Lied for oboe and piano

Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) composed Lied for oboe and piano (2017) as an 80th-birthday gift for Jouko Teikari, former solo oboist in the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The oboe is by nature a very singing instrument and Lied brings out precisely this aspect. Lasting five-and-a-half minutes, it is like one long instrumental song. Halfway through, it builds up to a powerful climax, from which it gradually calms down to the quiet, stagnant closing bars.