Cry of Beltane

Duration: approx. 4:00 The Cry of Beltane was written for Leo Sherwood, an advanced, young oboe student, and first performed in May 2017 as part of the Cleveland Composers Guild's Creativity: Learning through Experience program. Beltane is the anglicized name of the Celtic festival held on May Day, a pagan festival signifying the beginning of summer. The piece is intended to evoke a ritualistic, call to summer; a crying out and calling forth of sun and growth. The piece should sound aggressive and the oboe should aim to make the most of its harder-edged timbre, rather than its lyrical qualities. While the notation is precise, the piece should sound as if the performer had improvised it. The bigger the contrast in dynamics the better.