Oboe Concerto in D minor

This concerto slipped through history under a borrowed name — for centuries it was attributed to Vivaldi or even Bach, who so admired it that he transcribed it for solo keyboard, and yet its true author, a Venetian nobleman and amateur composer, remained quietly in the shadows. The slow middle movement is one of the most achingly beautiful things the Baroque era produced: a long, sighing melody over a spare, almost hypnotic bass that feels less like 1717 and more like a dream half-remembered. Many listeners hear it as a piece outside of time, closer in spirit to Satie's meditative stillness than to the bustle of the concert hall.

What to listen for

In the central Adagio, notice how the main melodic line keeps circling back to the same yearning phrase, each time landing on a slightly different harmonic colour — the tension never quite resolves until the very last bar, where it finally settles like a held breath released.

Recommended recording

Heinz Holliger's account, with his trademark combination of tonal warmth and expressive restraint, is widely regarded as a benchmark for this concerto.

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