During the nineteenth century, "fantasias’ on tunes from well-known operas became very popular. Indeed, one French composer, Abraham (clarinetist and teacher at the Paris Conservatoire), was said to have been able to write on demand a fantasia on any opera. FJ. Fétis described him as “un espéce douvrier musicien aux gages des marchands de musique” ("a sort of crafisman-musician in the pay of the music merchants"). As a result we have inherited a large number of pieces based on the ‘most famous operas of the last century, and they are slowly being re-discovered. Some of these arrangements were intended for amateur players, and the technical demands of these could not be too high. In the case of the fantasias for oboe, we rarely find easy works, and the compositions of Garimond, De Stefani, Parma, Barret, Fargues, etc. seem to pave the way for those of the two virtuosos Théodore Lalliet (1837 - 1892) and Antonino Pasculli (1842 - 1924), in whose works new heights of technical difficulty were reached, ‘The present composition of Pasculli is very complex and combines some of the best- known themes from Meyerbeer’s opera with high technical demands, requiring both expression and virtuosity, It is important to point out that the “cadenza” of the central episode ( "Adagio" in 12/8 ) has a section resembling part of Pasculli’s " Concerto sopra motivi dell’ opera ' La Favorita' " (published by Musica Rara, no. 1879), The work was dedicated to Stefano Donaudy. Sandro Caldini Florence October 1997Fantasia Sull’ opera Les Huguenots di Meyerbeer for A. Pasculi Oboe and Piano (1842-1924) Oboe Editor: S. Caldini Andante —T—“—e™S—C— freeones if ay BN yy = siete FES eins it a Allegretto veloci e ff eye dim. sempre... 7 7 7 ss SOS (30) i PRP val (© World Copyright 1998 by Musica Rara, Monteux, France MR 2233Oboe — lunga scherzando a 4 as . <4, atempo , oe = all. S decise 66 “ED . intempo, 0 ae largamente all, 1 OT IN ar 52, fe EB MR 2233