Gerhard Griesel wrote:

> As a layman I battle to distinguish between the sounds of the
> English horn, oboe and clarinet.  For example, what is the instrument
> playing the solo at the beginning of the third movement (Andante
> con moto) of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony?

The recording of Manfred I have does not bring the solo forward, but
I am pretty sure it is an oboe.  Manfred's scoring does in fact include
an English horn, though.  And Manfred's theme is scored for three bassoons
and a bass clarinet.  Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony has a very prominent
and beautiful clarinet solo right at the beginning.

For the English horn, listen to Sibelius' Swan of Tuonela, from the
Lemminkainen Suite--very extended prominent solo.  There is also a
famous use of this instrument in Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique.

For a ravishing piece for solo oboe alone, get a recording of Britten's
Six Metamorphoses.  You will not regret it.  There are also a lot of
Baroque oboe concertos, including several by Vivaldi.

Jim Tobin.

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