Oboe Unbound

Contemporary Techniques, Revised Edition

Libby Van Cleve

After decades of experimentation, musicians have begun to utilize a strikingly colorful palette of sounds on woodwind instruments. Flute, clarinet, and saxophone players, in many different musical settings, regularly use sounds that were unheard of in the middle of the twentieth century. Oboists, in comparison, have lagged somewhat behind their more adventurous colleagues.

In writing Oboe Unbound: Contemporary Techniques, author Libby Van Cleve opens up the tradition-bound assumptions of the instrument’s capabilities. Not only does she include descriptions of the instrument’s standard technique from range and reeds to the use of vibrato, but she also discusses recent techniques, such as multiphonics, microtones, altered timbres, and extended range, to name a few. Van Cleve bolsters this book with numerous music examples and professionally-tested fingering charts, and concludes with basic information about the use of electronics for amplification, recording, and sound enhancement.

The book’s appendixes include a substantial bibliography of music and literature and a discography including jazz, non-western, and art music recordings. The revised edition incorporates new information about resources now available through the internet and marks the launch of a website that includes examples of all the contemporary sounds as well as audio and video recordings of unreleased compositions.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 142 • Trim: 7¼ x 10

978-0-8108-8671-1 • Paperback • October 2014 • $67.00 • (£52.00)

978-0-8108-8672-8 • eBook • October 2014 • $63.50 • (£49.00)

Series: The New Instrumentation Series

Subjects: Music / Musical Instruments / Woodwinds, Music / Instruction & Study / General

Oboe Unbound

Contemporary Techniques, Revised Edition

Paperback

eBook

Summary

After decades of experimentation, musicians have begun to utilize a strikingly colorful palette of sounds on woodwind instruments. Flute, clarinet, and saxophone players, in many different musical settings, regularly use sounds that were unheard of in the middle of the twentieth century. Oboists, in comparison, have lagged somewhat behind their more adventurous colleagues.

In writing Oboe Unbound: Contemporary Techniques, author Libby Van Cleve opens up the tradition-bound assumptions of the instrument’s capabilities. Not only does she include descriptions of the instrument’s standard technique from range and reeds to the use of vibrato, but she also discusses recent techniques, such as multiphonics, microtones, altered timbres, and extended range, to name a few. Van Cleve bolsters this book with numerous music examples and professionally-tested fingering charts, and concludes with basic information about the use of electronics for amplification, recording, and sound enhancement.

The book’s appendixes include a substantial bibliography of music and literature and a discography including jazz, non-western, and art music recordings. The revised edition incorporates new information about resources now available through the internet and marks the launch of a website that includes examples of all the contemporary sounds as well as audio and video recordings of unreleased compositions.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 142 • Trim: 7¼ x 10

978-0-8108-8671-1 • Paperback • October 2014 • $67.00 • (£52.00)

978-0-8108-8672-8 • eBook • October 2014 • $63.50 • (£49.00)

Series: The New Instrumentation Series

Subjects: Music / Musical Instruments / Woodwinds, Music / Instruction & Study / General

Author

Libby Van Cleve is recognized as one of the foremost interpreters of chamber and contemporary music for the oboe. She is the oboe teacher at Wesleyan University and Connecticut College, and the Director of Oral History of American Music at Yale University.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Revised Edition
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Monophonic Techniques
Chapter 3: Multiphonic Techniques
Chapter 4: Other Resources
Chapter 5: Electronics for the Oboe: A Primer
Selected Music Bibliography
Selected Literature Bibliography
Selected Discography
Appendix A: Standard Fingering Chart for the Oboe
Appendix B: Apocrypha score
Appendix C: Online Recordings
Appendix D: Diagram of symbols and oboe keys
Index
About the Author

Reviews

Her incredible knowledge and experience with a vast array of techniques and repertoire is inspiring. If Oboe Unbound is not yet a part of your library, it soon should be.
— Double Reed News

This amazing guide to contemporary oboe techniques is what one would expect from Libby Van Cleve, a superlative artist-oboist, who is passionately musical, deeply intelligent, and eminently practical. Oboe Unbound is inspiring, comprehensive, and easy to learn from, with easy-to-read fingering charts. I recommend it highly.
— Allan Vogel, principal oboist, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Libby Van Cleve has established herself as a leading innovator, virtuoso instrumentalist, and visionary scholar of twentieth-century music. She has demonstrated creative mastership and evolution for decades and is rightly viewed as one of the 'state of the state' oboe virtuosos of this time period. The release of this book will extend the evolution and exploratory dimensions of creative oboe music. It is a must-have for any serious student of oboe music.
— Anthony Braxton, MacArthur award-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist, and improviser

Oboe Unbound

Contemporary Techniques, Revised Edition

Libby Van Cleve

Oboe Unbound

Contemporary Techniques, Revised Edition

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