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Programme Note

Composer Note:

TOCCANTA for Oboe and Piano (or Harpsichord) was commissioned by the International Double Reed Society for oboist Cynthia Green Libby and harpsichordist Barbara Harbach who premiered the work at the IDRS convention in Chicago in 1997. The work is modeled on the baroque toccata form of slow-fast-slow-fast. The slow parts feature the oboe as a mostly singing (canta(re)) instrument while the harpsichord, a more percussive and rhythmic instrument, and one that is “touched” (toca(re)), rather than “sung,” is used as a faster and more textured rhythmic instrument. The original version was too short at the end, so I added a longer oboe cadenza in the revised 1999 version.

—Joan Tower