My Music

By Peter Pinkerton     

I was in fourth grade in 1958 (long, long ago!) when I first started with the clarinet.  I was so-so with the clarinet.  Then I changed to the oboe as a sophomore in high school (1964).  My class with the Oboe teacher was once every week.  When I was a junior and senior I was in the orchestra for the oboe and English horn, and band for the clarinet.  I was better at Oboe and clarinet.     

Then I went to college at San Jose State in 1967.  I was a music major and physical science was my minor.  For music I played the oboe and English horn.  I was seven years at college – five ½ years as an undergraduate, and 1 ½ years in graduate school.  I was in the College Orchestra for six years and two years for Symphonic Band.  I played in the operas “The Barber of Seville,” “The Crucible,” and “The Marriage of Figaro.”   I played in the musicals “Carnival,” “Carousel,” and “Man of La Mancha.”  Outside we performed “Show Boat.”     

But after San Jose State, I was very busy –going to two schools for one 1/2 years and my job was dealing  poker, lo-ball, and pan.  After I finished school there was no more oboe.    

Then I was a computer programmer for 18 years until I had my stroke on December 14, 2000.

The English word “oboe” is a phonetic rendering of the French hautbois, meaning “high wood”, which refers to the instrument’s tone.  The oboe is a double-reed woodwind.  The oboe is similar to the clarinet in many ways but the oboe does not have a mouthpiece but only have two reeds tied together.

There are four versions of oboes.  (1) Oboe is “soprano”, pitched in C; (2) oboe d’amore is “alto”, pitched in A; (3) English horn or “cor anglais” is “tenor”, pitched in F; and (4) baritone oboe is “bass” and one octave below in C.  Today the oboe and English horn is often; oboe d’amore and oboe baritone is rarely.          

Thank you,         

Peter Pinkerton