Oboe Concerto (Corigliano)


The Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is a composition for solo oboe and orchestra by the American composer John Corigliano. The work was commissioned by the New York State Council on the Arts and was first performed in Carnegie Hall on November 9, 1975, by the oboist Bert Lucarelli and the American Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama.

Composition

Background

Corigliano described the composition of the Oboe Concerto in the score program notes, writing:

Structure

The concerto has a duration of roughly 26 minutes and is composed in five short movements:
  1. Tuning Game
  2. Song
  3. Scherzo
  4. Aria
  5. Rheita Dance

    Instrumentation

The work is scored for a solo oboe and orchestra, comprising two flutes, oboe, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, three percussionists, xylophone, harp, piano, and strings.

Reception

Edward Seckerson of Gramophone praised the concerto, writing: