Music from the 18th century.
This programme is dedicated to quartets for oboe and string trios from the decades around 1800.
The oboe was first made in France in the 17th century and then quickly conquered the rest of Europe. During the Classical Period, every wind ensemble playing harmony music would have an oboe in it. Additionally, it was given a role in chamber music, mostly in quartets together with violin, viola and cello. We will listen to four of these works, from the period around 1800.
Louis Massonneau (1766-1848)
1. Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello in F major (1798)
Paul Goodwin, oboe. Terzetto (Anna McDonald, violin. Jane Rogers, viola. Helen Gough, cello)
(CD: “Oboe Quartets” – Harmonia mundi HMU 907220, 1997)
Jiří Družecký (or Georg Druschetzky) (1745-1819)
2. Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello in F major (1.1.1808)
Grundmann-Quartett (Eduard Wesly, oboe. Ulrike Titze, violin. Bettina Ihrig, viola. Ulrike Becker, cello)
(CD: “Oboe Quartets Vol. 2” – CPO 555 370-2, 2023)
Franz Krommer (1759-1831)
3. Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello in F major
Ensemble Rhapsody (Michael Niesemann, oboe. Pauline Nobes, violin. Rachel Isserlis, viola. Nicholas Selo, cello)
(CD: “Wiener Oboenquartette” – ARS Produktion ARS 38 070, 2010)
Alessandro Rolla (1757-1841)
4. Piccolo Quartetto for oboe, violin, viola and cello in C major (1814)
Quartetto Bernardini (Alfredo Bernardini, oboe. Cecilia Bernardini, violin. Simone Jandl, viola. Marcus van den Munckhof, cello)
(CD: “Around Mozart” – Arcana A 482, 2021)
Additionally:
Jiří Družecký (or Georg Druschetzky) (1745-1819)
5. From Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello in C major: allegro
Grundmann-Quartett
(CD: “Oboe Quartets Vol. 2” – CPO 555 370-2, 2023)
Image: classical oboe; copy of Johann Friedrich Floth, c. 1805 (Wikipedia)
