PEDAGOGY
The aim of this page is to offer inspiring information and a more comprehensive aid to the study and the performance of solo works for oboe, particularly from the XXth and the XXIst century.
All the documents available online (videos, pdf files, etc.) can be viewed and downloaded free of charge.
You can also request a free lesson on one of these works.
Sequenza VII (1969)
Luciano Berio
More than 50 years after its premiere, Sequenza VII is considered as one of the major works in the oboe repertoire, having acquired the status of a quasi-mythical work.
I’ve never found a single document that completely satisfied my curiosity about this piece. Berio’s 100th anniversary has inspired me to share the fruit of my research, both historical and instrumental.
You will soon find here information about the genesis of the piece, testimonials from oboists who have worked on Sequenza VII throughout their careers and of course, an appendix providing various alternate fingerings compiled from my own experience and different sources.
Jeux (1971)
Gilbert Amy
Jeux is a so-called ‘open’ or ‘mobile’ piece, in which a wide range of choices are delegated to the performer (path, speed, sound parameters, articulations, etc.)
This mode of composition is specific to an artistic movement that swept through the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and from which the composers of the Darmstadt School - who felt that control of all the parameters of the score had ended up depriving the performer of their freedom - drew inspiration in their search to redefine the balance of roles between composer and performer.
Alef (1965)
Niccolo Castiglioni
Alef appears to be one of the first musical implementations of the new technical possibilities of the oboe, listed and published in the early 1960s by Bruno Bartolozzi then by Heinz Holliger. The piece consists of 6 sequences for which Castiglioni proposes 6 different arrangements, depending on whether played from 1 to 6, from A to F or from I to VI.
Solo (1971)
Bruno Maderna
Solo consists of six contrasting sections, which can be played either on the oboe, musette, oboe d'amore or cor anglais. The sequences use various technical possibilities of our instrument and their arrangement is totally free.
The single additional note written by the composer opens up almost infinite possibilities for the performer : "The succession of fragments and sequences is decided by the performer, as is the choice of instrument with which to play them. These sections can be repeated with variations in parameters, interpolations, etc.".
