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The French Oboe – Gregor Zubicky

Adolphe Deslandres: Introduction & Polonaise; Gabriel Grovlez: Sarabande & Allegro (1929); Camille Saint-Saëns: Sonata for oboe and piano, op.166; Eugéne Bozza: Fantaisie Pastoral (1939); Henri Dutilleux: Sonata for oboe and piano (1947)more…; Francis Poulenc: Trio pour piano, hautbois at basson (1926); Sonata for oboe and piano (1962)

Gregor Zubicky, piano · Matti Hirvonen, piano

The music on this album is selected as representative of the best and most typical French works for the oboe.

kr 139

The art of the French oboe

It seems natural to title this recording ”The French Oboe” because not only is the music French, but so, to a large extent, is the oboe itself. Since its origination in the second half of the 17th century, French composers have shown the instrument massive interest as a solo instrument. However, one finds relatively few concertos in the French oboe repertoire but there are many sonatas and shorter pieces. The music on this album was selected as representative of the best and most typical of these.

A precursor to this tradition is the “Introduction et Polonaise” by Deslandres. Charming and brilliant, it is the 19th century French salon music with echoes of Chopin. There is a great deal of similarity in construction between this piece and Grolvez´ “Sarabande et Allegro”, a piece which recalls the composer´s teacher Fauré. Bozza´s international reputation rests largely on his output of wind music which displays the characteristics of mid-20th century French chamber music. His “Fantaisie Pastoral” is full of melodic fluency, elegance of structure and a consistent awareness of the instrument´s capabilities. Dutilleux´s “Sonata” is one of the finest of its kind for the oboe. His distinctive art, carefully crafted and free in thought, follows on directly from the music of Debussy, Ravel and Roussel. Saint-Saens “Sonata” is firmly rooted in the 19th century; music that is gently romantic, pastoral and present in the best sense of the word. The disc concludes with two compositions by Poulenc, the most French of composers, unique in the sense that it is more introverted, saturated with melancholy – a mood few works in the oboe repertoire aspire to.

Arne Akselberg |Camille Saint-Säens |Francis Poulenc |Gregor Zubicky |Henri Dutilleux |Matti Hirvonen |Per Hannisdal

Release date:

EAN : 7025560105722

Cat.No.: PSC1057

Priskategori : CD