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Programme Note

The Concerto for Oboe and Strings was commissioned by Leon Goossens (to whom it is dedicated) and completed in London during August 1952. The work was first performed, by Goossens, at the Royal Festival Hall on 26th June 1953 in a concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Boyd Neel Orchestra. Arnold says that ‘the whole piece, and particularly the shape of the themes, pay tribute to Goossens’ unsurpassed bravura style: the work demands athleticism in passages with wide leaps and arpeggios during the first movement, crisp tonguing and strict rhythmic control throughout the vivace scherzo and subtlety of phrasing in the folk-like melody of the finale’.

© Alan Poulton