Semiaquatic Suite: Hippopotamus

Oboist Jennet Ingle and composer Joseph Sowa have twice combined their teaching studios in the creation of new works for oboe, most notably leading to a performance at the 2026 IDRS Conference.

Following the success of this collaboration, they are thrilled to join forces in creating a new suite for oboe and piano.

Inspired by Bach dance suites and Perry the Platypus (from the show Phineas and Ferb), the piece will be entitled "Semiaquatic Suite for oboe and piano." Each movement will depict a different semiaquatic mammal, including the platypus (of course), hippopotamus (which will be a study in quintuplets, obviously), otter, and others.

At 12–15 minutes and 4–6 movements long, the suite will be written at an advanced high school/early college level, to give students a fresh work they can sink their teeth into and professionals an easy-to-program work they can perform as a whole or in part.

Aiming to be both playful and substantive, the style of the suite will be lyrical, colorful, and rhythmically charged.

We invite you to join us in bringing this new piece to life.

The initial inspiration for the hippopotamus movement was counting quintuplets (“hip-po-pot-a-mus”), but the quintuplets ended up taking more of a backseat. As the tempo marking suggests, what I wanted to capture was the sense that this lumbering creature can also be quite agile. The A section depicts the hippo’s cute, playful side, and the B section depicts what can happen when crocodiles and other animals get in its way—the more aggressive, threatening side.