Composed especially for and dedicated to his friend, the wonderfully gifted oboist Diana Doherty, Ross Edwards has sought, in his Oboe Concerto Bird Spirit Dreaming to imbue the traditional concerto with elements of theatre, ritual and dance, whilst preserving its concert hall function as an accompanied soloistic display.

As we have come to expect from this composer, the texture is dominated by an almost kaleidoscopic interplay of material gleaned from the natural environment and diverse cultural sources, whose symbolic meaning remains ultimately and tantalisingly elusive. There are, however, audible references to other Edwards works, notably Dawn Mantras and Symphony No. 2 (Earth Spirit Songs), whose common theme is renewal.

Although it is unlikely that the composer was conscious of a program or narrative, a hidden purport might suggest a lone voice crying in the wilderness, led through various stages of socialisation before re-emerging, transformed into a joyful affirmation of unity embracing diversity.

Thus, an opening ‘wild bird’ soliloquy is arrested by what sound like phrases from a Lutheran chorale before embarking on a rhapsodic melodic journey, unified by drones, ritornelli and episodes of canonic variation. This melodic unfolding, with its fleeting references to birdsong, plainsong, Hebrew cantillation, scales from Southeast Asia and rhythmic counterpoint inspired by the sound patterns of insects and frogs, culminates in a love duet between solo oboe and English horn.

Finally, the opening ‘wild bird’ motif returns and is ritualised, along with other previous material, into patterns characteristic of Edwards’ maninya (Australian dance-chant) form as a seething, celebratory finale.

Ross Edwards’ Oboe Concerto was commissioned for Diana Doherty and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Andrew and Renata Kaldor.The world premiere was given in the Sydney Opera House on August 4 2002. Diana Doherty was the soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Fred Watson