Katsuya Watanabe & Arisa Kobayashi - Cantabile (2021) [Official Digital Download]

August de Boeck (1865-1937) was a Belgian composer and organist. He lived and died in the Flanders town of Merchtem.

Boeck initially studied the organ at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels, passing his examination with distinction. He pursued further studies with the composer Hubert Ferdinand Kufferath in harmony, counterpoint and fugue, again graduating with distinction in 1889. From 1882 he was organist at various churches in his homeland. For over 10 years from 1909 he was Professor for Harmony at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire in Antwerp, later teaching at the Brussels Conservatoire. In due course he was appointed Director of the conservatory in his home town. As a com- poser, he belongs to the post-Roman- tic era, influenced by Richard Wagner and by composers such as Rimsky- Korsakov. The music of de Boeck is characterized by traditional harmony; he shunned the modern trends of his time, such as the twelve-note method of the Second Viennese School. Boeck’s chamber music with oboe is notable for its tender lyricism and pastoral atmosphere, as in the Lied for oboe and piano to be heard here. It is just as Hector Berlioz specified in his manual of instrumentation: “… Grace, unspoilt innocence, quiet joy and … pain, the cantabile tones of the oboe can reproduce all this wonderfully.”

Tracklist
1. Lied for Oboe & Piano (05:22)
2. Oboe Sonata G Minor, Op. 52: I. Allegro moderato (05:17)
3. Oboe Sonata G Minor, Op. 52: II. Adagio (06:26)
4. Oboe Sonata G Minor, Op. 52: III. Allegretto (04:31)
5. Fantasia for Oboe & Piano (11:59)
6. 11 Pieces, Op. 35 (Excerpts): No. 3, Chanson [Version for Oboe & Piano] (03:49)
7. 11 Pieces, Op. 35 (Excerpts): No. 4, Andante [Version for Oboe & Piano] (04:48)
8. Adagio & Allegro, Op. 70 (Arr. for Oboe & Piano) (10:55)
9. Sonata for Oboe & Piano: I. Cantabile (04:49)
10. Sonata for Oboe & Piano: II. Expansive (05:23)
11. Sonata for Oboe & Piano: III. Singing, Playful (03:36)