Twirling around the tree scene: Instrument? - Restoration (1996) Discussion

[–] rtoddshaw 19 years ago

Hello Kendra! Great question. If I had not been an oboe player myself, I may not have known the answer to that question. He is holding a 16th century version of an oboe. There were no keys on instruments at that time--just finger holes to cover. Take care!

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[–] Rackon 19 years ago

We also see Merivel "practicing" or playing the oboe in a couple scenes prior to the "twirling Dance" scene at the asylum.

I love oboe, especially baroque & renaissance oboes, so I got a bit of a kick out of this,

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[–] chibikumasai 19 years ago

An oboe? Ah, well I had closed captioning on (I had recorded it on our TiVo) and it said it was a recorder. Er, not that you should take close captioning all too serious, yes, I've seen many a mistake trail across the screen.

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[–] Rackon 19 years ago

A recorder?! LOL!

Ah...the instrument in the film sounds nothing like a recorder. Much larger than a recorder as well.

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[–] ullathorne 18 years ago

Look out, here comes a former music major...

Recorders come in 4 standard sizes: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. There are also smaller and larger recorders, but they are less common. The soprano recorder is the one used to torment children and other begining music students and is probably the one you are thinking of. The bass does have a mouthpiece similar to the instrument in the movie, but is larger and is tuned to a lower key (at least, that's how I remember it, I haven't heard one in ages). The instrument in the movie could be a tenor recorder with an unusual mouthpiece, but an oboe is more likely.

And before you know me gone
Eternity and I are one.

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[–] nutsberryfarm 9 years ago

sounds like it.

🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴🌴

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[–] redbrian3655 14 years ago

Yeah...I saw the closed captioning, also. It's an oboe. I am an oboist. Recorder indeed!!! What a goof!

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[–] goleafsgo27 9 years ago

It would seem that the folks who do the captioning finally got it right, as I had it on for a bit to help me with the accents in a couple of scenes and it now says oboe.

I have seen enough to know I have seen too much. -- ALOTO

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[–] prookey-1 18 years ago

I'm sorry to answer your question with another question, but it looks like others have told you what you're looking for.

It's been a while since I've seen this, but I remember really liking the music that swells and plays through to the end of this scene. Does anyone know if this was an original scroe for the movie? Or is this an actual classical piece? If so, does anyone know the name?

Thank you so much!

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[–] RockportAnne 18 years ago

The piece that was played on the oboe during the tree scene was called NEWCASTLE. It is an old English country dance tune. I don't think it was included, sadly, on the sountrack album. You can track it down by searching for John Playford, who transcribed English country dances in the 1600s.

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[–] Rackon 18 years ago

Not only is Newcastle *on* the soundtrack to the film, this well known dance tune has been recorded by numerous early music groups - I highly recommend the version by the Baltimore Consort. If you enjoyed Newcastle there is more of these wonderful dances and ballads to be found on CD.

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[–] RockportAnne 18 years ago

It is true that Newcastle is on the soundtrack, but not the version that is in the film. There is, instead, a 40 some second version with different instrumentation. It was a disappointment. It is also true that the piece can be found on other early music CDs, but many are hard to find. And almost none are of a length that one can dance to.

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[–] Rackon 16 years ago

Truly...they are not that hard to find, and certainly shouldn't be for a music major. I have at least 3 instrumental versions on CD.

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[–] magpieskye 8 years ago

Me too, including one by The Broadside Band,

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[–] orloprat 16 years ago

As a recorder enthusiast, and as someone intimately familiar with 17th and 18th century musical instruments, I can say, without any doubt, that the instrument referred to in an oboe, or in 17th century terms, a "hautbois". The recorder was never a reed instrument.
A late reply, aye, but I only just saw the film :)

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[–] crefling 16 years ago

The instrument he is playing is the shawm, though from the soundtrack it sounds more like they recorded an oboe. The shawm is an early form of oboe.

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[–] 8 years ago

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