Duologue for oboe and piano

I am listening to the CD of a friend who is on the music faculty at a local university. Elizabeth is also the principal oboist for the local philharmonic (or symphony - I do not know the difference).

Her faculty recital was this Fall and unable to attend I asked to hear the CD.

The music is modern. By that I mean the chords do not always resolve and sometimes the piano and the oboe seem to be playing from different sheets of music....but of course it has all been memorized so there are no sheets of music.

I played clarinet in the high school band and orchestra. A Sousa march or a Lerner and Lowe number from a Broadway musical was challenging music in those days.

I classify her music as 'high' culture. The ear must be okay with dissonance. I believe the manuscripts are written in order for every single note which can be played on the instrument is indeed played during each piece. Elizabeth's playing is passionate, the clear tones of the oboe haunting.

And so, there is oboe and piano; oboe and tenor; oboe and horn.

I am enthralled.

I feel a little more cultured this afternoon than I did this morning. When I am around Elizabeth a little of that culture can't help but rub off. And that's what I think about it.