Brod, Henri

Geoffrey Burgess

https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40419
Published in print: 20 January 2001
Published online: 2001

( b Paris, June 13, 1799; d Paris, 5/April 6, 1839). French oboist, wind instrument maker and composer .
He studied at the Paris Conservatoire from 1812 under Gustave Vogt, who shared Brod’s Protestant
Alsatian background. Having received the premier prix in 1818, the following year Brod was appointed
second oboist in the Opéra orchestra alongside his teacher. During Vogt’s absences in 1826 and 1828
Brod filled Vogt’s place as first oboist. The abilities of the two players were often compared; Fétis
found Brod’s tone sweeter than that of his teacher. A statuette by Dantan jeune (Paris, Musée
Carnavalet) caricatures Brod playing a musette. He died just 3 months before he would have been
eligible for a pension to support his wife and young son. His widow petitioned repeatedly for support
from the administration of both the Conservatoire and Opéra.

Oboes by Brod, some made in collaboration with his brother Jean-Godefroy (b ?1801) were held in high
regard. Brod had acquired tools and plans from Christophe Delusse (fl 1781–89), and his earliest oboes
were modelled on those of Delusse. Brod quickly gained a reputation for innovation and did much to
influence the oboe’s development. He was probably the first oboe maker in France to add octave keys,
to extend the range to b (and on some instruments to a) and to design a pierced plate to half close the
first hole. Brod promoted a straight english horn (cor anglais moderne), conceived an hautbois
baritone, pitched an octave below the treble oboe, and made a petit hautbois, pitched above the treble
oboe. It was reported that he was developing an oboe with Boehm keywork. Other inventions include a
gouging machine used in oboe and bassoon reed making. His two-part Méthode pour le hautbois (Paris,
1825–35), includes important technical information and explains the rationale for these innovations.

In addition to pièces de salon, romances and operatic fantasies for oboe, including Variations on Lucia
di Lammermoor and Siège de Corinthe, Brod composed an opera on Quinault’s libretto Thesée which
was rejected by the audition panel of the Opéra in 1826. The only known performance of excerpts of
this score (now lost) took place in 1837 under the direction of F.-A. Habeneck. A definitive list of Brod’s
compositions has yet to be established.

Bibliography
FétisB; SchillingE; YoungHI

F.J. Fétis: ‘Variétés: Machine à faire les anches de hautbois et de basson’, Revue musicale, 14
(1834), 221 only

P. Hedrick: ‘Henri Brod’s “Méthode pour le hautbois” Reconsidered’, The Consort, no.30 (1974),
53–62

K. Ventzke: ‘Henri Brod (1799–1839): ein Oboenvirtuose als Oboenbauer’, Tibia (1977), 347–50

P. Hedrick: ‘Henri Brod on the Making of Oboe Reeds’, Journal of the International Double Reed
Society, 6 (1978), 7–12

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C.D. Lehrer: ‘A List of Henri Brod’s Compositions with a Short Discussion of his Oboe
Concertos’, Journal of the International Double Reed Society, 19 (1991), 5–17

See also

Oboe, §III, 4(iv): Larger and smaller European oboes, Tenor oboes., v) English horn

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Subscriber: Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique; date: 22 October 2020