English Horn -> Oboe

So, for two of our concert band pieces, I'm supposed to switch from Oboe to English Horn. Unfortunately, our school doesn't have one. =P. So I have to transpose the music to Oboe. The thing is, it doesn't sound right because I've had to change some octave things because if I would have kept the transposed note, it'd be below the oboe's range.

Should I bring the rest of the English Horn solo up the octave to make it have the same up/down melody, or just keep it as is?

(Second American Rhapsody... i think, by Clare Grundman, and Africa: Ceremony and Spiritual... but i can't remember the composer with this one.)

Well, if no oboe is available, they usually substitute with a muted trumpet, soo...... no English horn, how about a muted trombone or baritone? Could bassoon play it?

Ask your band director.

(He probably doesn't bite, but you can never be too careful...)

Yeah, I would agree with RavingSpleen... defer to the band director's judgement.

Musically, it would probably sound better on alto saxophone than haphazardly transposed for oboe.

Originally Posted by flint-wwrr

haphazardly transposed for oboe.

...that makes me feel better. =P

I guess I'll ask.

No offense intended... haphazard is the wrong word for the concept I was attempting to put forth. :/

Oboe and English Horn have the same fingerings right?, just take it up the octave.

Now, that wouldn't work, actually. They don't have the same fingering in that particular sense, the difference between them is not a perfect octave. So to play a G on English horn is a C on an oboe, different fingering. Fingering is really not the problem though, the goal is to best match the tone of the English horn.

If there is no English Horn, sometimes an oboe d'amore (in A) might work, as it can get a couple of notes lower than the common oboe (lowest concert pitch=G# under middle C), and is an effective compromise between the tones of the two more widely-used aerophones (listen to Bach's concerto BWV 1055 [I strongly recommend the Douglas Boyd performance--first movement], or the "Et in Spiritum" from J. S. Bach's Mass in B Minor). The instrument has a bocal, similar to English Horn. Also, it really isn't too terribly expensive to rent these instruments for a specific concert date if you're really "going for the gold" with a performance.

If his school could get an oboe d'amore, I'm sure they could just get the English horn in the first place.
The problem is dealing with what they already have on hand.