Music of the Day, 1 May 2025
hello, heckelphone
I first listened to today’s MotD a few weeks ago, but it’s intermittently popped up in my YouTube recommendations for much longer than that. It isn’t what I typically listen to in the classical music genre; much of the appeal is in its three distinctive instruments.
The Death of Myrddin (Merlin) is a tone poem composed by Brett Newton; the video above is of its world premiere in Leeds, England. If you’re having trouble identifying the three instruments, they are (left to right from the viewer’s perspective): bass oboe, played by Mikey Sluman; bassoon, played by David Baker; and heckelphone, played by John McDougall. The heckelphone is in the oboe family and is pitched an octave lower than the standard oboe. Its larger bore gives it a heavier sound than the bass oboe.
This piece allows the listener to easily distinguish between the three instruments. It’s also dark and brooding, which is hitting me in my feels today. One may need to be a fan of the double reeds to like The Death of Myrddin; as I’m firmly in that group, it’s been a pleasure to listen to it a few times this morning. This may have been my introduction to the bass oboe as well as the heckelphone, so I’m finding a lot to focus on.
I haven’t yet listened to any other compositions by Newton, but after visiting his website (linked above) and seeing his background image, it’s imperative that I do. Anyone who composes a piece that includes seven different clarinets is my kind of composer. His YouTube channel also looks like a valuable resource: in addition to performances like today’s MotD, it has several informational videos on unusual instruments. I don’t know where to dive in, and I’m delighted by that dilemma.
According to its Wiki page (linked above), about 150 heckelphones were made, and only around 100 are known to still exist. After hearing The Death of Myrddin, I’m thoroughly enchanted by its sound and can see how it would fit in nicely to a modern symphony orchestra, as well as several wind ensemble configurations. It would make my year, musically speaking, to discover a piece that has both the heckelphone and bass flute.1
I also wouldn’t envy the sound engineer’s work capturing a performance of it; the bass flute is much quieter than the heckelphone
Brooding. Matches the mood for sure.