SKU: HL.49044074

ISBN 9790220134586. UPC: 841886021976. 9.0x12.0x0.075 inches.

Stimulated by my love of automata, this work for solo oboe takes its name from the invention of Wolfgang von Kempelen, who in the late eighteenth century constructed an extraordinary mechanical man powered by clockwork, dressed in a stylish Turkish costume and capable of playing chess. The chess player turned out to be a fraud but sparked many other thinkers and inventors to pondering what the possibilities of automation might be. In Hesketh's highly virtuosic work, the through-composed melody is subjected to a series of distortions by pulleys, cams, gears and cranks. There are also the onomatopoeic effects of winding up and whirring noises that add to the air of the mechanical.

SKU: HL.14047797

UPC: 888680642815. 9.5x14 inches.

John Tavener 's Kaleidoscopes is a tribute to Mozart for Solo Oboe, Percussion and four String Quartets, lasting approximately 30 minutes. The work was commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia, and first performed by them with soloist Nicholas Daniel on 6th November 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. This is the Solo Oboe part. In the composer's note, Tavener  explains his high regard for Mozart, and how in Kaleidoscopes  he attempts to take Mozart's music and meditate upon it in four main cycles. He states that all the music has its source in Mozart, whether it be rhythmic, harmonic or contrapuntal. .