Song & Dance (score & parts) - OB/STG4

Song and Dance (1975) by Arthur Kreutz, is a chamber work for oboe and string quartet. I discovered this piece of music in some boxes belonging to the late Arkansas State University Oboe Professor, Daniel Ross. His wife gave me these boxes of music to give to students at Dan's request. Dan was generous with his students that way. I was going through the boxes, and I discovered a handwritten score for oboe and string quartet called Song and Dance, composed by the late composer and violinist, Arthur Kreutz from the University of Mississippi. Kreutz dedicated the oboe quintet to Dan, and there was only a handwritten full score, no parts. Fifty years later, Song and Dance was premiered at the International Double Reed Society at Butler University in Indianapolis.

Arthur Kreutz was an important twentieth century composer, conductor, and violinist. He was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1906-1991. Kreutz held a Master of Arts from Columbia University and also studied at Belgium’s Royal Conservatory. He was awarded the Prix de Rome in 1940 and won a Guggenheim award. Kreutz composed other works: such as the Paul Bunyan Suite; the score to Martha Graham’s ballet, Land Be Bright in 1942; and Symphonic Blues for Orchestra in 1947. Kreutz taught from 1952-1964 at the University of Mississippi. Some of his orchestral pieces were played by the New York Philharmonic, with whom he appeared at times as a guest conductor. The University of Mississippi holds Kreutz’s papers in their library. 

Paragould, Arkansas born Daniel Ross (1944-2018) was an internationally known oboist, pedagogically and professionally. He held the position of Professor of Music and taught the Double Reed Studio at Arkansas State University from 1968-2018. Mr. Ross served as Principal Oboist with the Arkansas Symphony, Tupelo Symphony, and the Delta Symphony. He had also performed with the North Arkansas Symphony, Nashville Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony and the St. Louis Chamber Music Society. He was a frequent soloist with the Forum Sinfonia of Krakow, Poland and toured with them in the United States and Europe. Dan Ross invented and developed the Ross gouging machines, which have been helping oboists make oboe reeds since 1984.