The persistence of memory: elegy for oboe and string orchestra (2014)

The Persistence of Memory was written in remembrance of Guy Henderson, who was Diana Doherty’s predecessor at the SSO for thirty-one years, and premiered by the Tasmanian SO in 2014. While this is more elegiac than Horse Opera, as befits the reasons for its composition, there are moments of similar rapture. The writing for the orchestra does more than simply support the oboe. A very moving work, which I can imagine being picked up by Classic FM in the UK; that is intended as sincere praise, not in any sense patronising.

The highlight of the program was a beautifully rendered performance of Graeme Koehne’s The Persistence of Memory. Receiving its world première in 2014 by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, it was written in memory of Guy Henderson who served as principal oboe of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for some 31 years (1967-1998). Written for oboe and string orchestra, it begins delicately with a single violin and cello which announce a hauntingly serene melody that is soon taken up by the ensemble and developed by the obo, played most beautifully by Joshua Oates.