Heckelphone
Heckelfón
- Date
- 1904 · confidence high
- Place
- Wiesbaden-Biebrich, Hesse, Germany
- Credited to
- Wilhelm Hermann Heckel y Wilhelm Heckel
- Field
- Tools
What it is
A double-reed woodwind instrument resembling an oboe but pitched an octave lower and with a larger bore, created by instrument maker Wilhelm Heckel and his sons at Richard Wagner's suggestion; introduced in 1904.
What it led to
- Extension of the oboe family's low register in the orchestra
- Orchestral and operatic repertoire written specifically for the heckelphone (Strauss, Delius)
- Later derivative instruments such as the modern bass oboe