Duration: 13 minutes

Description: Ernest John Moeran (1894–1950) composed Fantasy Quartet, R90 in 1946 for oboe, violin, viola, and cello at the request of the celebrated oboist Léon Goossens, completing the work during a productive late period marked by a renewed focus on chamber music. Written in a single, continuous movement in the tradition of the British Phantasy genre championed by Walter Willson Cobbett, the quartet blends rhapsodic freedom with subtle formal unity, combining lyrical pastoralism, modal harmonies, and echoes of English and Irish folk music that reflect the landscapes of Norfolk and County Kerry so closely associated with the composer. Moeran dedicated the work to Goossens, who gave the premiere on December 8. 1946. Today, Fantasy Quartet, R90 is regarded as one of Moeran’s finest chamber compositions and a significant contribution to the twentieth-century oboe repertoire. Although heard less frequently than the British Phantasy works of Vaughan Williams, Bax, or Britten, it is admired for its richly evocative atmosphere, eloquent writing for all four instruments, and masterful fusion of pastoral lyricism with sophisticated craftsmanship. Reprint edition.

• M354891 / 36-M354891 FANTASY QUARTET SC/PTS $11.99Buy Now