Bruno Maderna

The oboe more than suited Maderna's partiality for clear structures and sensual-concrete sounds. It was not without good reason that at a time when the supply of music dedicated to the oboe was anything but plenty, Maderna wrote, not one, not two, but three concertos (besides several other works for oboe) for this "nasal" sounding member of the woodwind family. The first oboe concerto (1963) seems almost classical in its character, in the interplay of oboe and orchestra, or involving other instrument sections, such as percussion. For his second concerto (1967) Maderna considerably expanded the formerly extremely sparsely instrumented orchestra, as is audibly demonstrated by the strong wind section or the characteristic percussion section. The third oboe concerto (1973) was to become Maderna's last composition before his death in November of the year when it was written. Knowing that may well have some bearing on the way one listens to the work; already the opening by the solo oboe, which indulges in amazingly lyrical sounds, leaves one astonished; and the finale has great suggestive power, as above the mysteriously fading orchestral accompaniment, the oboe is slowly drifting skywards.