for guitar & oboe (2021) 🔊

An unashamedly tonal piece. Unusually for me, it has no programmatic conception and therefore no real title, a format which I would follow for subsequent guitar duets. I'm still surprised by this… genuinely no background at all… it was all purely improvisation that I just notated. I mean, sure, there must have been something there in the subconscious, but who knows…

The year before, I had written a fairly atonal piece so I found it funny to return to such a "conservative" language. I've come to realise, however, that I'm quite content weaving in and out of styles and ultimately, this piece, in its completely tonal form, needed to come out, so who am I to argue with my own inner compulsions?

I'm aware that the second oboe solo is maybe too fast at 110bpm, so it could certainly be slowed down slightly for a live performance. Hopefully it wouldn't lose its springiness though…

This duet was arranged for clarinet and piano and received its premiere in 2022 by the Leto Ensemble.