Ballet! Aisling Casey & Éadaoin Copeland

How great music comes alive

In Stravinsky's ballet music, the oboe often plays a prominent and diverse role, no more so than in his neoclassical ballet, 'Pulcinella'. A few arrangements of this ballet exist for solo instrument and piano, but not for oboe, despite its notable role in the orchestral version.

Aisling: "I have therefore taken on the challenge and have arranged this colourful masterpiece for oboe and piano, the premiere of which will be played at this concert. Ballet & dance was a dominant influence in my life growing up in Cork, Ireland.

Aside from the obvious influence of dance in the Irish culture, the (amateur)classical music scene in Cork was enriched by ambitious ballet productions at the Cork Opera House, with a full symphony orchestra in the pit, in which I learned many a ballet score as a teenager.

With this in mind, we’ve added ballet and dance music by Bartok and Ravel to the programme, composers who also wrote fantastic orchestral oboe parts but never solo oboe pieces.