Oboe Quartet Op.70 (Miniature Score)

Work for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello. Parts available: CH56341.

This quartet was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts and written in the autumn of 1967. It is dedicated to Lady Norton and is the second ofLennoxBerkeley’s three works written with the oboist, the late Janet Craxton, in mind, the other two being his Sonatina OP 61 and Sinfonia Concertante OP 84.

The work begins with a fairly extended introduction, leading without abreakinto an Allegro. The whole composition is based on the internal of a third (sometime major, sometimes minor), which is heard in the opening phrase of the introduction and again in the main theme of the Allegro, though herein atotally different context. The allegro is in more or less traditional sonata form. The middle movement is a kind of Scherzo, growing out of a rhythmical figure for the strings and a rapid arpeggio (major and minor chords)forthe oboe. This is a Presto; a more relaxed middle section, corresponding to the Trio in a classical work, is followed by a much shortened version of the Scherzo. The last movement is brief but very slow, all fourinstrumentstaking up in turn a gently rocking figure that moves to and fro between two notes always a major or minor third apart. The music becomes more animated, but returns to the opening figure and dies away, each instrumentdroppingout, one after the other, leaving the cello alone in the last bar.