Oboe Students of Richard Woodhams

The Oboe Students of Richard Woodhams. Mr. Woodhams is currently Principal Oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as a Curtis Institute of Music graduate. He joined the faculty at Curtis in 1985.

Godard: Scènes écossaises, Op. 138
Cassie Pilgrim, oboe; Michelle Cann, piano
Benjamin Godard was a French violinist and composer that lived between 1849 and 1895. This romantic period piece was composed in 1893. It is marked with three movements:
Légende pastorale
Sérénade à Mabel
Marche des Highlanders

Saint-Saëns: Sonata in D major, Op. 166
Rex Yape, oboe; Elena Jivaeva, piano
During the last year of Camille Saint-Saëns life he decided to write a sonata for each of the woodwind instruments, he started with the oboe. Sonata in D major, Op. 166 was the first of three he completed over a few months. Today the sonata is standard work in the oboe repertoire.

Beethoven: Variations on “Là ci darem la mano,” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni
Virginia McDowell, oboe; Rex Yape, oboe; Cassie Pilgrim, English horn
“Là ci darem la mano,” (Italian for “There we will give each other our hands) is a trio with two Oboes and an English horn.

Françaix: Divertissement
Kip Zimmerman, oboe; Slavko Popovic, clarinet; Sarah Tako, bassoon
Jean Francaix once said that writing music was “to give pleasure” this short length work does just that, it is witty and full of grace and very delightful. The movements consist of the following:
Prélude
Allegro assai
Élégie
Scherzo

Barber: Summer Music, Op. 31
Emma Resmini, flute; Virginia McDowell, oboe; Yuhsin Su, clarinet, Bryn Coveney, horn; Maggie O’Leary, bassoon
Samuel Barber entered Curtis Institute of Music at age 14 and studied composition, voice and piano and graduated in 1934. He composed Summer Music for wind quintet, Op. 31 in 1955. It is known that the oboe is Barber’s favorite wind instrument.