Juliana Koch, Michael McHale & Julian Bliss - Piper of Dreams: Ruth Gipps Chamber Music (2024)

Ruth Gipps made her musical talents apparent from an early age, and they were encouraged by her very supportive mother. She entered the Royal College of Music in 1937, aged 16, studying oboe and piano, in addition to composition (with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob). Whilst at college, she performed Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto, and her tone poem Knight in Armour (CHAN 20078) was presented by Sir Henry Wood at the Last Night of the Proms in 1942. As the war continued, Gipps left London to become principal oboe with the City of Birmingham Orchestra, where she also performed as pianist and had several of her works programmed. Returning to London after the war, Gipps found fewer opportunities as a performer, and less interest in her orchestral scores. She concentrated on composing more chamber music, alongside a successful teaching career.

This album of her chamber music for oboe (and cor anglais) features works composed from 1938 to 1990, representing Gipps’s entire compositional life. In demand as a soloist all over Europe, Juliana Koch was appointed Professor of Oboe at the Royal College of Music, London, in 2018 and is Principal Oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Tracklist
01. Gipps- Sonata No. 2, Op. 66- I. Andante doloroso
02. Gipps- Sonata No. 2, Op. 66- II. Adagio
03. Gipps- Sonata No. 2, Op. 66- III. Allegro moderato
04. Gipps- Kensington Gardens Suite, Op. 2- I. Elfin Oak
05. Gipps- Kensington Gardens Suite, Op. 2- II. Fat Pigeon
06. Gipps- Kensington Gardens Suite, Op. 2- III. Chestnut Trees
07. Gipps- Sea-weed Song, Op. 12c
08. Gipps- Sea-shore Suite, Op. 3b- I. Gulls
09. Gipps- Sea-shore Suite, Op. 3b- II. Sea Anemone
10. Gipps- Sea-shore Suite, Op. 3b- III. Stormy Beach
11. Gipps- Sonata No. 1, Op. 5a- I. Allegro moderato
12. Gipps- Sonata No. 1, Op. 5a- II. Adagio
13. Gipps- Sonata No. 1, Op. 5a- III. Finale
14. Gipps- The Piper of Dreams, Op. 12b
15. Gipps- Trio, Op. 10- I. Moderato
16. Gipps- Trio, Op. 10- II. Adagio
17. Gipps- Trio, Op. 10- III. Allegro ritmico
18. Gipps- Threnody, Op. 74