While touring the United States ten years ago, Jiri Tancibudek visited Bloomington, Indiana. At that time I was doing graduate work at Indiana University. His trip to IU was of special interest to me, as I was preparing the Martinu Concerto for performance. Touching on numerous topics, his class was extremely informative. I was fortunate enough to spend some time grilling him about the Concerto. His recording of the work had recently been issued on SAREC, so many aspects of the piece were fresh in his mind. (There is a possibility that this recording will be available again in the near future, remastered on compact disc.)
A portion of our discussion dealt with what are generally considered to be errors in the score When I showed Tancibudek what I had altered in my part, he offered double that number of changes. With the centenary of Martinu's birth and Tancibudek's article in this issue, it seemed appropriate to provide this material as a companion to Tancibudek's writings.
In a recent letter (March 26,1990) Tancibudek addressed my questions regarding the number of errors in the score. He responded: "Why there are so many errors, I do not know. They even spelled wrongly my surname as you can see." ("They" refers to the publishers; the dedication in the score reads "a Jiri Tancibudeck.") Martinu did not supervise the final editing process. He died in 1959, and the concerto was published in 1960. Having seen a portion of the manuscript score and Martinu's calligraphy, I can symphathize with the editors. Some of the notation is difficult to decipher.
Below is a list of corrections provided by Tancibudek. In addition, there are several suggestions that he offered regarding interpretation. These are included in a separate list. All rehearsal numbers are in bold type and refer to the oboe/piano score published by Editions Max Eschig.
Movement I
1) after 7, measure 6, beat 2: notes should be d-flat, b-flat, c-natural, e-flat, f-flat, e-flat
2) after 8, m. 2 to m. 3: b-flat at end of m. 2 should be slurred to the g-flat in m. 3
3) after 8, m. 5: third and sixth sixteenth notes should be d-natural
4) at 9: four measures rest, not five
5) after 9, m. 4: tempo is slightly slower from this point until five measures before 12
6) after 10, m. 2: second eighth should be c-sharp
7) at 11: third sixteenth should be a-flat
8) after 12, m. 8: fourth sixteenth should be a-natural
Movement II
All of the following statements refer to the first page of the second movement as it appears in the Eschig oboe solo part.
1) line 3, first quintuplet: e-flat should be d-flat
2) line 3, in the group of four sixteenths: d-flat should be d-natural
3) line 4, end of line: the "c" before the first ascending sixteenth note triplet is a c-natural
4) at 4, delete the d-natural from the ascending passage
5) last note on the page: d-flat to e-flat trill
Movement III
1) after 3 (and after 12) m. 7 and m. 9: quarter note on beat one is slurred to the first eighth of beat two; second eighth of beat two is staccato
2) after 7, m. 8, beat 2: e-natural should be e-flat
3) at 8: first note should be c-sharp
For the remainder: the references are to page seven of the oboe part and are given by line. "Beats" refers to quarter note increments from the beginning of the line.
4) line 5 (after 10), beat 2: printed "c" should be b-natural
5) line 6, beat 3: as printed, reads g, a, e-flat, c, a, c; should read g, b-flat, e-natural, c, a-flat, c
6) line 6, beat 6: the third sixteenth is an e-natural (e-flat does not carry over from two beats previous)
7) line 6, last beat: the dotted eighth is a c-natural (c-sharp doesn't carry over)
8) line 7, beat 5: the second eighth is an e-natural
9) line 8, beat 1: the seventh thirty-second note reads d-flat; should be e-flat
10) line 9 (last line): the half note at the fermata should be an e-natural (In the original score, this was the location of an orchestral interlude and the second cadenza Tancibudek mentions in his article. If the second cadenza is not performed, the e-natural is necessary for the transition for the Allegro.)
Additional recommendations from Tancibudek Movement I
1 after 10, in 3: slur the first two notes of each triplet group
2) after 10, m. 4: slur the first two notes of each triplet group in the first beat; second beat as it appears in the score
Movement III
1) from six measures after 6 to 7: this should be perceived/played as a "polka"
2) after 13, m. 4: slur the sixteenths in four note
groups
(Martinu Oboe Concerto: c by Editions Max Eschig; international copyright secured; reprinted by permission of G. Schirmer, Inc.)
About the author
James Brody joined the University of Colorado music faculty
in 1986. Prior to that time, he taught at universities and played
in orchestras in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. As a chamber
musician, he has toured extensively with Music Outreach,
a performance/discussion program he created in 1983, and with
the Camerata. Woodwind Quintet. Brody has studied with Jerry Sirucek,
William Baker, John Mack, Marcel Moyse and on the Baroque oboe
with Grant Moore and James Caldwell. His degrees are from Indiana
University and The Ohio State University.