A relative of the oboe, the heckelphone is a double reed instrument invented in the early 1900s by German instrument maker Wilhelm Heckel. It was intended to fill the gap between the cor anglais (English horn) and the bassoon. The development of heckelphone was suggested in 1879 by Richard Wagner, who sought a baritone instrument for the oboe family that would combine "the character of the oboe with the mellow but powerful sound of the alphorn".Since its introduction in 1904, just over 170 instruments have been produced by the Heckel company (with some uncertainty as to the precise number; additional information on these instruments can be found here), the only maker of the heckelphone.The last instrument has been completed in 2012 (#5023); I've recently learned that two more are currently under constructionand will be delivered between 2025 and 2026, and that any order placed now will take 12 years to fulfil.
The heckelphone is not to be confused with the so-called bass oboe and the more recently developed lupophone.Two smaller variants of the heckelphone, the piccolo heckelphone and the "terzheckelphone", have been developed and produced in very small numbers. There is also some evidence that further members of a heckelphone family had been planned at some time, but remained unrealised. (This evidence includes the fact that the heckelphone part of Richard Strauss's Alpensinfonie contains notes that are too low to be played on the standard heckelphone; more on this can be found in this interesting article).
All but the earliest heckelphones have mechanics closely resembling those of the oboe's conservatoire system, while the reed is similar to that of a bassoon. As a result, the heckelphone is played by oboists and, in our time a little less frequently, by bassoonists (see also my - rather incomplete - list of heckelphonists).Interestingly, one of the most ardent supporters of the instrument during its early years was, in fact, a bassoonist, Emil Sehnert, as is at least one of the most notable contemporary players, Arthur Grossman.
An excellent introduction to the instrument (in German), including a nice excerpt from Salome by Richard Strauss,can be found in this video by the Staatsorchester Stuttgart (Germany), featuring Katrin Stüble.Another interesting video, by the New York Philharmonic, featuring John Upton playing a few excerpts from the Alpine Symphony on heckelphone #25 can be found here.Norman Kuhnert, principal bassoonist of the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz (Germany), gives another nice introduction to the heckelphone (in German),with excerpts from the Alpine Symphony.
Additional information about the heckelphone can be found here:
- Heckel's website - authoritative information on the instrument can be found here, and an animated picture here.
- Wikipedia - the English page is rather detailed; the German page less so, but contains some additional information on composers and players.
- A wonderful page by Grant D. Green on contrabass.com.
- Grove music online has an article on the hecklephone;sadly, only an extract is publicly accessible.
There is a also a sizeable body of scholarly work and historical writing on the heckelphone, including the following:
- Peter Hurd: Renaissance for Heckelphone,The Double Reed, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 86-96, 2001 - an excellent article, conveniently linked from Grant Green's previously mentioned page.
- Michael Finkelman:The Heckelphone - A Centenary Salute,The Double Reed, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 33-54, 2004- an outstanding scholarly article on the heckelphone, including construction details,history, and repertoire; sadly, only accessible to paying members of the IDRS or through librariesarchiving the journal.
- Michael Finkelman:The Heckelphone - A Centenary Salute: Part II,The Double Reed, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 69-80, 2005- an overview of the repertoire for heckelphone; provides many carefully researched and documentedreferences to pieces up to 2004, but misses a relatively large number of the piecesincluded in the latest version of the collection at repertoire.heckelphone.org.Sadly, this valuable article is only accessible to paying members of the IDRS or through librariesarchiving the journal.
- Robert Howe and Peter Hurd: The Heckelphone at 100,Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, Vol. 30, pp.98-165, 2004 - an outstanding, comprehensive article with a carefully researched list of extant heckelphones; sadly, only accessible through paid subscription / academic institutions.
- Wilhelm Altenburg: Das "Heckelphon", ein neues Blasinstrument, Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, 24. Jahrg., No. 35, pp. 1023-1024, 1904 (in German) - the first article on the newly developed instrument, providing not only historical context, but also covering its details, sound and positive early reception.
- Wilhelm Altenburg: Einige kleine Nachträge betr. Holzblasinstrumente, Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, 25. Jahrg., No. 5, pp. 1023-1024, 1904 (in German) - provides additional information on the early, enthusiastic reception of the heckelphone by some of the foremost authorities of the time, including Richard Strauss.
- Wilhelm Altenburg: Neue Mitteilungen über Holzinstrumentenbau, Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, 26. Jahrg., No. 12, pp. 345-346, 1906 (in German) - expands on the early reception of the heckelphone, the introduction of heckelphones extended to low A, and the introduction of the piccolo heckelphone.
- Gunther Joppig: Die Entwicklung der Doppelrohrblattinstrumente von 1850 bis heute und ihre Verwendung in Orchester- und Kammermusik, Kapitel 5, Verlag "Das Musikinstrument", 1980 (in German)- an excellent and comprehensive discussion of the history, construction and use of the heckelphone.
- Gunther Joppig: 75 Jahre Heckelphon: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Baritonoboen, Das Orchester, Volume 28, No. 3, pp.199-204, 1980 (in German)- a shortened version of the book chapter listed above.
- Gunther Joppig: Achtzig Jahre Heckelphon, Das Musikinstrument, Volume 33, No. 11, pp.22-26, 1984 (in German)- a revised and slightly shortened version of the book chapter listed above.
- Georg Otto Klapproth: Hundert Jahre Heckelphon (Teil 1 von 2): "Der Ton ist üppig sonor und doch lieblich zugleich", rohrblatt, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp.54-66, 2004 (in German)- a fascinating and detailed account of the invention of the heckelphone, Wilhelm Heckel's very successful promotional campaign for his new instrument, and the adoption by composers up to Hans-Werner Henze.
- Georg Otto Klapproth: Hundert Jahre Heckelphon (Teil 2 von 2): "Müssen Sie sich nur noch ein Heckelphon anschaffen", rohrblatt, Vol. 19, No. 3, pp.113-123, 2004 (in German)- full of interesting information on orchestral works and chamber music for heckelphone, detailed discussions of the solo concertos by Mielenz and Denhoff, and intriguing notes on construction details, the sound of the heckelphone and various types of reeds.
- Georg Otto Klapproth: Frederick Delius und das Heckelphon: Neue Dokumente - neue Einsichten,rohrblatt, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp.122-130, 2008 (in German)- a fascinating article on the question what instrument Frederick Delius intended to be used for the "bass oboe" partsin many of his compositions; Klapproth argues compellingly, based on recently discovered letters by Delius and a plausible assumption that the composer had heard about the heckelphone in 1904 when visiting friends in Germany, thatDelius wrote for the heckelphone rather than the baritone oboe.
- Edith Reiter:Wilhelm Heckel - Sechs Generationen im Dienste der Musik / Six Generations Dedicated To Music,Waldemar Kramer, Frankfurt/M., 384 pages, 2014 (in German and English)- an excellent account of the Heckel family's instrument making activities since the 19th century,provides historical context and details as well as an extensive list of heckel instrumentsby serial numbers (including heckelphones).
- Emil Sehnert:Das Heckelphon,in: Musik-Instrumentenkunde in Wort und Bild, Band II: Holzblasinstrumente,Emil Ludwig Teuchert and Erhard Walter Haupt, 2nd Edition,Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, pp. 69-76, 1927 (in German)- an introduction to the heckelphone and its early repertoire, written by one of the first heckelphonists, who also played the premiere performances of some of the first and most important compositions for heckelphone by Richard Strauss and Max Schillings; an earlier version of this article appeared in the 1st edition of this book, published in 1911.
- Emil Sehnert:Das Pikkolo-Heckelphon,in: Musik-Instrumentenkunde in Wort und Bild, Band II: Holzblasinstrumente,Emil Ludwig Teuchert and Erhard Walter Haupt, 2nd Edition,Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig, pp. 76-78, 1927 (in German)- an introduction to the piccolo heckelphone, providing a detailed description of its prominent use in Bach's Second Brandenburg Concerto in 1909; an earlier version of this article appeared in the 1st edition of this book, published in 1911.
- Andrew Shreeves:A Plain and Easy Introduction to Playing the Heckelphone Redux,The Double Reed, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 55-58, 2004- an introduction to heckelphone playing, with interesting notes on reed making.Sadly, this valuable article is only accessible to paying members of the IDRS or through librariesarchiving the journal.
Finally, there is my own comprehensive list of all the heckelphones ever made, and Peter Hurd's extensive repertoire collection at repertoire.heckelphone.org- both works in progress that draw from several other sources and an increasing amount of information kindly providedby heckelphone players, owners and experts around the world.
