The Festival Chamber Orchestra; Lutz Rath, conductor; Robert Ingliss, oboe soloist. Program: Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Concerto in D major for Oboe and Small Orchestra (1945) Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony # 1 in C major, op. 21 (1801) Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006) Concert Romanesc (1951) About the Program The Concerto in D major for Oboe and Small Orchestra was written by Richard Strauss in 1945. It was one of the last works he composed near the end of his life, during what is often described by biographers, journalists and music critics as his "Indian summer." Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21 was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. The piece was published in 1801 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Leipzig. It is not known exactly when Beethoven finished writing this work, but sketches of the finale were found to be from 1795. Ligeti’s Concert românesc or Romanian Concerto was completed in 1951 although it was not performed publically until 1971 due to the conservative confines of mid-century Hungary. in 1949, Ligeti began transcribing Romanian folk songs from wax cylinder recordings at the Folklore Institute in Budapest. These melodies, and the musical memories from his childhood in Romania, directly inspired his Romanian Concerto. He was able to hear the work performed during an orchestral rehearsal, but public performance was banned. While music based on folksong was permitted, even encouraged, Ligeti’s Concerto was considered too modernist.
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