C.P.E. Bach: Oboe Concerto in E flat, WQ 165

Introduction

This is the rowdier companion to C.P.E. Bach's other oboe concerto of 1765, the well-mannered and conventional Concerto in B flat (Wq 164, H 466). Here, the composer's fingerprints are all over the opening tutti: above a nervous ostinato rhythm, a two-note motif worries itself into a more elaborate gesture that soon stretches out, develops some harmonic tension, and then halts just long enough to pull itself back together. All of this forms the basis of the oboe's solo sections, and reappears in fragmentary form in the ritornellos that punctuate the solos. Given the oboe's near-literal repeat of the thematic material followed by an increasingly moody working out of bits of motifs, and, after an extended oboe cadenza, a restatement of the melody in something close to its original guise, it's not difficult to find here a nascent version of the sonata form that would soon be mastered by Mozart and Haydn. But it's also highly typical of the unpredictable, passionate Sturm und Drang style typical of C.P.E. Bach's work, as well as Haydn's at about this same time. The Adagio ma non troppo is a set of oboe variations, separated by tutti passages, on the dark, heavy opening theme. In its first solo, the oboe introduces an element of serenity, but the general mood of the movement is melancholy. Quite a change arrives with the Allegro ma non troppo, a happy, gently swinging pastoral piece, its playful nature emphasized through liberal grace notes and ornaments. There's no storm and stress here, although the music does sometimes shift into mildly unsettling harmonies and the orchestra does bite into the attacks in one of the central ritornello sections. As always, the oboe elaborates on the thematic motifs, rhapsodizing most freely in the middle of the movement and remaining truest to the original in its first and last appearances.

Parts/Movements

1. Allegro
2. Adagio ma non troppo
3. Allegro ma non troppo