Sonata in G for Flute and Oboe

Another duet for flute and oboe; I'm almost done with my set of six.  Any comments or criticisms would be greatly appreciated!

Edited December 11, 20205 yr by Aiwendil

I had never heard any piece for this combination of instruments. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. Is this an actual performance? If so, who are the players?

Thanks!  The idea of writing for this combination came from hearing a recording of W.F. Bach's flute duets where the second flute was replaced with an oboe.  This is just the Finale audio output.  I'd love to hear these duets played by actual people, but I don't expect that will ever happen.

I like it, but there is a restless sensation. There are no pauses, or rests, or long notes against quick notes. Everything is quick.

4 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I like it, but there is a restless sensation. There are no pauses, or rests, or long notes against quick notes. Everything is quick.

 

True, but I mean, I've seen this used to a great extent, especially in the Baroque, where the only real rest I tend to hear is the cadences themselves and everything else tends towards eighth notes or faster. Even in the Classical and Romantic eras, this Moto Perpetuo is still used, especially in third movements like these:

Tempest Sonata - Beethoven

Appasionata Sonata - Beethoven

Mozart Sonata in A minor

It seems to be mainly minor key sonatas that use this Moto Perpetuo, I have yet to find an example of it being used in major keys.

By the way @Aiwendil I like your sonata. I think it sounds good.

6 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I like it, but there is a restless sensation. There are no pauses, or rests, or long notes against quick notes. Everything is quick.

 

Yeah, I wonder if maybe this one should have had a real slow movement instead of that minuet-like andante.

2 hours ago, caters said:

By the way @Aiwendil I like your sonata. I think it sounds good.

 

Thanks!

Well written sonata!  I really enjoyed the canonic imitation and interplay between the instruments! (and how they frequently switch voices to finish each others phrases like in the 2nd movement) I think that for a Baroque-style composition your use of space was appropriate - neither too much nor too little - there were definitely cadential points where both instruments stopped playing at the same time but also plenty of places for each individual instrument to take a breath in between their motifs.

My concern is in the 2nd movement - you have the flute playing in it's lowest range for a long time without a clear place to breathe which is very demanding as the lowest range requires the most air (and is also the quietest and later when the oboe takes the accompaniment pattern in the same range it is likely to sound much louder than the flute).  At least you don't have the flute and oboe playing in their lowest ranges at the same time as the oboe would definitely have overpowered the flute.

About the 2nd movement taking the role of a slow movement - is that common?  I was under the impression that minuets could usually be quite a bit livelier than this.  If it was faster it might also solve some of the issues the players might run into with making their breath last the whole phrase etc.

Great job overall!  And thanks for sharing!

Thanks for listening!  I see what you mean about the flute in the second movement.  I think there are spots where one could take a breath and if necessary omit a sixteenth note; perhaps I should put breath marks in the score.  Yes, minuets are often much faster than this, but I wanted to use this minuet-like movement as a slow movement.  Perhaps it would have been better to have had a different slow movement and use the quasi minuet, at a faster tempo, as the finale.