Mozart, Debussy, Godfrey, Mendelssohn

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370

Claude Debussy
Sonata for Cello and Piano, L. 135

Daniel Strong Godfrey
Quintet for oboe, strings and piano (BCMS commission)

Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 66

Featured Musicians

Peggy Pearson, oboe
Harumi Rhodes, violin
Marcus Thompson, viola
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
Max Levinson, piano

Mozart makes many technical and lyrical demands of the oboe player in the Oboe Quartet in F major. From the extended cantabile lines in the Adagio to upper register passages in the Rondo Allegro, the oboe is challenged, both in soloistic passages and while in conversation with the strings. Although the piano makes the opening statement in Debussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in F minor, the cello quickly takes over with a wrenching phrase that foreshadows the movement’s lonesome mood. The Finale is exuberant, the two instruments engaging with rhythm, color, and articulation, but a sense of frenetic, mounting dread encroaches on the piece, perhaps paralleling the composer’s knowledge of his own impending death. Acclaimed composer of symphonic band, chamber, and orchestral music Daniel Strong Godfrey presents the 2018 BCMS Commission, a quintet for oboe, strings, and piano. Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C minor winks with charm and agility. Impassioned, but never heavy, the rise-and-fall of the opening movement’s main theme forms waves, allowing each part to sparkle to the surface before submerging into the warm underlying texture.