Oboe Sonata (Howells)
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Herbert Howells completed his Oboe Sonata in 1942. Rejected by its planned dedicatee Léon Goossens, the composition was suppressed and not performed in public until after the composer's death in 1983.
The precise circumstances under which Howells began and composed the sonata for oboe and piano are unknown. The surviving copy of the manuscript indicates that the sonata was completed on 27 August 1942 and that it was intended for Léon Goossens. Goossens, when interviewed about the sonata in 1986, could only recall that he had expressed reservations about the work's structure. Howells had then responded to the effect that he would "have another go at it" and took the manuscript with him.[1][2]
It is not clear what happened next, but it is widely believed that the composer's later clarinet sonata resulted from attempts at revising the oboe sonata.[1][3][4]
The work was rediscovered in 1978 by author Christopher Palmer, at that time working on a biography of Howells.[a] Palmer obtained permission to photocopy the manuscript score, and while not discussing the work in the resulting biography, did list the sonata as one of the composer's principal works.
Following the composer's death an attempt was made to locate the original manuscript, but it had apparently become lost some time after Palmer made his photocopy.[2] A performing score was prepared and the work premiered to the public by oboist Sarah Francis and pianist Peter Dickinson on 9 July 1984 at the Cheltenham Music Festival, with the London premiere taking place on 4 October of the same year.[1] A recording was made by Hyperion Records in 1985 and publication by Novello followed in 1986.[4]
