On Thursday, October 29, I had the pleasure of attending the senior recital of Joy Pittman.  Joy plays the oboe.  I have never before paid a lot of attention to the sound of the oboe itself.  I was amazed to hear such pure notes.  Personally, I’m tend to not like very much vibrato except in a violin, so I really enjoyed the pure clean notes Joy played.  In comparison to the oboe, Joy’s sister Jamie played the flute in a oboe-flute-piano trio at the recital.  While, the flute is a nice instrument but the breathy-pipe sound of the flute was almost distracting compared to what I consider the beauty of the well-played oboe.

Oboe

Please note:  Both Joy and Jamie Pittman are excellent players.  These comments are on my personal preference about instruments not players.

Especially lately, I’ve found myself with a desire to hear more classical music.  I finally borrowed one of my brother’s compact discs of Baroque music so I can play it in my room.  [Who knows maybe Humanities has really inspired me!]  This recital was an enjoyable time that I shared with several friends as we listened to a variety of musical pieces including a Mozart quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello.  Mozart’s style had a different sound to it which went beyond the addition of instruments.  I don’t think I can put my finger on it, but the Mozart piece had a very distinctive style untypical of the other pieces at the recital.

By attending this concert I was able to hear the oboe played and really listen to this double-reed instrument.  I now have a better appreciation of the oboe.  The next time I attend an event with an orchestra I will probably try and pick out the clean, crisp notes of the oboe.