Oboist brings more 'Hidden Gems' to light
LAWRENCE — Even though she said it’s “hardly revolutionary” to rescue old music from an archive, oboist Margaret Marco is still excited to bring out a new recording of French baroque period compositions, some of which have been unheard for 300 years.
In “Hidden Gems: Sonatas of the French Baroque, Vol. II,” the University of Kansas professor in the School of Music presents five works, comprising 22 movements, by three composers: Nicolas Chédeville, Jacques-Christophe Huguenet and Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre. Marco is joined on the recording by her fellow KU music professor, cellist Hannah Collins, and KU alumna Elisa Williams Bickers on harpsichord.
The new collection follows her 2009 recording with a similar title. That one also featured works by Chédeville and Huguenet, along with other composers.
Chédeville is from “the first family of the oboe,” as Marco put it, composed of inventors, players and composers from the baroque period (1600-1750), during which the former military band instrument became standardized for indoor use. But Chédeville's compositions that Marco unearthed in the French Bibliothèque Nationale were never formally published and thus languished for centuries.
“In the day, performers had a particular approach to interpretation. This affected everything from dynamics, to articulation to phrasing and especially ornamentation,” Marco said. “In the baroque period, players improvised ornaments on the fly. Modern-day performers also need to hone this skill.
“In French baroque, everything was influenced by dance music — not just minuets but bourrées, chaconne and others. These sonatas weren't meant to be danced to, but they were influenced by those dances.”
Marco said the current project originated from her doctoral research, inspired by the work of oboe scholar Bruce Haynes.
“I was struck by the fact that I had never played a piece by French baroque composer, and yet the oboe has such a legacy in France,” Marco said. “The period of 1660-1730 saw one of the most significant eras of repertoire development, instrument making and performance practice in the history of the oboe. Unfortunately, most modern performers are unaware of the extent to which the music and practices of this time and particularly music of the French tradition influenced our modern-day approach to oboe playing.
“When I got to the University of Kansas, I used my new-faculty research grant to spend a summer in Paris. I went to the library every day and looked at all the hundreds of works for oboe there. I was able to make a lot of photocopies and brought many of them back with me. I have played through all of them and picked the composers and pieces I thought would be the most appealing and attractive to record.”
Marco said it is well known that a lot of unpublished music can be found in libraries and archives.
“I just feel lucky — like I hit the jackpot — in going to the BNF and finding all this music for my instrument that had yet to be published, that had yet to be edited. There wasn't even a fully realized accompaniment part — the keyboard part wasn't fully realized.
“I am especially excited about discovering six solo sonatas and six trio sonatas by Jacques Christophe Huguenet. His name didn’t appear in Haynes’ book, and no one I know has ever heard of him. It’s gratifying to unearth his truly delightful pieces, which most likely haven’t been performed since they were stowed away in the Bibliothèque Nationale nearly 300 years ago. My hope in presenting these pieces is that they will gain wider recognition and expand the oboe repertoire. They are inventive, engaging sonatas that deserve many a performance.”
Image: Margaret Marco, professor of oboe at the University of Kansas, and the cover of her new recording. Credit: Courtesy Margaret Marco