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Big beasts of the orchestra could become extinct in age of YouTube, arts chief warns
They are the big beasts of the orchestra, famous for their booming depths and resounding crescendos.
But the days of the oboe, bassoon, french horn and tuba could be numbered, an arts chief has warned, as interest from the younger generations has dwindled to such a low that the instruments now risk becoming extinct.
Lucy Noble, the Royal Albert Hall's artistic and commercial director, has blamed the demise of these orchestral instruments on the fact that the "YouTube generation" has less exposure to live music.
"Encouraging the next generation to take more of an interest in classical instruments is crucial to their survival," she said.
"If more is not done to promote the playing of these instruments we risk seeing them disappear from schools, stages, studios and screen.
"The future of any instrument is only as strong as the next generation of people willing to learn it. It would be a huge shame if any of these fantastic instruments were to become extinct."
Ms Noble said that over the last 15 years there has been a transformation in the way that young people enjoy music. "It used to be the case that to experience music one had to see it live," she told The Telegraph.
"However, the advent of online video means that many are watching music videos without being exposed to the production behind the music, which dramatically reduces the exposure of some lesser-known instruments."
Research commissioned by the Royal Albert Hall has shown that the number of children learning a classical instrument is falling.
Around one per cent of children identified the oboe, French horn, English horn, bassoon or contrabassoon as instruments that they either play or would like to play, a poll of 1,000 children found.
Meanwhile, a third of those surveyed chose the guitar, either classical or electric, as an instrument they play or would like to play, and 15 per cent said they want to play the keyboard.
Of those who play a musical instrument, a fifth said they were taught via an online tutorial, showing a shift away in the way that young people learn.
The situation is "quite serious", according to Robert Codd of the British Double Reed Society, which represents oboe and bassoon players, as well as their musical relatives such as the english horn, the bass oboe, the contrabassoon and the double bassooon.
"I think certainly the numbers have dwindled enormously in the last ten to 15 years," he said.
"Oboes and bassoons are generally not known at all in schools. They might have picture on the wall but they haven't seen them in the flesh. This has been reflected in the massive falling off of the number of children learning them.
" The sheer physical size of the instruments, the complications of the reeds, and the expense of lessons has led to these instruments being sidelined", he explained.
"I think part of it is the perceptions that guitars, saxophones and so on, are seen as being relevant, cool and part of life whereas some of these others are a bit obscure and not what they would want to be identified with," Mr Codd said.
He described how he hears from "desperate" conductors who are trying to put on concerts for national and regional youth orchestras but struggle to find oboe or bassoon players.
"They ask me: 'have you got any pupils who could come along? We need five bassoonists here, three there, two there...'"
The Double Reed Society has run a series of initiatives to try and enthuse the younger generations about their instruments.
"One thing is putting on big extravagant shows in public places and playing music people will know from the swinging '60s, from the films and from the shows. We want to do something elaborate to grab people’s attention," he said.
The demise of these orchestral instruments is part of a broader problem, Ms Noble said, which is that ministers do not value music and the arts.
"If I was in Government I would ensure it is at the heart of things," she said. "There must be a lack of understanding. It has got to be taken more seriously."
Ms Noble said it is "shocking" that children do not have to choose an arts subject for GCSE, while taking a science subject is compulsory.
"Some people hate science," she said. "It is very bias towards a certain area of the curriculum."
A report last year found that the number of pupils taking arts subjects at GCSE has fallen to the lowest level in a decade, as schools encourage bright students to shun “soft” subjects.
The Education Policy Institute analysed the uptake of GCSEs in arts subjects - including art and design, drama and theatre, music, dance, and performing arts – over the past ten years and found that there had been a drastic decline in recent years.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “High quality arts subjects are an important part of every child’s education and the proportion of pupils taking arts subjects at GCSE has remained largely stable since 2010.
“Music remains a compulsory subject from age 5 to 14 and we are investing nearly £500 million up to 2020 in a range of music and arts education programmes designed to improve arts provision for all children.
"This includes 120 music education hubs set up across the country to give every child the opportunity to play an instrument.”