On March 2, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and its principal oboist Ted Baskin will perform the world premiere of Hautbois concertant by José Evangelista.
The audience at Montreal’s Maison symphonique will hear this newest composition by Evangelista, a retired Université de Montréal music professor who moved to Canada from his native Spain in 1970. Evangelista’s childhood love of concertos and his passion for the oboe make him the ideal choice for this OSM commission.
Below, Evangelista’s responses to CBC Music’s questions about Hautbois concertant:
Q: How did you put the piece together?
A: I thought it would be appropriate to write a neo-classical piece, meaning that the piece is in three movements in the fast-slow-fast scheme in which the soloist is the star. The orchestra is referring to the soloist. It’s commenting, it’s accompanying, the role that is usually intended in a concerto.
Since my childhood the concerto genre has interested me very much. I remember when I started buying LPs, I loved all the classics – Mozart, Chopin, Beethoven, Bartok and Prokofiev – mainly for piano, but not only. I like it, I am drawn to it.
Q: I love the titles of the three movements. Tell me about them.
A: The first is called Cristal because of the accompaniment of the orchestra. Most of [the] time it’s a kind of metallic crystal sound with percussion, harp and pizzicato.
The second movement, Giurlande, is directly inspired by a principal of Indian classical music, which is the idea of the garland. In Indian music they sometimes compose pieces where they change the raga – the mode, the atmosphere, this rich concept of melodic composition. So, I borrowed this idea of a garland; not a garland of mode, but a garland of tonality. The second movement starts in a certain key, and then after a few moments modulates to another key, and again and again, until going back to the point of departure.
The third movement, Non-stop, is just a different expression for perpetuum mobile. It’s something I’ve liked since I was a child. A fun composer for me is Mendelssohn. Fast music that never stops is a model I have followed in many of my pieces. Mendelssohn is known for this kind of music, as in the scherzo from his String Octet or the overture from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Q: What appeals to you about the oboe?
A: The oboe is the most melodic instrument of the orchestra. I have been interested in melody as the central element of composition in many of my pieces, so it is natural that the oboe be a good interpreter of my music. It has a particular kind of sound, a very personal sound. You can never miss it.
Q: What should the Montreal audience listen for in this piece?
A: The simple fact that a living composer writes for orchestra and is performed next to the great masters at a concert, and that it’s natural, and nothing special. Composers are pushed into a corner and that corner is becoming smaller. All kinds of music – pop and jazz and rock and this and that – has taken over the label of contemporary music. People have a negative impression of new composition. Therefore it is difficult for a composer to have the confidence to communicate.
Q: You mentioned your love of Mendelssohn’s String Octet. Why this piece?
A: It is transparent music, there are many things happening and you hear them all. At the same time, with energy because of the rhythmic movement that does not stop.
Check out this exuberant performance of the scherzo by the Fine Arts Quartet and Borodin Quartet.
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