2nd Oboe Sonata – Oboe and Piano

My Opus 2 – Sonata No. 2 in E minor for Oboe (or Flute) and Piano (or Harpsichord) is nother baroque style composition. Like the Op. 1 Sonata for the same instruments it follows the familiar four movement structure common to the period. Unlike the earlier sonata this work was conceived specifically for oboe although one colleague has assured me it will work extremely well for flute whilst another would like to try it with flauto traverso and harpsichord. Thus it retains the spirit of Bach who frequently reset his works for other instrumentation. I have provided some dynamics and ornaments – certainly more than I have with my other baroque compostions. Nevertheless I trust that performers particularly those familiar with the baroque idiom will not hesitate to embellish and improvise. By way of interpretive notes I encourage performers to respect the metronomic suggestions for the second movement which should probably not be attempted at too rapid a tempo. The third movement concludes molto ritardande and by the final measure the two left-hand eighth notes should be played nearly twice as slowl as written (i.e. as quarter notes). Finally the fugato in the last movement (upbeat to m. 83) should be performed in the baroque style without overemphasis of the thematic entries.