Quartet for Oboe and Strings
Allegro moderato
Scherzo: Allegro moderato
Andante semplice
Rondo: Allegro molto
The composer, conductor and arranger Gordon Jacob played a distinguished role in British musical life for nearly three-quarters of the twentieth century, composing over 700 works between 1922 and his death at the age of 89. He corresponded with Vaughan Williams, taught at the Royal College of Music, where his pupils included Malcolm Arnold, and was never far from any major occasion in British music – his orchestration of the National Anthem was used in the 1953 Coronation ceremony. Few of his own major works, with the exceptions of his bassoon and trombone concertos, have entered the repertoire, but his superb orchestrations of such pieces as Elgar’s Organ Sonata and Holst’s Suite in E flat are still performed. Moreover, the astonishing variety of his shorter works for every imaginable chamber combination means that, whenever tuba quartets, viola octets, or piccolo, flute and bass flute trios are looking for repertoire, Jacob’s music is guaranteed an airing. He had a special feeling for wind instruments, and his chamber music with winds is fresh, tuneful, and written with absolute understanding of the colours and characteristics of the instruments involved.
Jacob’s particular inspiration when writing for Oboe was the playing of Léon Goossens (1897-1988), the leading British oboist of the day and the first Principal Oboe of the CBSO. Goossens premiered each of Jacob’s two Oboe Concertos (1933 and 1956), concise works displaying Jacob’s very English brand of neo-classicism. Between the two, and possessing many of the same characteristics, came this Quartet (1938). In some ways a more substantial piece than either concerto, Jacob is supposed to have regarded it as one of his finest chamber works - it is a "serious" concert work, bigger in scope and character than the suites of miniatures which make up much of Jacob’s chamber music, and moving from C minor to C major across its four movements. Critics admired it from the start, several commenting on the contrapuntal sophistication and demanding string writing with which Jacob put across his essentially cheerful musical ideas – noting, in particular the playful rhythmic complexity of the final Rondo. It was premiered at the Aeolian Hall, London, on November 3rd 1938, by Goossens and three members of the London Philharmonic, but, with the War intervening, had to wait ten years before finally being published in 1948. It has since taken its place, slightly behind Britten and Mozart, in the modest but delightful repertoire for this combination of instruments.
R.G.Bratby, 2002
Copyright Classical Notes.co.uk 2000
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