Grime, Helen - Two Birthday Fragments

Two Birthday Fragments was composed for the 60th birthday of oboist Nicholas Daniel. The two-minute piece comprises a rhapsodic opening and a sharply contrasting second movement subtitled ‘After Fernand Gillet’, referencing the French-American oboist and teacher whose textbook Exercices sur les Gammes, les Intervalles et le Staccato is familiar to conservatoire students around the world.