Orpheus Singing

Orpheus Singing was commissioned by Dr. W. Howard Hoffman for Stephen Caplan and is dedicated to the memory of the Polish composer, Witold Lutoslawski.

The piece begins as a recitative for unaccompanied oboe and moves directly into the aria, where the musical ideas introduced in the recitative are further developed and transformed, this time with the support of the piano. The ending of the aria pays homage to one of my favorite songs by Gershwin. The third part is Cabaletta: Kolomyikas. The debt to Italian operatic form is self evident: from the recitative, to the, at times, plaintive and, at other times tempestuous aria, finally to the joyful dance-like cabaletta, which gathers momentum not far removed from a tarantella. But rather than borrowing the meter from the Italian, the accent is definitely Ukranian, from the Carpathian region: this cabaletta borrows from the kolomyika, a simple but infinitely variable 8-bar Western Ukrainian strophic song form. In Orpheus Singing each kolomyika cartwheels into the next, the piano trying to keep up, trying to anticipate, trying to keep the oboist-bard from completely falling into a dionysian trance, but with little success.

The title was suggested by Stephen Caplan, which in turn comes from the first Sonnet to Orpheus by Rilke. The reference to rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus is appropriate, since this piece generally reflects a mood of joyful acquiescence and celebration.

The demanding oboe part mostly uses the instrument in the traditional manner, displaying its lyrical nature, but also requires extended techniques such as glissandi, double trills, and harmonics. In the last movement the oboist plays certain phrases with the reed entirely in the mouth, rather than with the lips on the reed, mimicking the rustic tones of some double reed folk instruments.

--Virko Baley

Orpheus Singing is available as a concerto for oboe with string orchestra as well as a chamber version for oboe and string quartet. The premier of the Concerto version was given by Stephen Caplan with the Nevada Symphony Orchestra. The quartet version was premiered by Caplan at Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Caplan recorded the chamber version at the Julliard School of Music with Continuum on Cambria CD 1087, Orpheus Singing.

Orpheus Singing
Virko Baley
Troppe Note Publishing
(1994)

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