You’re so precise He wipes his eyes with a handkerchief chuckles some more Mr Rimondi is the only one who uses my real name Everyone else calls me Maddie except Aria calls me Mad and Strum calls me M They both hate the musical names our parents gave us But I like them They define us as a family even if sometimes there is dissonance My Oboe While my reed soaks in a small cup of warm water I assemble my oboe gently screwing in each piece in the right order Order is good Order is calming Just like even numbers Order helps me to stop thinking bad thoughts About me throwing up 4
People bleeding Or someone dying The last thing to be inserted is my reed It tastes earthy the way fallen leaves smell before they get wet Oboe reeds are fragile Twin pieces of cane carved out and pressed together My best friend Emma plays the clarinet which uses a wider single reed sturdier and less breakable Clarinets also sound different deeper and mellower Oboes sound a lot like ducks That was why Prokofiev chose the oboe to represent a duck in Peter and the Wolf Peter and the Wolf There is an oboe solo in Peter and the Wolf that’s so beautiful it makes my throat burn That solo reminds me of the time Daddy took us 5
to see Peter and the Wolf performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra when I was seven We sat in the second tier the three of us bookended by Maman and Daddy We were all riveted Well Strum and I anyway Aria was eleven She yawned a big fake yawn pretending to be bored Probably hoping Strum would agree with her When the oboist played the duck’s theme I tugged Strum’s arm Listen I whispered Isn’t it beautiful Strum was fourteen then He didn’t talk to me much But that evening Strum leaned over blue eyes wide open You’re right It makes my body hum And it feels like like coming home 6
I’m only the second oboe but I want to play that solo in the school orchestra’s winter concert which is three months away I’ll need to work hard to prove I’m good enough Perfect Today’s lesson is Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suites by Edvard Grieg I love this song It’s bright and uplifting I begin to play my chest filling up with the notes swelling from the magic I concentrate on my embouchure the proper shaping of my mouth to achieve the perfect vibration The perfect sound Everything must be perfect 7
