Oboe Concerto

oboe concerto

1. Allegro moderato
2. Andante espressivo
3. Rondo – Allegro assai

            This concerto was commissioned by Brian Brown for the Warwickshire Schools’ String Orchestra and oboist, Simon Beezley, who gave the first performance at the Edinburgh Festival in 1982. The work is dedicated to my wife, Jane, who, as an oboist, was able to advise on any technical problems as they arose.

The first movement develops and contrasts three musical ideas: a rising G minor scale which turns back from the flattened seventh only to substitute it with the sharpened leading note; a gently syncopated second subject in the relative major, which is interrupted by a spiky motif in seven-eight time. After a brief recapitulation the movement ends gently in the major key.

The Andante Espressivo is in ternary form, the oboe decorating the return of the main melody played by a solo violin. As in the first movement, a certain intentional ambiguity of major and minor tonality is important.

The final Rondo shows off the oboe’s wit, considerable agility and unsurpassed staccato, and it is undeniable that some spicy Gallic influences have infected the thematic material, though I am at a loss to account for a brief visit by the Queen of Sheba!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Guy Woolfenden