Czaplowski: Oboe Concerto (1997)

Philip Czaplowski: Concert for oboe & String Orchestra (1997)

Jeffrey Crellin, oboe
Australia Pro Arte
19th August 1997
Melba Hall, University of Melbourne

The Concerto for oboe and strings was written at the request of Jeffrey Crellin, principal oboe of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He gave the first performance on Tuesday August 19th 1997, with Australia Pro Arte, at Melba Hall, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. The piece has since been performed by Jeffrey and the Geelong Chamber Orchestra, the Melbourne Symphony, and the Christchurch SO.

The concerto is in one movement, about 12 minutes in length, but containing three easily discernible sections. The first part is fairly slow. After a broad and contrapuntal opening by the strings, the oboe enters, and the music continues in a lyrical vein. Eventually, the tempo increases somewhat, and the second section, a mostly contrapuntal passage, leads to a brief cadenza for the soloist. This eventually leads into to the last section, an allegro. Here, the music is more urgent and virtuosic. At one point the allegro is interrupted by a brief reminder of the slower music of the first section, before the allegro returns, and the work ends in an energetic and driving coda.