Oboes and English horns can sing, placate, and pierce through orchestral textures like no other wind instrument. The following concertos demonstrate the full breadth of their magic, from the worldliness of John Corigliano and Bent Lorentzen to the emotional directness of Peteris Vasks. John Harbison and Esa-Pekka Salonen couch their musical innovation in familiar forms, and Cheryl Frances-Hoad pays elegiac homage to J.S. Bach in A Refusal to Mourn. Thea Musgrave and Arne Nordheim push the interplay between soloist and ensemble to its limit, while Judith Weir uses her own experience as an oboist to explore both the lyrical qualities and percussive capabilities of the instrument.
Please enjoy a Spotify playlist of available recordings of the concertos listed below.
John Corigliano
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (1975) 26 minutes
2(pic).1.2(Ebcl).2/2.1.1.0/timp.3perc.xyl/hp.pf[=cel]/str
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Henry Cowell
Hymn and Fuguing Tune No. 10 (1955) 8 minutes
string orchestra
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Edison Denisov
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, (1986) 26 minutes
3.0.4.3/3.3.3.0/perc.chm.glock.vib/hp.cel/str
Listen on Spotify
Cheryl Frances-Hoad
A Refusal to Mourn (2000) 12 minutes
string orchestra
Listen on Spotify | View the score
John Harbison
Concerto for Oboe (1991) 21 minutes
2(pic).02+bcl(asx).3(cbn)/2.2.2.1/timp.3perc/hp/str
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Bo Holten
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (1993) 30 minutes
2.2.2.2/2.0.0.0/perc/str
View the score
Bent Lorentzen
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (1980) 19 minutes
1.1.1.1/2.1.1.0/timp.2perc/cel/str
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Thea Musgrave
Helios (1994) 17 minutes
2.1+ca.2(bcl).2/2.1.0.0/str(6.6.4.3.2)
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Marc Neikrug
Concerto for Oboe (2017)
3.3(ca).3(bcl).3/4.3.3.1/timp.3perc/hp.cel/str
View the score
Arne Nordheim
Boomerang (1985) 17 minutes
2hn/hpd/str
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Aulis Sallinen
Concerto for Cor Anglais and Chamber Orchestra (2010) 19 minutes
perc/hp.pf/str
View the score
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Mimo II (1992) 13 minutes
2(pic).0+ca.2(Ebcl,bcl).1(cbn)/2111/perc/hp.cel/str
Listen on Spotify | View the score
Judith Weir
Oboe Concerto (2018) 18 minutes
2.0.2.2/2.0.0.0/str
View the score
Peteris Vasks
Concerto for English Horn (1989) 20 minutes
2(pic).2.2.2/2.0.0.0/timp.3perc/str
Listen on YouTube
For more information on the music and potential guest soloists, please contact Andrew Stein-Zeller.
