Description
“Three miniatures” for oboe trio (2 oboes and english horn), are small pieces based on some of the most famous orchestral solos of the oboe repertoire.
The piece, dedicated to the great soloist Jesús Fuster (the wizard of the oboe), was premiered at the AFOES Congress of Oboes and Bassoons held in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) in September 2024 by the Josef trio, formed by three of the best oboists in Europe; Jesús Fuster himself, Yves Cautres and Jaime González.
In the first miniature, based on the solo of Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel (1919), the oboes present and develop Ravel’s main theme while the english horn gradually leads them to a second melodic theme through a rhythmic ostinato that fades out at the end of the piece. For the oboes Couperin is still alive and will be many years more in this world.
Based on the wonderful solo that Richard Strauss assigns to the oboe in his version of Don Juan (1888), the second miniature represents the true love that the protagonist longs for. The piece begins with an introduction, which later bridges between sections, presenting the solo at the beginning as an accompanied melody that leads to a second theme inspired by other well-known motifs from the original symphonic poem, returning later to the main theme to be heard at the end in the form of a canon.
The last miniature is based on the popular fast passage of Gioachino Rossini’s La scala di seta (1812), known among oboists for the risk involved in its interpretation in auditions and concerts due to its extreme technical difficulty, which actually makes it a thorny ladder. It is written in the form of a small rondo, in which motifs from Rossini’s work are used to elaborate the intermediate themes, always returning to the well-known oboe passage as a refrain.
