The Heckelphone (German: Heckelphon) is a musical instrument created by Wilhelm Heckel and his sons. The idea to invent the instrument was suggested by Richard Wagner during a visit to Wilhelm Heckel in 1879. The Heckelphone was introduced in 1904. It looks similar to an oboe but sounds one octave lower, like a bass oboe. In addition to its lower pitch, the Heckelphone has a larger hollow space inside, called a bore.

General characteristics

The heckelphone is a double reed instrument in the oboe family. It has a wider bore than the oboe, which gives it a heavier and more powerful sound. It is an octave lower than the oboe and can play down to the note A. The heckelphone uses the treble clef, but the notes sound an octave lower than written. It was created to provide a strong oboe-like sound in the middle range of large orchestral music from the early 1900s. In orchestras, it is often used as the lowest voice in a group of oboes, along with the cor anglais (English horn), to fill the space between the oboes and bassoons.

The heckelphone is about 1.3 meters (4 feet 3 inches) long and is heavy. It must rest on the floor, supported by a short metal peg attached to the large bell, called the "Liebesfuss." A second bell, known as a "muting" bell, can also be used to reduce the sound when playing in small groups. This setup is unique among double reed instruments. It is played with a double reed similar to those used in bassoons or large cor anglais instruments.

Smaller versions, called piccolo-heckelphones and terz-heckelphones, were made. These were pitched in high F and E flat, but they were not as commonly produced or successful as the baritone-range heckelphone.

Musical uses

The heckelphone was first used in Richard Strauss's 1905 opera Salome. Later, Strauss included the instrument in Elektra and An Alpine Symphony, although some parts in An Alpine Symphony require notes that are too low for the heckelphone to play. The instrument also appeared in Josephslegende and Festliches Präludium. Composers such as Edgard Varèse used the heckelphone in works like Amériques (1918–1921) and Arcana (1925–1927), and Carlos Chávez included it in Sinfonía de Antígona (1933). In Aaron Copland's Short Symphony (Symphony No. 2, 1931–1933), a musician is asked to play both the cor anglais and the heckelphone. If a heckelphone is not available, the cor anglais may be used for all parts.

The heckelphone was also used by Gordon Jacob in his Variations on Annie Laurie, which was performed at the first Hoffnung Music Festival Concert in London, UK, in 1956. Information about this performance can be found in Annetta Hoffnung's biography of Gerard Hoffnung and in the sleeve notes of the complete Decca recording of the concert.

The heckelphone is often mistaken for F. Lorée's redesigned hautbois baryton, introduced in 1889. The term "bass oboe" is sometimes used to describe both instruments. Some early-20th-century English composers, such as Gustav Holst in The Planets (1916) and Frederick Delius in A Mass of Life (1904–1905) and Dance Rhapsody No. 1 (1908), used the "bass oboe." Arnold Bax and Havergal Brian also included the instrument in their works. However, it is not always clear which instrument composers intended, as some may have been unsure of the difference. Richard Strauss, however, clearly described the heckelphone and the bass oboe in his 1904 revision of Hector Berlioz's Grand Traité d'instrumentation et d'orchestration modernes, and he named the instrument in his scores, avoiding confusion.

The heckelphone has also been used in chamber music. One famous example is Paul Hindemith's Trio for Heckelphone, Viola, and Piano, Op. 47 (1928). Graham Waterhouse also composed Four Epigraphs after Escher, Op. 35 (1993), for the same instruments.

The heckelphone appears in the orchestral music of Finnish composer Kalevi Aho. It is heard in his operas Insect Life (1985–1987), The Book of Secrets (1998), and Before We Are All Drowned (1995/1999), as well as in his symphonies No. 6 (1979–1980), No. 11 (1997–1998), No. 13 (2003), No. 15 (2009–2010), No. 17 (2017), and in his Piano Concerto No. 1 (1988–1989), Contrabassoon Concerto (2004–2005), and Oboe Concerto (2007). American composer William P. Perry included the heckelphone in a double reed quartet for the film The Mysterious Stranger. The heckelphone also appears in the concert band piece Two Sketches From The Orient by Cecil Burleigh, Op. 55, arranged by N. Clifford Page and published by Oliver Ditson Company in 1926 and 1928.

Modern use

The heckelphone is a rare instrument in orchestras, used mainly for its deep, low sounds. Only about 150 have ever been made, and around 100 are still in existence. Most professional orchestras do not include it in their regular instrument lists.

The first meeting of the North American Heckelphone Society happened on August 6, 2001, at Riverside Church in New York City. Six heckelphonists attended, which may have been the first time six of these instruments were played together in one place. Later meetings included up to 14 heckelphones. The group held annual meetings in New York until 2006.

The 100th anniversary of the heckelphone in 2004–2005 led to several articles about the instrument in specialized music journals. These included two in the German journal Rohrblatt by Georg Otto Klapproth of Cologne; a detailed review titled "The Heckelphone at 100" by Robert Howe and Peter Hurd in the 2004 Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society; and a two-part article by Michael Finkelman in the 2005 issues of The Double Reed.

A recent development is the Lupophon (Lupophone), a larger version of the heckelphone designed to play even lower notes, such as those needed for the Alpine Symphony.

Selected solo and chamber works

• Mielenz, Hans Concerto, Op. 60 for heckelphone and orchestra
• Ewazen, Eric Quintet for Heckelphone and String Quartet

Discography

• Robert Howe, Heckelphone; Alan Lurie, Michael Dulac, piano (2005). Centennial Recital for Heckelphone. Wilbraham Music.
• Paul Winter Consort (1990). Earth: Voices of a Planet. Living Music.
• Paul Winter Consort (1995). The Man Who Planted Trees. Living Music.
• Paul Winter Consort (2010). Miho: Journey To The Mountain. Living Music.
• Winter, Paul (1994). Prayer for the Wild Things. Living Music.
• Grossman and others (2002). Music by Paul Hindemith. Centaur Records.
• Arthur Grossman, Heckelphone; Lisa Bergman, piano. Arthur Grossman Plays Heckelphone. Wilhelm Heckel GmbH.
• Vittorio Piredda, "Voci in guerra" (2018) for heckelphone, harp, cello and photosongs.
• Martin Frutiger, Heckelphone; "Uncommon Concertos" Fabian Müller: Concerto for Heckelphone and Orchestra. ARS Produktion (2024).