Oboe Sonata (Saint-Saëns)

Camille Saint-Saëns's Oboe Sonata in D major, Op. 166 was composed in 1921, the year of the composer's death.

This sonata is the first of the three sonatas that Saint-Saëns composed for wind instruments, the other two being the Clarinet Sonata (Op. 167) and the Bassoon Sonata (Op. 168), written the same year. These works were part of Saint-Saëns's efforts to expand the repertoire for instruments for which hardly any solo parts were written, as he confided to his friend Jean Chantavoine in a letter dated to 15 April 1921: "At the moment I am concentrating my last reserves on giving rarely considered instruments the chance to be heard."[1]

The piece is dedicated to Louis Bas, first solo oboe with the Societé du Conservatoire de l'Opéra.

Structure

It is written in three movements:

  1. Andantino
  2. Ad libitum – Allegretto – Ad libitum
  3. Molto allegro

The movements are not ordered according to the traditional fast-slow-fast sonata system. The tempo of the movements increases successively.

The first movement, Andantino, is music of a pastoral kind, in ternary form ABA. The opening theme of the oboe solo is an echo of the Westminster Quarters.

The core of the second movement is a Romance, marked Allegretto. It is preceded by an introduction and followed by an epilogue.[2] The introduction and epilogue are marked ad libitum - that is, the performer is free to choose the tempo considered most appropriate.

The last movement, titled Molto allegro, short and brilliant, has passages of great difficulty and virtuosity.[3]

References
  1. Ratner, Sabina Teller (2002). Camille Saint-Saëns, 1835–1922: A Thematic Catalogue of his Complete Works, Volume 1: The Instrumental Works. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-19-816320-6.
  2. Krakenberger, Juan (8 May 2002). "El Oboe en la música francesa del siglo XX" (in Spanish). Mundoclasico.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
  3. Krakenberger, Juan (19 December 2007). "Protagonista: el oboe" (in Spanish). Mundoclasico.com. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
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