Mozart, Britten, Knussen and Françaix - A Tribute to Janet

The Guardian 80

Britten Oboe Quartet/Daniel
(Harmonia Mundi)

Formed by members of the Britten Sinfonia, the Britten Oboe Quartet makes its debut on disc with a collection dedicated to the memory of Janet Craxton, who died in 1981, at the age of 52. She was a prominent figure in British contemporary music in the 60s and 70s and one of the founding members of the London Sinfonietta. She was also a distinguished teacher whose pupils included the quartet’s oboist, Nicholas Daniel.

Two of the works on the album were written especially for Craxton. Oliver Knussen’s 1977 Cantata for oboe and strings is one of the most striking and enduring of his early works, characteristically packing a vast amount of intricate instrumental detail into less than a quarter of an hour. The title refers not only to the singing nature of the oboe lines, which are frequently suspended over rocking string chords or hyperactive scurryings, but also to the form of the work itself, in which recitative sections punctuate the more lyrical episodes.