Oboe Sonata, Op. 166 (Saint-Saëns)
Movements
i Andantino in D major ii Ad libitum – Allegretto – Ad libitum in B flat major iii Molto allegro in D minor – D major
Notes
Camille Saint-Saëns’s Oboe Sonata in D major, Op. 166 was composed in 1921, the year of the composer’s death. This sonata is the first of the three sonatas that Saint-Saëns composed for wind instruments, the other two being the Clarinet Sonata (Op. 167) and the Bassoon Sonata (Op. 168), written the same year. These works were part of Saint-Saëns’s efforts to expand the repertoire for instruments for which hardly any solo parts were written, as he confided to his friend Jean Chantavoine in a letter dated to 15 April 1921: “At the moment I am concentrating my last reserves on giving rarely considered instruments the chance to be heard.” The piece is dedicated to Louis Bas, first solo oboe with the Societé du Conservatoire de l’Opéra.
