After a period of relative neglect, the oboe re-emerged in the 20th century as a fashionable solo instrument. The decade from 1945 to 1955 saw a glut of new oboe concertos from Richard Strauss, Jacques Ibert, Lukas Foss, Malcolm Arnold and Bohuslav Martinů – as well as Bernd Alois Zimmermann. The German composer is rightly remembered as a maverick, unmoved by the diktats of musical modernism. Ironic, then, that of all these mid-century concertos, his is perhaps the most attuned to the times.

Read the full programme note and profile on the London Symphony Orchestra website