Oboe Quartet

The Oboe Quartet is built up from a series of six duets, which cover every possible combination of the four instruments.  Each duet lasts just a minute or two, and the other two instruments provide an accompaniment.  When I wrote the Oboe Concerto for Heinz Holliger, he showed me the amazing things he could do, such as multiphonics and glissandi, and I incorporated them into the concerto.  But this new piece doesn’t have any of those sounds in it.  My works now are not really experimental in terms of special effects, but rather in the way the music is organized.


Elliott Carter


Reproduction Rights
This programme note can be reproduced free of charge in concert programmes with a credit to the composer