When composing for oboe, how useful is it to think about recorder fingerings?

Question

I'm always a bit anxious when writing for winds, because I don't really have much of a clue how passages will be executed on the specific instrument. (And I know how needlessly complicated some parts get on _my_ instruments, if the composer somehow assumes that everything is a piano...)The only wind instrument I know (a little) is recorder. Now my question is, is it actually helpful for an oboe player if I basically write a tenor-recorder part for them? What crucial differences are there between the different woodwind instruments, that need to be considered for writing idiomatic parts?I'm specifically interested about fingering here, ideally including nonstandard tricks for microtonality and special effects. Not interested in issues of orchestration, nor a lot in breathing and other time-related factors; assume I'm writing for unaccompanied solo oboe with no particular tempo constraints._{[Actually, I'm mostly thinking about an (amplified) oboe part in a metal band setting right now, but the question shouldn't really be about that.]}

Answer 1

Hello,

You don’t need to think about a recorder fingerings while you are composing some music for oboe. Some fingerings are the same but not all.

Answer 2

Hi there,

Thank you for your question!

Unfortunately knowledge of the recorder won't help a huge amount when composing for the Oboe. This is largely due to the fact that the recorder operates on simple holes either closed or half closed by the finger, whereas the oboe is more complex, with the additional silver keys added to the instrument.

The good news is that the question is very targeted - there are certain note sequences that are difficult which are then dependent on things like - do you want it to be staccato or slurred etc.

If you would like to have the music you are composing checked, let me know and I can give you a quote. I am a fully qualified Oboist with +15 years experience both in performance and composition.

Naomi.