -- is made up of more than 2000 motives. By combining two, three and four sounds, these comprise everything that has ever been written in the past and may be written in the future (exclusive of rhythmic profiles, of course). I believe this to be the most exhaustive study of basics one can think of.
Part VII is devoted to the study of repertoire for opera and concert. It is entitled: Orchestra Studies With Piano. The piano gives some bars of the orchestra before every solo, so that it is easier for him to find his entry.
Part VI of the "School for Oboe" is called: Old and New Oboe Music. It is made up of old duets, triosonatas and compositions of old masters for four voices, as well as "Music For The Oboe Family" (my own creation): a trio for two oboes and English horn, a quartet for two oboes, English horn and bassoon, three "choral preludes" for two oboes, English horn and Heckelphone (or bassoon).
All of these are intended to be of pedagogic value but also to provide suitable music at the same time.
An essay on the manufacture of oboe reeds, ready as a rough copy, will be published this autumn. This will be part VIII of the "School For Oboe".
By that time the book of instruction had become so extensive that no publisher was willing to accept the financial risk of printing it. Therefore I had to fall back on my own resources. First I enrolled in the Academy Of Fine Arts to study "Ornamental Writing". Thus I became a pupil of our great Dr. Otto Hurm. Following this "preparation" I bought a mimeograph and a number of other technically advanced gadgets necessary for producing my book at home. My grandson Hans-Christian Lorenz, a pupil of the fourth form of high school, tackled the job of printing with great skill and diligence and is producing a small edition of two hundred prints. Ever since my worries about printing have been over. Since the plastic patterns may be used again, reprinting would present no problems.
Today I may indulge in a feeling of satisfaction that I made a contribution to the urgently needed advancement of literature on oboe studies. It may not seem to be a great one, for anything that leaves room for continuation and expansion must necessarily be qualified as "unfinished."
For my own justification I may mention that, as a "side line" to the above work I also spent 35 years as a soloist (English horn) with the State Opera and Philharmonics and as a teacher for oboe at the academy for music.
For completion's sake I would like to mention that besides my work on oboe I have written a sextet for flute, oboe, horn, clarinet, bassoon and harp. It was first performed by the Association of Wind Instrumentalists of the Vienna Philharmonics in 1942. Its orchestra adaption known as "Konzertantes Quintet" had its premiere in 1952 in a concert by the Vienna Philharmonics, Hans Knappertsbusch conducting. In addition there is a "Sonata Solemnis" for a mixed choir of brass instrumentalists and kettle drums. A piano composition of mine, "For Little Hands" (variations on a children's song), has been published by Doblinger, Vienna.
It is my hope that fate will permit me to publish another essay dealing with the theory of music also. It is the fruit of my intensive and life-long study of the fundamentals of sound. I fervently hope that my works will reveal more of the magic world of sounds and give fresh impulse to musical composition.
Hans Hadamowsky
The Hadamowsky "Oboeschule" (1973) is the first new Viennese oboe method in 150 years, the last having been written by Joseph Sellner, a friend of Beethoven, a respected composer, and the first oboe professor at the Vienna Conservatory (founded in 1817).
While the rest of the world has switched to the French oboe, the so-called Viennese oboe, scarcely changed from the days of Beethoven and Sellner, is still used by nearly all Vienna players. There is a strong feeling among the Viennese about the Vienna sound and style of playing, which includes the brasses and the other woodwinds as well as the oboe. Hadamowsky expresses the hope of being able to write a book on "Sound and Music Making on the Viennese School of Wind Playing" which would cover all wind instruments.
The Vienna sound and style is felt to be faithful to the Viennese and German music which was written for instruments much like those used today; thus Viennese players wish to be faithful to this tradition.
As Hadamowsky states the term "Viennese" is certainly misleading and does not refer to the limits of the instruments. Kautzky told me that the Viennese oboists consider their style closer to the American than to any other, especially as to the musical and expressive qualities of the two styles.
In 1936 when he joined the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna Philharmonic, the French vibrato was being accepted by some of the Vienna players. He found that mixing the two schools was not possible and decided to retain the "old school" and tradition by writing a method book about it. His students at the municipal school of music, the Akadamie of Vienna, requested the older method and convinced listeners, through their playing, of the value of retaining for artistic purposes the traditional Viennese sound.
According to Hadamowsky, in the so called "old school" the emphasis was placed on tone, phrasing, cantilena, and musical shaping, while the "new style" was based on a perfect technique. While he did not condemn technique, it was tending to become an end in itself.
Hadamowsky set about to write a method which would accept the new technical perfection without giving up the theory of tone and style in Viennese and German music. The result is this very extensive method which is now available in 6 books covering the "basic method" section of the complete (10 parts) method he plans; books which are very usable for any "style" or "school" of oboe playing.
Part I contains Hadamowsky's careful explanation of those thoughts which I have discussed above, plus the beginning phases of playing the oboe. By way of introduction there is a short history of the oboe family, suggestions for holding the instrument, the reed (it should "crow", not squeak -- be free but not soft), position of the reed (90° angle to the teeth, only slightly downward -- even bite on the reed -- loose enough to slide the reed to and fro), and tone production.
In discussing tone production he explains the continuity of sound in a good legato, correct beginning and releasing of the tone, and he treats a seldom discussed problem, i.e., the lack of oxygen. To overcome the lack, he recommends that the student divide a phrase, exhale stale air and continue the phrase, inhaling at the next phrase.
The actual playing of notes begins with playing 2ds, 3ds, 4ths, and 5ths from d' to b', using easy piano accompaniment from the first notes. He stresses the use of the piano to establish pitch, to begin ear training and harmonic feeling. The easy piano parts should encourage any teacher to play his students' accompaniments.
Still in Book I is the 1/2-hole, octave key, upper register slurs, introduction of staccato (using Sellner studies), chromatic scale, whole-tone scale, diminished 7th chords, and augmented triads. He continues through the second octave key area up through high g'''.
Some additional material interspersed throughout includes dynamics and how to practice the "long tone" from pp to FF back to pp (using the piano as accompaniment).
Material included in the Appendices includes a practice warning "don't spend more than 1/2 time working on reeds", a discussion of developing a good staccato by using the Jettl method of slowly practicing for a hard, powerful tongue, then working for speed using scales and a metronome in practice. He recommends the development of the double-tongue later if one cannot obtain enough speed.
He also describes continuous air-flow (circular breathing) with "how-to-do-it" and exercises for practice.
Continuing parts of the Basic Method are Vols. II/1 and II/2, and Vol. III, all exercises and melodies with piano parts for use with various stages of Book I. II/1 uses exercises by Hadamowsky to develop use of various keys such as the Bb, the C#, the Eb, or the 1/2-hole, while II/2 is devoted to 24 Etudes never before published, by Hadamowsky's English horn colleague Karl Swoboda (1900- 1963). These are all accompanied and could be quite challenging for college players.
While Book II/1 and II/2 are for technical progress Book III is to be used at the same time and contains simple melodies from the old masters (almost all by Handel) again accompanied. It should be noted that all supplemental studies are published with the piano part in a hard back binding and the solo parts in separate books.
Book IV is almost 200 pages of manuscript seeming to exhaust all forms of scales, triads and chords, using non-harmonic tones and alterations, eventually leading into "Impressionistic" harmony. These many altered chords and arpeggios are some of the most interesting I have ever practiced. A feature of the final pages of the book (IV) is an arpeggiated setting for 2, 3, or 4 instruments of Wagner's "feuerzauber" (magic fire music) motive from the "Ring of the Nibelungen."
Separate parts are provided for 2 oboes, and English horn piano chords and the bass line set for Heckelphone or bassoon. 16th note arpeggios are set above this chordal pattern which makes its way through 14 key changes. It looks like great fun.
Of the currently published Books number V/1 is the last and is another exhaustive collection of 140 exercises using 2000 motives as mentioned by Hadamowsky in his biography. These can be used with the basic method or for advanced study. They also have piano harmony to be used with them.
Hadamowsky has mentioned other parts of this method which he plans, and I personally hope he completes them for our usage. I also hope this review will stimulate some interest in the method, for it would be most useful in almost any teaching situation, for any "school" of playing. I recommend that players and teachers alike take a good look at these books.
