Decruck: Sonata for Oboe, Clarinet & Bassoon

Description

Fernande Decruck wrote seven reed trios. Her afjinity for this ensemble most likely aligned with her friendship to bassoonist Fernand Oubradous, afounding member of the Trio d'Anches de Paris. Decruck's Sonata (2e) for reed trio was originally composed in September 1945. The first version contained a fourth movement and the dedication was to the Trio d'Anches René Daraux (René Daraux, oboe; Fernand Gossens, clarinet; Ange Maugendre, bassoon).

For reasons unknown, Decruck revised the trio by omitting the 4th movement and changing the dedication to Paul Siguier, Maurice Coëx, and Simon Colette. She registered the work with SACEM in 1949. It is quite possible that the work was performed on Radio Limoges since there is a reference on the manuscript score to "Siguier Radio Limoges."

The Sonata is made up of 3 movements. The first movement has a hazy, slow introduction with warm, jazz-inspired harmony. The short introduction leads to a flowing Allegro section in 6/8 . The second movement, marked Andante Amabile, evokes the slow introduction of the first movement. The last movement is a fun and playful scherzo. Overall, this particular trio captures Decruck's multi-faceted compositional language in a neat, 10-minute package.