Island Prelude (score & parts) - WW5 (solo oboe)

Island Prelude
for oboe and wind quartet (flute, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
by Joan Tower (b. 1938) - American composer, conductor, and pianist

Island Prelude starts with a slow-moving consonant landscape that gradually becomes more active and dissonant. Above this terrain, the oboe emerges as a slightly more prominent and melismatic line which in turn activates the surrounding chords. Finally, the oboe releases its contained energy in two short cadenzas ruling upwards in a burst of fast notes that lead into a final, quiet coda. This last section is again very slow, sustained, high, and distant. 
--Joan Tower

Duration: 10:00

This is the original version of the piece, really for solo oboe; the other four voices in the quintet serve accompanimental roles.