This concerto features a very unusual solo group consisting of two oboes and two clarinets. The introduction is a stately Larghetto played by all the instruments. There is one phrase for the solo group alone. The oboes lead off the allegro main section. Clarinets soon take over, and the tutti comes in some time after that. Oboes and clarinets are played off against each other as pairs and against the tutti, and there are several extended solos for a single oboe.

Clarinets lead off the central Largo with oboe accompaniment. The pairs of solo instruments exchange leading and subordinate roles regularly and often during the course of this movement in which the strings do not play. The finale brings back the full ensemble for an Allegro that features a vigorous rhythmic marking of its triple meter as well as extended passages featuring a single oboe and/or clarinet along with the play of duos.

© Aaron Rabushka, All Music Guide