painting music: Mozart Oboe Quartet

Adagio from Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F, K370.

Music has an incredible ability to evoke emotions, transport us to different moments in time, and create unexpected connections. I’d like to explore the significance of Mozart's Oboe Quartet in F, particularly its short, beautiful Adagio movement. From my own personal experience and a literary encounter, this piece continues to captivate and deeply resonate.

There are moments in our lives when we recall certain pieces of music that have left a lasting impact. I vividly remember being assigned the Adagio movement of Mozart's Oboe Quartet for a school concert, while another student was chosen to perform the exuberant Rondo finale on the flute. At the time, I felt passed over, interpreting it as a (justifiable!) lack of faith in my technical abilities. However, with hindsight, I now realize the privilege of playing this introspective movement. It holds a wealth of vulnerability and emotional depth that I certainly didn’t appreciate at the time.

The Oboe Quartet recently resurfaced in an entirely different context when I was recently re-reading one of my favourite series of books, Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels. In Chapter 5 of "The Yellow Admiral," the characters are joined by a young midshipman for a rendition of Mozart's Oboe Quartet. O'Brian describes how they made a strong connection as a group:

"…And almost at once they were a quartet, playing happily along with as nearly perfect an understanding as was possible on so short an acquaintance." (Patrick O'Brian, The Yellow Admiral, Chapter 5, p. 127)

In the fictional world of the Aubrey-Maturin novels, the Adagio movement of Mozart's Oboe Quartet serves as a poignant contrast of moments of high spirits and impending danger. The introspective and melancholic nature of the slow movement beautifully complements the contrasting joy and exuberance of the finale.

The piece continues to leave a lasting impression on me and serves as a reminder of the profound connections we can make through music and its ability to evoke a multitude of emotions. With the painting I have tried to express the feeling of vulnerability as the first entry of the oboe on a high ‘A’ emerges, exposed, from the warm bed of sound provided by the strings.

There are many wonderful recordings, I’ve linked here to a 1984 recording featuring Heinz Holliger, one of my early oboe heroes.

Adagio from Oboe Quartet in F major