Oboe Sonata

Poulenc was always drawn to the sound of chamber music for wind instruments, especially in the outer years of his creative life. His last works were sonatas for, respectively, oboe and clarinet (with piano). Written back to back in 1962, they share musical ideas, not least a see-sawing phrase, as well as a common purpose in that both were meant as valedictory tributes to deceased composer friends. The Oboe Sonata was dedicated to Prokofiev, whose work had long been a decisive influence on Poulenc and is all but quoted in the brittle, machine-like keyboard writing of the second movement “Scherzo”. But the opening “Élégie” owes more to Stravinsky, another lifelong influence, with its chugging accompaniment. The concluding “Déploration” (“Lament”) wraps the piece up in music of consoling tenderness—almost liturgical, and with a ghostly sign-off that’s unnervingly appropriate for what would be the last thing Poulenc ever wrote. He died early the following year.