This Sonata was composed for the professional oboe and piano duo of David Glossop and his wife Roselinde to whom it is dedicated. They gave the first performance at a concert to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of The Churches Conservation Trust at St. Mary’s Church, Shrewsbury on 28th June 2019.

Tunefulness and lightness of touch are qualities I have striven for in this Sonata. The first movement is a gentle modal Pastorale in simplified Sonata Form (without a development section). It opens with a five-note figure (derived from a turn) in the oboe part and an auxiliary-note figure in the piano. These two motifs (and their constituent interval of a second) form the basis for most of the thematic material in the entire Sonata.

In the second movement I have returned to the original meaning of Scherzo as ‘a joke’; the music is full of rollicking good humour. The slow movement is titled Nocturne because it is music of the night – there are long shadows over the music with a rich, romantic melody at its core. The work is rounded off with a virtuoso Finale in Sonata Rondo Form which recalls themes from previous movements.