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All of the works on this disc were written (or in the case of the Seiber arranged) specifically for Jennifer Paull, a specialist in the oboe d’amore and its repertoire. It is very much to her credit that she has been successful in bringing what is unfamiliar yet rewarding and entertaining music to disc, particularly given the subsequent release of a second volume featuring the oboe d’amore and piano in equally interesting material by Wilfred Josephs, John McCabe and Harold Schiffman amongst others.

The greatest interest in this first volume is to be found in the two works by Leonard Salzedo, the first of which, Bailables, is scored for the full quartet of oboes whilst the second, Sonata a Tré, features two of the family together with harpsichord. Numerous characteristic Salzedo traits are evident in both works, namely lively Spanish dance rhythms often incorporating ear catching syncopations and cross rhythms, Moorish influenced modally conceived melodies in the slow movements (further evidence of the composer’s Sephardic Jewish heritage) and a tendency towards exciting closing movements, often in moto perpetuo. The dance is most significant in Bailables which quite literally means music suitable for dancing, perhaps no coincidence as the dance played a vital part in Salzedo’s career both as musical director of London City Ballet, Scottish Theatre Ballet and the Ballet Rambert and in the composition of seventeen ballets, not to mention his marriage to a dancer. Indeed Jennifer Paull first became acquainted with Salzedo as an oboeist in the Mercury Ensemble during his tenure at the Ballet Rambert. It is the Sonata a Tré however that is the more musically substantial of the two works, notable for its haunting opening and third movements and a slightly more astringent yet quirky Vivace to close. Salzedo’s arrangement of Matyas Seiber’s Leichte Tänze, a collection of nine brief dances including tangos, foxtrots, a waltz and a ragtime number is effective in making the most of what are fun numbers, if not Seiber at his best.

Edwin Carr’s Waiheke Island, inspired not as may be thought at first by a visit to Hawaii but an island off the east of Auckland harbour in northern New Zealand, is a set of four appealing pieces which although not directly programmatic attempt to capture something of the atmosphere of the natural beauty of the island. The melodies themselves may not be the most memorable but the pieces are beautifully written and it is difficult not to enjoy their innocent charm.

Jennifer Paull has commented that the disc was recorded in far less than ideal circumstances. A chapel high up in the Swiss Alps lacking adequate heating must have made life very difficult for the players during the recording. Woodwind instruments do not respond well to extremes of temperature and this no doubt accounts for the fleeting moments of rhythmic instability and imprecise ensemble evident on a number of occasions throughout the disc. Overall however this does not seriously detract from what is an entertaining and interesting collection of pieces scored for a group of instruments that show themselves capable of sometimes surprising versatility and textural variety.

Christopher Thomas.

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