Sad Steps
Music of Tragedy and Grief
Albany TROY1557

Audrey Andrist, Xak Bjerken (Klughardt), piano
Katherine Murdock, viola
Mark Hill, oboe
Recorded: 2013-2015
Recording Venue: Ramsey Concerto Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States
2nd June 2015
59 minutes

 

Witold Lutosławski : Epitaph in memory of Alan Richardson for Oboe and Piano 5:21

Pavel Haas : Suite for Oboe & Piano, Op. 17 14:26

  1. Furioso 4:00
  2. Con fuoco 5:10
  3. Moderato 5:16

Eric Moe : Sad Steps for oboe & piano 7:42

Dietrich Erdmann : Elegy for solo oboe 7:49

  1. Adagio 3:09
  2. Allegro vivace 2:05
  3. III. Adagio 2:35

Thea Musgrave : Niobe for oboe & pre-recorded sound track 6:45

August Klughardt : Schilflieder for oboe, viola & piano, Op. 28 17:44

  1. Langsam, träunerisch 3:15
  2. Leidenschaftlich eregt 2:50
  3. Zart, in ruhiger Bewegung 4:55
  4. Feurig 2:44
  5. Sehr ruhig 4:00

Oboist Mark Hill demonstrates his instrument's singular affinity to express grief and suffering.
This collection of music for oboe offers six examples of the instrument's singular affinity to express grief and suffering. Each piece is concerned primarily with tragedy and loss in various forms, and in each case the composer has gravitated toward the voice of the oboe to portray the emotional dissonances and psychological complexities of the material at hand. Yet within these diverse works we find anger, defiance, resignation, nostalgia, hope and transcendence in addition to sadness and mourning. Oboist Mark Hill's versatile career has spanned a broad range of orchestral, chamber, and solo performing while maintaining a consistent commitment to teaching. He is currently principal oboe of the National Philharmonic and a member of the Left Bank Concert Society. A graduate of the State University of New York-Stony Brook, he is professor of oboe and chamber music at the University of Maryland School of Music in College Park. This is his second recording for Albany Records.