Four Dialogues for oboe and chamber orchestra (1964)

The piece – dedicated to Lothar Faber – is written for oboe solo and orchestra comprising 26 instrumentalists. It is a concise, four-part cycle, in which the first movement (Andante non troppo) is an introduction and presents the thematic material, the second movement (Moderato) develops it, the third (Allegro moderato) – constitutes the climax of the whole work, while the fourth (Adagio calmatissimo) – sums up and gradually ends the narrative. Each of the four dialogues takes up the same theme, each time in a slightly different context, when it comes to expression and colour. Dialogues I and III are more dramatic, while II and IV are more static and gentler.

Baird’s work is characterised by a sophisticated colouring, intense and vivid sound, and is dominated by an almost romantic expression. In organising the sound material, the composer retained some elements of dodecaphony, and in building the form he drew on a literary genre.

It was Baird’s third work that came first at UNESCO’s International Rostrum of Composers in Paris (1966). Until 1970 its only performer was the German oboist Lothar Faber.

Summing up the 8th Warsaw Autumn, Tadeusz A. Zieliński concluded:

The most valuable manifestations of truly noble musical invention and sound culture included Baird’s Four Dialogues for oboe and chamber orchestra, with a beautiful melody and full of romantic melancholy, discreet though sonically sophisticated. Alongside the Four Essays and Erotic Poems, it is Baird’s best work. In addition, it shows convincingly enough that the greatness of Festival events does not have to be always measured in terms of the degree of stylistic discovery and aggressive novelty.

Four Dialogues was also used in two ballet productions choreographed by Anna Sokolow and performed by the First Chaber Dance Company (New York, Warsaw 1971).