Gwyn Pritchard: Capriccio Inquieto

solo oboe 2006

 

Capriccio Inquieto, a musical term meaning “restless caprice”, is used here as a title because it not only describes the form and nature of music but also the circumstances of its creation.

 

Stumbling upon a number of long abandoned sketches, none more than a few bars in length, I started to entertain myself by exploring ways in which they might all be brought together to form a single piece of music. To my surprise the first draft, though very brief and far being a unified musical structure, seemed to suggest several interesting possibilities to draw its disparate elements into a more extended and musically meaningful whole, and so my little caprice took on a new significance.

 

Nevertheless, evolving a coherent piece in this ‘improvisatory’ way (as opposed to my usual practice of planning a work in some detail before setting to work on the precise material) proved a testing but utterly absorbing experience; and I worked feverishly (hence ‘inquieto’) completing the piece, to my surprise, in just a few days.

 

Throughout its composition I had in my mind’s ear the remarkable virtuoso playing of Christopher Redgate with whom I have worked for more than twenty-five years. My dedication to him of this little piece was therefore inevitable; a token of my appreciation of both his extraordinary playing and his congenial nature.