The Four W’s: Guest blog post by Douglas Blackstone
I’m always happy to hear the Strauss Oboe Concerto on WBJC, as it’s a wonderful piece, one of Richard Strauss’ best works, classical in form and free of the operatic dissonance that characterized his later works. It’s also a pleasure to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra recording with Richard Woodhams as soloist.
American artist Louis Ruyl
Curtis Institute of Music
Richard (Dick) Woodhams was principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1977-2018, a very long tenure, succeeding the eminent John de Lancie, his teacher at the Curtis Institute. There were, however, other candidates for the job – notably Woodham’s classmates at Curtis.
One of those classmates was Randall (Randy) Wolfgang, with whom I shared an apartment in the late 1960s about two blocks from Curtis. The other two were Martin Woltman and David Weber. It didn’t take long for the “Four W’s” to become a talking point, and gossip abounded about de Lancie’s possible favoritism towards Curtis candidates with “W” last names!
Randy Wolfgang found a career as a first-call freelancer in New York, playing principal oboe with, among others, the NYC Ballet (37 years!) and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, with whom he recorded the Mozart Oboe Concerto. You’ve heard that on WBJC too! I saw Randy at the Ballet some years back, leaning over the pit wall before the performance to chat and catch up.
I first knew Marty Woltman in high school! We became friends in regional orchestra festivals. He was from York, PA – I from Camp Hill. Marty is a brilliant musician. He could do one thing nobody else could, and that was to sing Solfeggio using “fixed Do” (as in Do-Re-Mi.) Most of us learned to “solfege” with “moveable Do” which is much easier!* Marty was also an accomplished pianist. Shortly after his graduation from Curtis, Marty won the Assistant Principal Oboe and English Horn position with the Milwaukee Symphony, which he joined in 1972. He retired in 2014 as a highly respected Emeritus.
*In Solfege, one sings syllables rather than words, but with fixed Do, Do is always C. That’s no problem if the piece is in C, but if it’s in, say, D, then you have to sing Re as the tonic note and F# as Fa-sharp or Fis. With moveable Do, D would then be Do and F# would be Mi.
I remember David (Dave) Weber as a quiet guy – somewhat shy. But he was a good player and served as principal oboist of the Alabama Symphony from 1971 to 1993. He also became well known for his reed-making and developed quite a business, nationally and internationally. Sadly, Dave died in 2020, but his reed-making reputation survives!
Randy Wolfgang introduced me to Dick Woodhams, the youngest of the four. Dick was unassuming, short in stature, but brimming with confidence, and he had hair then! It didn’t take long for all of us to recognize that here was the real deal. Randy would say, “Watch this guy; he’s going places.” That he succeeded his teacher in the Philadelphia Orchestra is testament to that. When I listen to Woodhams’ playing, his sound is unmistakable, and of the four, the most like de Lancie.
It was a great privilege for me to spend my formative musical years with players who have made a name for themselves, because, even as students, the bar was high, and we set standards that, if met, almost guaranteed success in a highly competitive market. Hearing them on WBJC is proof of that.
Douglas Blackstone, M.M., J.D., recently retired as Director of the Odyssey Program at JHU, and from 1987-97, principal horn and later manager of the National Symphony Orchestra of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Tags:Curtis Institute of Music, David Weber, Martin Woltman, Randall Wolfgang, Richard Woodhams
