SELECTED REPERTOIRE FROM THE GILLET INTERNATIONAL OBOE COMPETITION & THE INTERNATIONAL OBOE COMPETITION OF TOKYO 1995-2005

Abstract

The major international music competitions require a large repertoire of technically and musically challenging music, including a variety of contemporary works and unaccompanied solo pieces. Winning the international competition signifies mastery of one's field in every style of solo repertoire. The purpose of my project is to present balanced programs selected from the elite lists of pieces required by two major international oboe competitions over the past 10 years, the Gillet International Oboe Competition and the International Oboe Competition of Tokyo. Every year numerous international music competitions are held all over the world. However, most are limited to piano, violin and vocal performances. The prestigious Geneva, Munich, and Prague competitions include the oboe every few years. But, there are very few international competitions that focus only on the oboe. These include the "Fernand Gillet International Oboe Competition," and "International Oboe Competition of Tokyo." By familiarizing oneself with the required lists of these competitions, one can ascertain what the leading oboists in the world consider to be the most significant and challenging works, tracking both stable mainstays and contemporary trends. My three related recital programs were designed to present a variety of periods and genres, so each recital includes at least one concerto, one solo piece, one Baroque piece, and one 2oth century piece. The first recital program includes Sonata in a minor for oboe solo by C.P.E. Bach, Sonatine for oboe andpiano by Maurice Ravel, Piri for oboe solo by Isang Yun, and Concerto by Bohuslav Martinu. The second recital program includes Les Folies dlEspagne by Marin Marais, selections from Six Etudes Pour Hautbois by Gilles Silvestrini, Obsession by Makoto Shinohara, and the Concerto in C major, K. 314 by W. A. Mozart. The third recital program includes Twelve Fantasias, No.8 in E Minor by G. P. Telemann, Sequenza VII by Luciano Berio, the Concerto for Oboe by Eugene Goosens, nree Romances by Robert Schumann, and Fantaisie Pastorale by Eugene Bozza. This project presents a variety of repertoire ranging from C. P. E. Bach's Sonata in a minor for oboe solo, with the intrinsic challenges of the Baroque style and genre, to contemporary pieces such as Berio's Sequenza VIZ for oboe solo and Yun's Piri which require extended technique such as multiphonics, rolling tone, double trills, double tonguing, flutter tonguing, and glissando.