(The following first appeared in The Australian, May 1, 1984 in "The Arts" section. It is reprinted by permission. Editors.)
After a six-day working week, 36 hours of performance, and playing as many as five different pieces how does an orchestra musician unwind?
Well, some go to the beach, some to the pub, and some sit in front of the television. But others unwind by taking a busman's holiday - they play more music.
Not for another orchestra, but usually in ensembles from their own. The Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra for example has produced the Elizabethan Chamber Group, which varies in size from a trio to a full chamber orchestra, and also the Elizabethan String Quartet, and there are plans for a string trio.
But one of the more interesting hybrids has come from the woodwind section - the Elizabethan Oboe Trio.
Formed in 1982, the trio members are the principal oboe of the ESO, Graham Powning, second oboe, Richard Kerr and Andrew Malec, cor anglais. Their recordings have been broadcast on radio around the world, including the BBC; they have appeared on television, and they play regularly for the ABC.
"We do it for recreation," says Graham Powning the director of the ensemble.
"It's good therapy for an orchestra section because it gives us an identity and breaks the tedium of orchestra performances."
The oboe section is usually three oboes and one cor anglais, but most arrangements outside this orchestra setting are for a trio. Finding suitable works for a repertoire is one of the major problems for an oboe trio; there simply haven't been enough written.
In this area the Elizabeth Trio are fortunate - they have their own composer in Graham Powning. His works have been published in America and his variations are recorded by the
trio. Variations are popular with oboe trios because of the demands of the instrument.
"Brevity is important because of the difficulty in playing the oboe, " Graham Powning says. "So variations generally last for about 10 minutes. "
Powning's particular interest is the exploration of traditional Australian folk music in a modern classical interpretation, like the popular Variations and Fugue on Waltzing Matilda (recorded by the Elizabethan Oboe Trio on record RRCS 3202, available from the Sydney Opera House shop and the Elizabethan Theatre Trust).
The discipline of arranging for an oboe trio unfortunately prevents the obvious comparison with Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Greensleeves, the equivalent English song. But as did Williams, Powning's variations breathe a welcome new life into a hackneyed melody. In the concluding fugue he shows that not all the possibilities of Matilda have been exhausted.
Beethoven composed one of the first variations written especially for an oboe trio. It was on a theme from Don Giovanni', and was a tribute to Mozart. His Opus 87 is similarly composed, as are works by the Viennese composer, Wenth, from the late 18th century. Then during the 19th century interest in this music waned, and it wasn't until the second half of this century that it was revived.
Inspired by new works by Gordon Jacob and Henk Badings, oboe trios have been formed in Britain, Europe and America. And, like the Elizabethan trio, they are also composing and arranging their own music.
But for the Elizabeth Oboe Trio it's occupational therapy, music for pleasure. And while that attitude remains the standards will remain. As they have with the Elizabeth Chamber group.
And the ESO and, of course, the public benefit.