Un Rare Hautbois Baryton de Jacques Albert à Bruxelles

Jacques Albert (1849-1918) could be considered as the most important Belgian oboe maker of the 19th and early 20th centuries, due to the fact that, not only was he the son of a reputed Brussels woodwind instrument maker, Eugène Albert, but also a graduate oboist at the Brussels Royal Conservatoire. The bass oboe from the Conservatoire collection likely is a unique instrument, possibly a prototype that never had any follow-up. It might have been used for the Brussels premiere of Richard Strauss' Salome in 1906, and for the creation of Raymond Moulaert's Quatuor (1907) for oboe, oboe d'amore, English horn and bass oboe (or Heckelphone), possibly the first chamber music piece ever scoring bass oboe specifically.