Arnold Cooke: Complete Music for Oboe & Sonata for Two Pianos The Pleyel Ensemble

• Arnold Cooke (1906 - 2005): Sonata for Oboe & Piano:
• 1 Sonata for Oboe & Piano: I. Andante - Allegro vivace 06:29
• 2 Sonata for Oboe & Piano: II. Andante 06:35
• 3 Sonata for Oboe & Piano: III. Rondo. Allegro giocoso 06:28
• Sonata for Oboe & Harpsichord or Piano (Version for Oboe & Piano):
• 4 Sonata for Oboe & Harpsichord or Piano (Version for Oboe & Piano): I. Lento - Allegro 06:19
• 5 Sonata for Oboe & Harpsichord or Piano (Version for Oboe & Piano): II. Adagio 07:09
• 6 Sonata for Oboe & Harpsichord or Piano (Version for Oboe & Piano): III. Rondo. Allegro vivace 04:10
• Arnold Cooke:
• 7 Intermezzo for Oboe & Piano 03:38
• Quartet for Oboe & String Trio:
• 8 Quartet for Oboe & String Trio: I. Allegro non troppo 06:04
• 9 Quartet for Oboe & String Trio: II. Allegro ma non troppo 05:53
• 10 Quartet for Oboe & String Trio: III. Allegro moderato 04:40
• Sonata for 2 Pianos:
• 11 Sonata for 2 Pianos: I. Andante - Allegro 05:12
• 12 Sonata for 2 Pianos: II. Larghetto 07:35
• 13 Sonata for 2 Pianos: III. Molto vivace 05:12
• Total Runtime 01:15:24

Info for Arnold Cooke: Complete Music for Oboe & Sonata for Two Pianos

This is the first recorded collection of Arnold Cookes complete music for Oboe and is a must for all lovers of British chamber music. Cooke had studied both in Cambridge and in Berlin and his music is a delightful infusion of English and Germanic styles with its innate Englishness always apparent. This recording features The Pleyel Ensemble's oboist Melinda Maxwell, who herself studied in both England and Germany. This collection contains the two Oboe Sonatas (1957 and 1962), the delightful Quartet for Oboe and String Trio and the evocative and poignant Intermezzo for Oboe and piano, one of Cookes last works. The recording concludes with Cooke's Sonata for Two Pianos, performed here by pianists Harvey Davies and his mother Helen.

The Pleyel Ensemble
Melinda Maxwell, oboe
Harvey Davies, piano
Helen Davies, piano
Sarah Ewins, violin
Susie Mészáros, viola
Heather Bills, cello

The Pleyel Ensemble
The group was formed in Manchester in January 2011. We are friends and colleagues who draw on a wealth of experience gained through many years of music-making. Since our formation, we have given over 200 concerts, and have an enormous and varied repertoire of chamber music. The Pleyel Ensemble was delighted to be chosen as Making Music Recommended Artists for the 2016/17 and 2019/’20 seasons and has appeared at Music Societies and Festivals all over the UK.

We take our name from the Classical composer Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831), a brilliant musician and businessman, who, in addition to writing a large body of accessible chamber music, helped increase the popularity of this wonderful kind of music-making amongst amateurs and professionals as both music publisher and piano manufacturer in the early nineteenth century.

As an ensemble comprising wind, strings and piano we are able to offer a diverse repertoire with many instrumental combinations available. From a Trout to a Bumblebee or an Archduke to a Gypsy, anything is possible! We’re open to bookings!

Currently we are running our own series, ‘Beethoven Plus!’ in Didsbury, Manchester, exploring all his piano-based chamber music, having already completed similar series based on the works of Mozart & Haydn.

We make British music a priority. Between us we have commissioned or premiered more than a hundred works and recognise both the importance and necessity of continuing this work. The Pleyels have also recorded four CDs which include premiere recordings of much of the chamber music of the British composer Arnold Cooke (1906-2005), now available through our website.

‘You are such wonderful communicators – both of the emotional range and variety of the music you played, and of your own infectious enjoyment – that Saturday’s concert was a very special one, hugely relished by the audience.’ - Banstead Arts Feb. 2020

‘The (Middlewich & District) Society enjoyed a performance by the Pleyel Ensemble that members said was both ‘enthralling and exciting”. - Crewe Chronicle

Booklet for Arnold Cooke: Complete Music for Oboe & Sonata for Two Pianos