Commissioned by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in 1996 Carl Vine’s Oboe Concerto is permeated with energetic rhythms and brilliant snaking arabesques for the soloist. An ear-catching 16-minute showcase it enjoys two commercial recordings to date. This product is the solo oboe part.

British composer Benjamin Britten’s Six Metamorphoses After Ovid is a piece of program music written for solo Oboe in 1951. The piece was inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses and each of the titular six metamorphoses is based on a character from Roman mythology and includes an inscription summarizing their story. The music for each metamorphosis reflects its character atmosphere or plot – for example the fifth metamorphosis Narcissus (‘who fell in love with his own image and became a flower’) is marked lento piacevole and is meant to convey the act of staring at a reflection in a pool. By virtue of the musicbeing written for a solo instrument Britten allows the performer to be highly expressive so that the characteristics of each God can be fully represented through the performance. With a performance time of ca. 13 minutes this virtuoso solo piece will quickly become a staple in any intermediate to advanced Oboe player’s repertoire.

A strongly influential piece of repertoire the piece Sweet And Go for solo Oboe composed by Armando Ghidoni for Marika Lombardi elegantly explores the poetic and technical resources of the instrument.    The diptych approximately six minutes in length opens with an Adagio a free declamation in recitative that is an oasis of tenderness to which the glissandi bring a whiff of the Orient. In contrast to this voluptuous dream the second section marked Vivo brilante ben ritmato enables the soloist to display a sparkling virtuosity. Melodies rhythms nuances and colours all contribute to this festival ofingenuity.