Bird Spirit Dreaming: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (2002) 

Edwards creates another unique sound world and visual experience with his Bird Spirit Dreaming. This concerto is in a single twenty-minute movement instead of the traditional three movement arrangement, fast, slow, and fast. However, there are three distinct sections that are in lieu of separate movements. Like the work’s title, all three sections have descriptive names that evoke a setting of somewhere out in the wild amongst nature. The concerto was written in 2002 and was dedicated to Diana Doherty. It was premiered by Doherty and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House that same year. 

As seen in other Edwards works, theatrical elements are interspersed in the concerto to bring about more dramatic effects. While these were added specifically for Doherty due to her unique skill set, i.e. being an accomplished dancer, these extra elements could be recreated by any soloist that chooses to utilize them. The instructions provided by Edwards in the score are, 

“My Oboe Concerto was especially created for Diana Doherty who was soloist in the first performance by Lorin Maazel and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. For this occasion I sketched the following scenario as a context for Diana’s highly developed kinesic qualities as a performer.

Orchestra tunes. Conductor enters, acknowledges applause and turns to face orchestra. An atmosphere of expectation. Hall and platform lights fade rapidly to darkness over several seconds leaving a pool of light where the soloist would be expected to stand.

The soloist begins the performance offstage in darkness. The lights on the orchestra’s music stands fade up before fig. 1 and when the glockenspiel sounds in the following measure, the soloist steps, bird-like, beak (oboe) upraised, into the spotlit area.

From here the platform lights begin to fade up. By ms. 41, the platform is suffused with dim mysterious light, the conductor spotlit.

After fig. 5, the soloist turns and walks to join the woodwind ensemble on a podium beside the cor anglais. The lighting gradually becomes brighter, whiter – an optimistic dawn – darkening at fig. 8. By fig. 10 it has become pale, intimate and mysterious. Still intimate at fig. 16, but gorgeously rose-tinted, fading to darkness at ms. 186.

At fig. 20, lights begin to come up as soloist returns to front platform, a defined are where free movement can take place. The soloist and conductor vividly lit; the orchestra in semi-darkness. Abrupt blackout to synchronize with final chord. Lights come back up a few seconds later.15

The instrumentation is for small orchestra and, except for several percussion instruments, does not include any non-western instruments that have become commonplace in Edwards’ music.16 Edwards includes the darbuka in the third section, Figure 20 to the end, along with Aboriginal clapping sticks as a way to highlight the “otherness” of the music. Although he does allow the substitution of Latin American claves instead of Aboriginal clapping sticks. While the instruments are native to the Middle East and Australian Aborigines respectively, they are not written for in an idiomatical manner. Thus, they are included for the quality of their foreign sounds and not to be a representative of the musical cultures they belong to. This is a different treatment than Edwards has given to non-Western instruments in several of his other works, such as the treatment of the koto, shakuhachi, and darbuka in the larger theatrical Water Spirit Song. 

Throughout the concerto there are salient references to other Edwards’ works, particularly Dawn Mantras and Symphony No 2: Earth Spirit Songs. The musical references from Dawn Mantras are particularly strong as they are some of the same melodic material played by the same instrument, the English horn, as in the slow section, Love Duet, from the concerto. This is consistent with Edwards’ compositional style of utilizing icons across different works for either their character or connection to a particular instrument. The middle-eastern sounding cadenza, after Figure 16, is closely related to Symphony No 2: Earth Spirit Songs. This is a fitting tie between the two pieces as they both strongly relate to the idea of rebirth and transformation. There is also a connection to Alfred Hill’s Symphony No. 3 “Australia” in his use of prominent claves to usher in new sections and to maintain the energy level through gaps in the orchestral texture. 

The first section, titled Wild Bird, lasts from the beginning until Figure 8. The section starts with solo oboe stating short motives that are repeated and expand with each reiteration. 

Example 23. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 1-9. 

These mimicked bird calls that begin the work help to set the scene of being in the wilderness surrounded by the sounds of nature. The conversation between the solo oboe and the interjections from the orchestra imitate the sounds of different birds and frogs calling out to one another.17 This is another reminder that Australian music was founded on the ideals of people, like Henry Tate, who believed Australian music should establish itself by utilizing its nature resources, insect and birds in particular. 

The icon usage in the first movement is concentrated from the beginning through Figure 5. The melodic material up to Figure 5 is comprised of short repeated icons that are separated by quick cadenzas, mms.47-49, mms. 51-53, and mms. 61-63. Icons 10 and 18 are heavily used in this section. Icon 10 represents augmented fourths and fifths and Icon 18 is repeated accelerating notes that have been adopted to also include repeated rallentando notes. 

Example 24. Icon #10 

Example 25. Icon #18 

From Figure 5 to Figure 8, as seen in Example 26, the oboe part is concentrated on the dominant harmony of C minor, g minor. The oboist plays fast scalar passages that finish on C, E, and G, further outlining the tonal center. 

Serenade and Love Duet, the second movement begins at Figure 8 and ends at Figure 20. From Figure 8 to Figure 10 the harmony resolves to c minor with the same sweeping motives, as before, by the oboe player, as shown in Example 27. The resolution notes and scalar passages outline a c melodic minor tonality. This demonstrates that the music has moved through a large-scale V-I progression. 

Example 26. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 71-79. 

Example 27. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 92-98. 

Figure 10 begins the contrapuntal material between the oboe and strings. This texture becomes gradually more saturated until the celeste enters to clear the atmosphere and ushers in the short oboe cadenza, mms. 137-142, that marks the end of the Serenade. Throughout this section, Figure 10 to Figure 14, the tonality stays c harmonic minor. 

The Love Duet begins at Figure 14 and continues until Figure 19. The duet is between the solo oboe and cor anglais and continues in the c minor tonality and retains the contrapuntal technique from the earlier exchange between the oboe and strings.18 Other woodwind instruments will occasionally interject short phrases between the oboe and English horn. However, these interjections function more as a way to fill gaps between the main duet rather than establishing independent voices, demonstrated in Example 28. The texture throughout the Love Duet is thin with the cellos and basses playing drones to establish the harmonic structure. The drones create an intimate setting without the players having to work too hard to manufacture it.

Example 28. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 173-177. 

Figure 19 to Figure 20 contains a short phrase that finishes the serene Love Duet by the solo oboe, celeste, and strings. This short motive brings the second section to a close. 

The third and final section spans from Figure 20 to the end. One of the most unique characteristics in this section, titled The Dance of Life, is the use of Aboriginal clapping sticks. The use of clapping sticks at the beginning of this section mirrors the use of the glockenspiel at the beginning of the work. The oboe melodic material is also nearly the same rhythms at Figure 21 as in mms. 1-5 transposed up a diminished fifth. It also demonstrates the transformation of the oboe character after the emotional Love Duet. 

Example 29. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 196-202.

The overall tonality of the third movement migrates to E flat major by Figure 30 after briefly beginning in c minor. There is a brief interjection by the darbuka at Figure 38 that functions to break the progression. The tonality is set back to c minor and the harmonic progression begin again. The writing is episodic throughout the entire third section. The use of the darbuka, as the Aboriginal clapping sticks earlier, is not intended to be imply ethnic appropriation but rather a sound effect, see the example below. 

Example 30. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 359-366. 

From Figure 40 to the end the tonality shifts with each reiteration of the oboe phrase. The final chord ends on F sharp major. This final tonality is not a result of a larger harmonic structure progression. However, it does demonstrate Edwards’ compositional style to allow each phrase to be independent, due to the heavy use of icons, and not have a an overarching structure in mind. 

Table 12. Icon usage in Bird Spirit Dreaming. 

Section 1: 7, 10, and 18 

Section 2: 1, 2, and 9 

Section 3: 7, 10, and 18 

The performative difficulties in this concerto are numerous. Not only must the performer have a strong command of the third octave but also the ability to shift from the third octave all the way down to low B flat. This means the player must have a flexible embouchure to facilitate intonation and response throughout all the different registers of the instrument in a single continuous phrase, as seen in the example below. 

Example 31. Bird Spirit Dreaming, mms. 143-147. 

Players should develop their own fingering chart that works with their particular instrument and reed setup with multiple alternate fingerings to allow for different combinations of notes in quick succession. While several of these phrases sound nearly identical, they are in fact different and have different gaps in the scalar passages that do not always allow the same fingering combinations, particularly in mms. 196-219. 

Another option is to use a slightly easier reed to play this work than one would normally use due to the long periods playing in the extreme high register. Using a lighter reed will allow the third octave to respond more easily and not fatigue the player as much. With nearly all of the phrases being short, three to five measures in duration, the player can break this concerto down into smaller pieces to work on the technical fluidity required throughout. However, with this number of phrases use caution when putting them back together, as several are very close to being the same with slight variations. This could cause problems when a player is working on memorization. 

Conclusion 

Ross Edwards’ works for oboe and English horn are widely varied, both in difficulty and genre, but some important characteristics are retained throughout. Certain icons are more commonly used than others, see table below, and the forms of the oboe and English horn works are more traditional than his works for non-Western instruments. 

Table 13. Icon usage across the oboe and English horn works. 

It is easy to say that Edwards has an affinity for the oboe and English horn. This could be due to his close personal relationship with both Doherty and Oguey, and his own early musical training, and allows this to influence his use of the instruments in his compositions, not only the works discussed here but across his entire oeuvre. 

I believe these pieces could be used as teaching tools for players of all levels, beginning to advanced, to expand not only their technical fluidity but also their knowledge and comfort level with composers and music that are not in the standard repertoire. 

15 Ross Edwards, Bird Spirit Dreaming: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (London: Ricordi, 2002). 

16 Flute 1 doubling Alto Flute, Flute 2 doubling Piccolo, Cor Anglais, Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2 doubling Bass Clarinet, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2 doubling Contrabassoon, Horn 1, Horn 2, Percussion 2 Players (Australian Aboriginal Clapping Sticks (or claves) with a high, bright tone, small suspended cymbal, medium tam-tam, darabuka, huge tam-tam, glockenspiel), Harp, Celeste, Solo Oboe, strings.  

18 This Love Duet between the solo oboe and cor anglais is particularly sincere because in real life the oboe and cor anglais players, Diana Doherty and Alexandre Oguey are married to one another.