Heard on the Monday evening recital were two recent compositions by Canadian composers Peter Lutek and Oskar Morawetz. Lutek is a student at the University of Toronto and a bassoon student of Chris Weait, and his Duo for Oboe and Bassoon was a brief and interesting program opener. The substantial Sonata for Oboe and Piano by Morawetz, a native Czechoslovakian who moved to Canada at the age of 23, is reminiscent of Hindemith. The recital included a performance of Benjamin Britten's Six Metamorphoses and concluded with a trio for oboe, bassoon and piano by Chris Weait entitled Ten by Three, A Collection of Folksongs from Quebec. Included in the ten folksongs are one each for solo oboe, solo bassoon and solo piano, four for all three instruments together, and three for various combinations of instruments. They sounded as enjoyable to play as they were to hear.
Vrbsky performed two difficult and contrasting works -- Stefan Wolpe's Sonata for Oboe and Piano and the Quintet for Oboe and Strings by Arthur Bliss. It was a treat to hear these pieces in live performance.
John Corina followed Vrbsky by performing his own Partita for Electronic Oboe. The performance was marred by the high volume level of the equipment.
The three-movement Concertante for Oboe and Bassoon by Fiala and Deux Pieces en forme canonique with piano were enjoyable to hear and the styles proved to be a nice contrast to Symmetries. William Bergsma's Symmetries is the result of a commission by the IDRS It is a substantial work and a welcome addition to the repertoire for oboe, bassoon and piano. It will be published by Southern Music.
The recital included selections from the standard oboe repertoire: Sonata by Paul Hindemith, Ten Blake Songs for oboe and tenor by Vaughan Williams, and Poulenc's Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano. The Wind Quintet performed Ligeti's Six Bagatelles and Quintette en forme de Choros by Villa Lobos.
The highlight of the convention was Woodhams' beautifully sensitive performance of Donizetti's Sonata, Three Romances, by Schumann, Poulenc's Sonata, and Fantasie Pastorale by Eugene Bozza. The audience responded with a standing ovation.
Concluding the convention performances by guest artists was Thomas Stacy performing the Concerto in A Major by Telemann for oboe d'amore, Trinity for English horn and tape by Sydney Hodkinson (commissioned by Stacy), Hy Vong 267 for English horn and harpsichord by TON-THAT Tiet, and Donizetti's Concertino for English horn.
Clinics throughout the week were both educational and informative.
Other clinics were:
Michael Seyfrit and Stanley King -- Demonstration on 18th Century Double Reed Instruments from the Collections of the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution -- informative presentation including many rare instruments
David Dutton -- Unpublished Oboe Sonatas -- David talked about and played several sonatas on the baroque oboe.
James Ostryniec -- A Demonstration of 20th Century Oboe Techniques -- Jim gave many helpful hints to those of of us who are learning to play the music which he does so easily.
Publishers of Works Performed Monday through Thursday evenings (oboe only):