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Quartet Op 18 (score & parts)-OB/VLN/VLA/CEL

Composer: Horovitz, Joseph

Publisher: Emerson Editions (England)

Edition: 62427

$45.00

Quartet Op 18
for oboe, violin, viola, and cello
by Joseph Horovitz (b. 1926)- British composer
I. Vivo
II. Larghetto
III. Molto Allegro
This work was completed in February 1957, and premiered by the Society for the Promotion of New Music at the Wigmore Hall in London on June 4th, 1957. It is essentially of a happy and lyrical nature, influenced by the association of the oboe with pastoral scenes throughout its history. In all three movements the stringed instruments provide the landscape background in which the oboe represents, as it were, the shepherd playing his pipe. 
The first movement is in sonata form, with a relatively extended development section. Most of the movements is propelled by a rushing semi-quaver pattern in the strings. The slow movement is ABA song form, in which B is a contrapuntal elaboration of A. The mood is often wistfully elegiac and send very softly on a questioning phrase. The finale is a rondo with a romping 6/8 tune, requiring virtuoso technique from all players. It is quoted six times with more elaborate endings on each occasion. These elaborations imply modulations to distant keys which are never arrived at due to a harmonic and rhythmic surprise tactics. The final statement of the theme confirms the home key of F Major with a flamboyant flourish. 

Duration: 11:00