By Abby Yeakle Held

A small community of Viennese oboists exists in its own bubble, famously disconnected from the rest of the worldwide oboe community. The disconnect is both social and academic. A decade ago, no one knew this better than me. I wanted to learn more about the Viennese oboe, but the best available resources in English consisted of Wikipedia and passing statements in literature on the oboe’s history acknowledging the Viennese oboe’s existence. The frustration I experienced in trying to learn more sparked a passion to remedy the problem. Thanks to a Fulbright study/research grant, I was able to begin what has become a lifelong journey of bridging this gap.

I’m sure the vast majority of readers are wondering, “What is the Viennese oboe?” The Viennese oboe is a double-reeded woodwind instrument, played exclusively in the professional orchestras of Vienna, Austria. It is necessary to mention that the Viennese oboe is the predecessor to the modern French conservatory oboe used internationally today. Oboists in Vienna have maintained the use of their more historical oboe despite the takeover in popularity of the French oboe at the turn of the twentieth century, and they do this out of a sense of pride and tradition.

One day in the spring of 2015, after four years of radio silence, I finally received a response. The reply was from Karl Radovanovic, the maker of “Rado” Viennese oboes. His reply was friendly and provided me with the email address of the president of the Viennese-oboe society, Josef Bednarik. Though this was one of the people currently not responding to me, Radovanovic assured me that he would give his friend Bednarik a heads-up regarding my inquiry. And so I wrote another email to my long-time unrequited pen pal, Josef Bednarik—and this time, Bednarik responded.

Bednarik was happy to hear of my interest in the Viennese oboe and asked how he could help. I told him I needed a teacher to study with at the university, and he provided me with the name and email address of his friend Prof. Harald Hörth, an oboe professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (mdw). Again, another unrequited pen pal. However, Bednarik assured me just as Radovanovic had that he would pass along a heads-up. On it went like this, a series of dominoes establishing a connection to the people and resources I needed.

Soon I began preparing my second, improved Fulbright application armed with two strong letters of affiliation from the society president, Josef Bednarik, and my soon-to-be teacher, Prof. Harald Hörth. The time in between my application also gave me the opportunity to improve my German language skills! I submitted my application and did what we all do: I waited.

I was clocking into my part-time job when I received the infamous “P-Status” subject line email. The culmination of four years of efforts, frustrations, and obstacles had finally been given a green light. My stubborn and unrelenting passion for this research had paid off.

Perhaps most importantly, my Fulbright year allowed me to form strong relationships with Viennese oboists. Though setting up initial contact was a great challenge, the community proved quite welcoming of me and supportive of my research. My affiliate, Josef Bednarik, was my guide to the community and could always be counted on for conversion or a needed introduction. My other affiliate, Prof. Hörth, went above and beyond the call of simply being my teacher. He also allowed me to interview him as a primary resource and served as an unofficial advisor to my research. My studiomates allowed me to observe their lessons and helped me by providing pointers on the Viennese oboe. However, it wasn’t just friendliness, it was friendship. I met with studiomates for many social occasions such as coffee, ice skating, attending concerts, and even birthday parties.

I was fortunate to be able to bring home the most epic souvenir—a Viennese oboe! In order to do this, I had fundraised before traveling to Vienna. With a price tag pushing $10,000, this was not a small fundraising goal. I am incredibly grateful to my various donors, as owning this instrument has been a complete game changer for the ways that I’m able to share my research with others.

After the Fulbright

The Fulbright mission implores us to promote mutual understanding between Austria and the United States throughout our research and academic communities. Upon returning to the US, I began what will certainly become a lifelong journey of sharing the Viennese oboe with others. It is my aim to better connect the Viennese and worldwide oboe communities by creating more resources on the Viennese oboe, thus improving access to information. In order to accomplish this, I have actively sought out many platforms for sharing my research, which are detailed in the following sections.

My first year back in the United States, I toured a Viennese-oboe lecture-recital as an invited guest artist to five major universities across the country. These included: University of Colorado-Boulder, Lawrence University, University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Arizona State University, and University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since then, I have also been to Kansas State University, Baylor University, and soon Illinois State University. A lecture-recital is the perfect event format for sharing my research, as it allows the audience the rare opportunity to hear the Viennese oboe in a live setting and to learn about it in an interactive lecture.

The most exciting venue where I’ve presented this lecture-recital was the 75th annual International Double Reed Society conference. This took place virtually during the summer of 2021. My lecture-recital was one of the most highly attended events of the weeklong conference. The Q&A chat box was full of questions during the event, and I received many email follow-ups.

Sebastian Breit was a student in mdw’s preparatory academy during my Fulbright year. He also studied with my teacher and often had his lesson right before or after mine. We even gave a joint recital together that many members of my Fulbright cohort attended. It was remarkable to see his progression from 17-year-old prep student to newly appointed solo oboist of one of the world’s most important orchestras.

Articles published with the Wiener Oboen-Journal

The Viennese-oboe journal has asked me to write a number of articles for them. Naturally, their publication is in German, so this has proved a wonderful exercise for my language skills. I am eternally grateful to their kind and patient editor, Ernst Kobau, who corrects my errors without judgment and helps me sound more polished.

The next three articles were requested by the editor. In 2021, Kobau asked me to share the results of my time spent in Vienna and what I had been doing since. From this came the second article, “Die Wichtigkeit der Wiener Oboe” (“The Importance of the Viennese Oboe”), which contained excerpts of my previously mentioned article published with the IDRS Double Reed. The IDRS was happy to approve this request in hopes of improving communication and collaboration between their two societies.

Next was the third article, “Die Wiener Oboe in den USA” (“The Viennese Oboe in the USA”), which gave a report on my lecture-recital tour across the US. This was a fun article to share, as it was filled with photo collages from each university tour stop where students are holding or trying the Viennese oboe. This article also gives special note to audience perception of the Viennese oboe and common questions fielded during the Q&A sessions.

During my most recent visit, I observed multiple days of my former teacher, Hörth, teaching lessons at mdw. Before each lesson, he took a moment to introduce me and proudly informed each and every student that I was their very own “Madame Ambassador.” Hörth is not the only member of the Viennese-oboe community who refers to me with this term of endearment, and many members of the community have expressed their gratitude for the outreach that I do.

Anytime I get tagged in a social-media post for a group dedicated to oboists, I already know what it’s about before I read it. In every instance, the author has posted a question about the Viennese oboe, and what’s telling is how basic it is. The question is always something like, “Why do the oboes in the Vienna Philharmonic look different?,” “Is the Viennese oboe played in other Austrian cities?,” or “Does the Viennese oboe use the same fingerings?” In these Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members, I am quickly tagged and alerted to the presence of the question—and I am always happy to chime in.