Oboe
Centuries before the Spanish and Portuguese conquests in the New World, an early version of the chirimía arrived in Europe from the Middle East due to cultural exchanges. The Crusades brought Europeans into contact with the Turko-Arabic zurna. However, the oboe's roots go back even further, linked to ancient reed instruments like those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the Greek aulos and Roman tibia. Nearly lost in the West during the Dark Ages, the oboe reappeared with the Arabic zurna in the 13th century. It evolved through European bagpipes and finally became the French hautbois in the 17th century, which is when modern oboe history truly began. In English, prior to 1770, the standard instrument was called a hautbois, hoboy, or French hoboy. This name was borrowed from the French name, which is a compound word made up of haut (high, loud) and bois (wood, woodwind). The French word means 'high-pitched woodwind' in English. The spelling of oboe was adopted into English from the Italian oboè, a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name. The regular oboe first appeared in the mid-17th century, when it was called a hautbois. This name was also used for its predecessor, the shawm, from which the basic form of the hautbois was derived. Major differences between the two instruments include the division of the hautbois into three sections, or joints, which allowed for more precise manufacture, and the elimination of the pirouette, the wooden ledge below the reed which allowed players to rest their lips. The exact date and location of origin of the hautbois are obscure, as are the inventors. Circumstantial evidence, such as the statement by the flautist composer Michel de la Barre in his Memoire, points to members of the Philidor (Filidor) and Hotteterre families. The instrument may in fact have had multiple inventors. The hautbois quickly spread throughout Europe, including Great Britain, where it was called hautboy, hoboy, hautboit, howboye, and similar variants of the French name. It was the main melody instrument in early military bands, until it was succeeded by the clarinet.
Sound is produced by blowing into the reed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column. In comparison to other modern woodwind instruments, the soprano oboe is sometimes referred to as having a 'bright and penetrating' voice. The Sprightly Companion, an instruction book published by Henry Playford in 1695, describes the oboe as 'Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet'. In the play Angels in America the sound is described as like 'that of a duck if the duck were a songbird'. The rich timbre is derived from its conical bore, as opposed to the generally cylindrical bore of flutes and clarinets. As a result, oboes are easier to hear over other instruments in large ensembles due to its penetrating sound. The highest note is a semitone lower than the nominally highest note of the B flat clarinet. Since the clarinet has a wider range, the lowest note of the B flat clarinet is significantly deeper, a minor sixth, than the lowest note of the oboe. Music for the standard oboe is written in concert pitch, meaning it is not a transposing instrument. The instrument has a soprano range, usually from B3 to G6. Orchestras tune to a concert A played by the first oboe. According to the League of American Orchestras, this is done because the pitch is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning. The pitch of the oboe is affected by the way in which the reed is made. The reed has a significant effect on the sound. Variations in cane and other construction materials, the age of the reed, and differences in scrape and length all affect the pitch. German and French reeds, for instance, differ in many ways, causing the sound to vary accordingly. Weather conditions such as temperature and humidity also affect the pitch. Skilled oboists adjust their embouchure to compensate for these factors. Subtle manipulation of embouchure and air pressure allows the oboist to express timbre and dynamics.
Most professional oboists make their reeds to suit their individual needs. By making their reeds, oboists can precisely control factors such as tone color, intonation, and responsiveness. They can also account for individual embouchure, oral cavity, oboe angle, and air support. Novice oboists rarely make their own reeds, as the process is difficult and time-consuming, and frequently purchase reeds from a music store instead. Commercially available cane reeds are available in several degrees of hardness; a medium reed is very popular, and most beginners use medium-soft reeds. These reeds, like clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon reeds, are made from Arundo donax. As oboists gain more experience, they may start making their own reeds after the model of their teacher or buying handmade reeds, usually from a professional oboist, and using special tools including gougers, pre-gougers, guillotines, shaper tips, knives, and other tools to make and adjust reeds to their liking. The reed is considered the part of oboe that makes the instrument so difficult because the individual nature of each reed means that it is hard to achieve a consistent sound. Slight variations in temperature, humidity, altitude, weather, and climate can also have an effect on the sound of the reed, as well as minute changes in the physique of the reed. Oboists often prepare several reeds to achieve a consistent sound, as well as to prepare for environmental factors such as chipping of a reed or other hazards. Oboists may have different preferred methods for soaking their reeds to produce optimal sounds; the most preferred method tends to be to soak the oboe reed in water before playing. Plastic oboe reeds are rarely used, and are less readily available than plastic reeds for other instruments, such as the clarinet. However, they do exist, and are produced by brands such as Legere.
The Classical period brought a regular oboe whose bore was gradually narrowed, and the instrument became outfitted with several keys, among them those for the notes D, F, and G. A key similar to the modern octave key was also added called the 'slur key', though it was at first used more like the 'flick' keys on the modern German bassoon. Only later did French instrument makers redesign the octave key to be used in the manner of the modern key, held open for the upper register and closed for the lower. The narrower bore allows the higher notes to be more easily played, and composers began to use the oboe's upper register more often in their works. Because of this, the oboe's tessitura in the Classical era was somewhat broader than that found in Baroque works. The range for the Classical oboe extends from C4 to F6 using the scientific pitch notation system, though some German and Austrian oboes are capable of playing one half-step lower. Several Classical-era composers wrote concertos for oboe. Mozart composed both the solo concerto in C major K. 314/285d and the lost original of Sinfonia Concertante in E major K. 297b, as well as a fragment of F major concerto K. 417f. Haydn wrote both the Sinfonia Concertante in B Hob. I:105 and the spurious concerto in C major Hob. VIIg:C1. Beethoven wrote the F major concerto, Hess 12, of which only sketches survive, though the second movement was reconstructed in the late 20th century. Numerous other composers including Johann Christian Bach, Johann Christian Fischer, Jan Antonín Koželuh, and Ludwig August Lebrun also composed pieces for the oboe. Many solos exist for the regular oboe in chamber, symphonic, and operatic compositions from the Classical era.
The standard oboe has several siblings of various sizes and playing ranges. The most widely known and used today is the cor anglais, or English horn, the alto member of the family. A transposing instrument; it is pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe. The oboe d'amore, the mezzo-soprano member of the family, is pitched in A, a minor third lower than the oboe. J.S. Bach made extensive use of both the oboe d'amore as well as the taille and oboe da caccia, Baroque antecedents of the cor anglais. Less common is the bass oboe, also called baritone oboe, which sounds one octave lower than the oboe. Delius, Strauss and Holst scored for the instrument. Similar to the bass oboe is the more powerful heckelphone, which has a wider bore and larger tone than the baritone oboe. Only 165 heckelphones have ever been made. Competent heckelphone players are difficult to find due to the extreme rarity of this particular instrument. The least common of all are the musette, also called oboe musette or piccolo oboe, the sopranino member of the family, usually pitched in E or F above the oboe, and the contrabass oboe, typically pitched in C, two octaves deeper than the standard oboe. Folk versions of the oboe, sometimes equipped with extensive keywork, are found throughout Europe. These include the musette (France) and the piston oboe and bombarde (Brittany), the piffero and ciaramella (Italy), and the xirimia, also spelled chirimia (Spain). Many of these are played in tandem with local forms of bagpipe, particularly with the Italian müsa and zampogna or Breton biniou. David Stock's concerto 'Oborama' features the Oboe and its other members as a soloist, the instrument changing in each movement.
Tomaso Albinoni wrote oboe and two-oboe Concerti. Georg Philipp Telemann composed oboe concerti and sonatas, trio sonatas for oboe, recorder, and basso continuo. Antonio Vivaldi wrote at least 15 oboe concertos. Johann Sebastian Bach used Brandenburg concertos nos. 1 and 2, Concerto for violin and oboe, lost oboe concerti, and numerous oboe obbligato lines in the sacred and secular cantatas. Tchaikovsky included a theme to Swan Lake featuring the instrument. Samuel Barber wrote Canzonetta, op. 48, for oboe and string orchestra between 1977 and 1978, orchestrated by Charles Turner. Vincenzo Bellini composed a Concerto in E-flat for oboe and chamber orchestra before 1825. Luciano Berio created Chemins IV on Sequenza VII for oboe and string orchestra in 1975. Harrison Birtwistle wrote An Interrupted Endless Melody for oboe and piano in 1991 and Pulse Sampler for oboe and claves in 1981. Benjamin Britten composed Temporal Variations, Two Insect Pieces, Phantasy Quartet, op. 2, and Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, Op. 49 in 1951. Howard J. Buss wrote Sonatina of Remembrance for oboe and piano in 2023. Elliott Carter composed an Oboe Concerto between 1986 and 1987, Trilogy for oboe and harp in 1992, and Quartet for oboe, violin, viola, and cello in 2001. Morton Feldman wrote Oboe and Orchestra in 1976. Vivian Fine composed a Sonatina for Oboe and Piano in 1939. Domenico Cimarosa arranged an Oboe Concerto in C major. John Corigliano wrote an Oboe Concerto in 1975. Miguel del Águila composed Summer Song for oboe and piano. Antal Doráti created a Duo Concertante for Oboe and Piano. Madeleine Dring wrote Three Piece Suite arranged by Roger Lord and Trio for oboe, flute and piano. Henri Dutilleux composed Les Citations for oboe, harpsichord, double bass and percussion in 1991. Eric Ewazen wrote Down a River of Time for oboe and string orchestra in 1999. Eugene Aynsley Goossens composed a Concerto for Oboe, Op. 45 in 1928. Edvard Grieg included Symphonic Dances Op. 64, no. 2 featuring the instrument. George Frideric Handel wrote The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Oboe Concertos No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and oboe sonatas HWV 257, 263a, 266.
The oboe remains uncommon in jazz music, but there have been notable uses of the instrument. Some early bands in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably that of Paul Whiteman, included it for coloristic purposes. Most often in this era it was used for dance band music, but occasionally oboists may be heard used in a similar manner to a saxophone for solos. Most of the time these oboists were already playing with the band or orchestra on a different woodwind instrument. The multi-instrumentalist Garvin Bushell, who lived from 1902 to 1991, played the oboe in jazz bands as early as 1924 and used the instrument throughout his career, eventually recording with John Coltrane in 1961. Dave Wild Gil Evans featured oboe in sections of his famous Sketches of Spain collaboration with trumpeter Miles Davis. Though primarily a tenor saxophone and flute player, Yusef Lateef was among the first in 1961 to use the oboe as a solo instrument in modern jazz performances and recordings. Composer and double bassist Charles Mingus gave the oboe a brief but prominent role, played by Dick Hafer, in his composition 'I.X. Love' on the 1963 album Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus. With the birth of jazz fusion in the late 1960s, and its continuous development through the following decade, the oboe became somewhat more prominent, replacing on some occasions the saxophone as the focal point. The oboe was used with great success by the Welsh multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins in his work with the groups Nucleus and Soft Machine, and by the American woodwind player Paul McCandless, co-founder of the Paul Winter Consort and later Oregon. The 1980s saw an increasing number of oboists try their hand at non-classical work, and many players of note have recorded and performed alternative music on oboe. Some present-day jazz groups influenced by classical music, such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra, feature the oboe.
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Common questions
When did the oboe reappear in Europe after being lost during the Dark Ages?
The oboe reappeared with the Arabic zurna in the 13th century. It evolved through European bagpipes and finally became the French hautbois in the 17th century, which is when modern oboe history truly began.
Who invented the regular oboe known as the hautbois?
The exact date and location of origin of the hautbois are obscure, as are the inventors. Circumstantial evidence points to members of the Philidor (Filidor) and Hotteterre families, though the instrument may have had multiple inventors.
What is the standard pitch range for a soprano oboe?
The instrument has a soprano range, usually from B3 to G6. The highest note is a semitone lower than the nominally highest note of the B flat clarinet.
Why do orchestras tune to a concert A played by the first oboe?
Orchestras tune to a concert A played by the first oboe because the pitch is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning. This practice follows guidelines from the League of American Orchestras.
How many heckelphones have ever been made?
Only 165 heckelphones have ever been made. Competent heckelphone players are difficult to find due to the extreme rarity of this particular instrument.