Oboe Grove's

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Oboe
(Fr. hautbois; Ger. Oboe; It. oboe).
Generic term in the system of Hornbostel and Sachs for an aerophone with a
double (concussion) reed (for detailed classification see Aerophone). The name
is taken from that of the principal treble double-reed instrument of Western art
music (see §II below).
I. General.
II. The European treble oboe.
III. Larger and smaller European oboes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JANET K. PAGE (I), GEOFFREY BURGESS (II, 1, 3–4; III, 6),
BRUCE HAYNES (II, 2), MICHAEL FINKELMAN (III, 1–5)
Oboe
I. General.
1. Oboes.
The Aulos of ancient Greece may sometimes have had a double reed, and
some kind of reed aerophone was known in North Africa in pre-Islamic times.
Instruments of the Surnāy type became established with the spread of the Arab
empire around the end of the first millennium ce; they were possibly a synthesis
of types from Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria and Asia Minor. From there the
instrument, then used in a military role, spread into conquered areas and areas
of influence: to India, and later, under the Ottoman empire, to Europe (around
the time of the fifth crusade, 1217–21; there may already have been bagpipes
with double reeds there) and further into Asia (to China in the 14th century). As
the instrument spread, it came to be made of local materials and fashioned
according to local preferences in usage, shape and decoration: the Śahnāī of
north India has a flared brass bell; the Sarunai of Sumatra has a palm leaf reed
and a bell of wood or buffalo horn; the Algaita of West Africa is covered with
leather and has four or five finger-holes.
The surnāy is the oboe of traditional music in the Islamic world; instruments of
this type and with local names are played in the Near East, Turkey, south-east
Europe, North Africa and many parts of Asia. The surnāy consists of a wooden
conical tube widening at the end into a flared bell, a tuning-fork-shaped section
(nāzik) which is inserted fork end down into the instrument, a staple, inserted
into the top of the instrument, a metal lip disc (Pirouette, a name taken by
Hornbostel and Sachs from Mersenne) which may be part of the staple or
separate from it and attached to it, and the reed, which fits over the top of the
staple and is taken entirely into the mouth when playing. The tube usually has
seven finger-holes and a thumb-hole. The instrument of the Middle East is
made in three sizes. It has a loud and brilliant tone and is used for outdoor
celebrations. It is usually played in small ensembles: with a double-headed
drum (ghayta with tabl in North Africa (see Gaita (i)), zurna with davul in
Turkey); in Egypt three mazāmīr (sing. mizmār) play with one or more drums,
two of the mazāmīr acting as drones; in Macedonia a large zurla acts as a
melody instrument, a smaller one as a drone, a reverse of the usual pattern.
The technique of circular breathing is commonly used. The Suona of China,
which has a large flaring metal bell, and the European Shawm are descendants
of the surnāy (and have related names). The śahnāī of North India resembles
the surnāy but is distinct in not having a lip disc. Large oboes of the surnāy type
include the Nāgasvaram, a wooden conical oboe of South India about 95 cm in
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length, with seven finger-holes, played with drums and ottu (a drone oboe with
no finger-holes) for festivals, and the rgya-gling of Tibet, played in identical
pairs for Buddhist rituals.
A small type of double-reed instrument originated in China where it was known
as bili; it became the Guan of China, the Hichiriki of Japan (imported to Japan in
the 8th century), and the P’iri of Korea. Instruments of this type are made in a
variety of sizes. The guan has a cylindrical bore. The hichiriki has a reverse
conical bore with seven finger-holes and two thumb-holes; the reed is made of
a length of reed stalk, flattened and scraped. Such instruments are
characterized by their capacity for subtle ornamentation and flexible pitch.
Rustic oboes without finger-holes, used for signalling or as noise makers, are
found in England and France. The Whithorn (England) and the bramevac
(France) are made of a strip of coiled bark bound together with thorns; the reed
is made of green bark. There are also idioglot oboes (with the reed formed from
the material of the tube); they have been found in Europe, Korea and Malaysia.
The hodugi of Korea is a tube of bark removed from a slender branch. At one
end the upper layer of bark is shaved down to make a reed. It may have finger-
holes and the sound may be modified with open or cupped hands.
2. Reeds.
The reed is not long-lasting and so tends to be made of a plentiful local
material. The reeds of the modern Western oboe, and of most other European
double-reed instruments, are made of a slip of the stem of a large semi-tropical
grass (Arundo donax) folded in half, the two halves bound together and scraped
thin to vibrate. Arundo donax grows around the Mediterranean Sea, in Spain,
France and Italy (and also in other places with a similar climate such as
California and South America). The p’iri, the guan and the hichiriki have reeds
of flattened and scraped bamboo. The reeds of the surnāy and many related
instruments are made from a section of soft cane, bound at one end and
flattened at the other to an oval; when the reed is not in use a protective cover
may be placed over the end to maintain the correct shape. The guard, spare
reeds and staples, and a metal mandrel for making reeds are strung together
and hung from the śahnāī during performance. The charumera of Japan has a
reed of corn stalk. Many instruments of South-east Asia have reeds of palm or
other leaf. The selompret of Indonesia has reeds of thin plates of bamboo cut
into a fan shape and tied together in two sets of three; the reeds of the pī of
Thailand are similar, but made of palm leaf. The hnè of Myanmar has a
composite double reed made from young leaves of toddy palm, which are
soaked, smoked, folded and cut to shape; six to eight fan-shaped layers are
bound with a thick cord. (See also Reed.)
Other oboes of Western music include the basson d’amour, Bassoon, cromorne
(see Cromorne (i)), curtal, Dolzaina, Hautbois d’église, Heckelphone, Racket,
Sarrusophone, Sordun, Tartölt, tenoroon and Tristan Schalmei. The cleron
pastoral, cornamusa (see Cornamusa (i)), Crumhorn, Hautbois de Poitou,
Schreyerpfeife, Schryari and some types of Kortholt and Shawm are Wind-cap
instruments, oboes in which the reed is enclosed within a rigid wooden cap.
Some bagpipes have double reeds; see Bagpipe.
See also Būq; Mizmār; and Piffaro.
For bibliography see individual entries.
Oboe
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II. The European treble oboe.

1. Introduction.
2. History to 1800.
3. The 19th century.
Oboe, §II: The European oboe
1. Introduction.
The oboe family, as used in Western music, consists of a group of conical-bore
double-reed woodwind instruments in a variety of sizes. The most common
member of the family, and the one usually referred to as the oboe, is the treble
instrument in C. The term ‘hautboy’, one of a number of spellings in use during
the early history of the instrument and found occasionally into the early 20th
century, has been revived to designate the two- or three-key oboe in use from
the mid-17th century to the early 19th; it will be so used here. A terminology for
identifying the parts of the oboe appears in fig.1.
The oboe consists of a slender tube of wood some 60 cm long, in three sections
united by tenon-and-socket joints. The modern oboe is made of grenadilla,
occasionally of other woods, ebonite or plastic, and the hautboy usually of
boxwood or fruitwood. The joints of the hautboy are generally decorated with
turnery. The bore of the modern oboe, which is narrow and conoidal, expands
fairly regularly for about five-sixths of its length and then opens out more rapidly
to form a moderate bell (fig.1b). This expansion takes the shape of a smooth
curve or a succession of cones, according to the formulae adopted by different
makers and worked out experimentally by them. The effective length of the tube
is made variable by means of 16 to 20 side holes, six of them directly under the
player’s fingers and the rest controlled by a mechanism of keys which is
sometimes most ingenious and complicated. At least four systems of Keywork
have been applied to the oboe. Since World War II the Conservatoire system,
developed in France and adopted by the Paris Conservatoire in 1882, has
become an international standard.
The hautboy (fig.1a) has a contraction rim at the end of the bell, retained also in
its descendant, the modern Viennese oboe (fig.1c). It has eight side holes, six
under the control of the fingers, with holes three and four often split into two
smaller twin holes, and keys for c' and E , the latter sometimes duplicated.
Additional holes and keys for chromatic notes were added to this basic design
during the 19th century.
Oboes are sounded by means of a reed formed of two hollowed-out blades of
thin ‘cane’, actually the semi-tropical grass Arundo donax or Arundo sativa
(fig.2). These are bound face to face with thread to a narrow tapered metal
tube, slightly flattened at the tip, termed a ‘staple’. Although the dimensions of
the reed may not match the volume of the missing end of the instrument’s
conical bore, the reed nevertheless functions as an extension of the bore. At
their free ends, the blades are scraped down to a feather edge. When placed
between the lips and blown through, the blades of the reed vibrate together,
alternately opening and closing the elliptical chink between them and thus
transmitting bursts of energy to the air column in the body tube. The proper
management of this very delicate apparatus is probably the most difficult part of
oboe technique for the learner to acquire or for the teacher to impart.
On the hautboy, notes outside the basic scale are obtained by ‘resistance
fingerings’ – cross- or forked fingerings and half-holed fingerings. The hautboy
overblows an octave, giving a range of at least two octaves (e'–d''). The
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compass of the modern oboe extends from b to a''' – in all, 36 notes, of which
the first 15 are fundamental notes. Acoustically, the remainder are harmonics of
the first 15 and are produced by changes of ‘lip’ pressure on the reed, assisted
by the use of speaker or octave keys.
Intonation, tone-colour and dynamics are modified by the combined control of
breath and embouchure pressure. Because the oboe requires very little air, the
player is able to perform long phrases in one breath, but must learn to exhale
stale air before inhaling. Articulation is achieved by stopping the vibrations of
the reed with the tongue.
In addition to the treble or soprano oboe in C, the family includes a number of
deeper-toned members (fig.3). Lower oboes have appeared in a variety of
forms, often with a bulb-shaped bell (see §III). The modern family includes the
oboe d’amore in A, the english horn in F and the bass oboe in C. Smaller oboes
were built for military use in the 19th century, and in the late 20th century a
small oboe in F, the musette, was developed to complete the family.
2. History to 1800.
The term ‘hautboy’ has been adopted here to refer to the form of oboe that
gradually separated itself from the Shawm in the first half of the 17th century
and flourished until the first part of the 19th, when it was supplanted by the
keyed oboe. Although the hautboy was revived in the 1960s for use in
ensembles of historical instruments, only its past history will be considered
here.
(i) Introduction.
(ii) Before 1670.
(iii) 1670–1700.
(iv) 1700–30.
(v) 1730–70.
(vi) 1770–1800.
Oboe, §II, 2: The European oboe to 1800: History
(i) Introduction.
The normal size of hautboy was the treble, which gave a seven-fingered C. It
was usually 58–9 cm in length and was made in three separate joints coupled
by tenons and sockets, the top and centre being of about equal length and the
bell somewhat shorter (see fig.1a). It had a conical bore with steps at the joints.
The outer joints usually featured mouldings. There were six finger-holes, a key
for E (sometimes doubled), an open-standing and articulated key for c' (the
lowest note), and two vent holes placed opposite each other on the bell. The
larger tone holes were undercut (i.e. they expanded inwards). The bell normally
had a thick contraction rim, called a ‘lip’, at the bottom.
Of an estimated 15,000 original treble hautboys, about 750, made between
about 1680 and 1820, were known to survive at the end of the 20th century.
The majority (about 85%) are made of boxwood, which also appears to be the
wood of hautboys shown in paintings of the time. Other materials used include
ebony, ivory and fruitwoods. Darker stain was sometimes used, and some early
instruments imitate tortoiseshell. Close to half the surviving hautboys have ivory
tips; others have ferrules of brass or silver or are tipped with horn or bone. The
fourth hole was sometimes twinned (i.e. two small holes were drilled next to
each other), as was the third.
The hautboy's outward form was based on concepts of architectural moulding.
Physical features such as the shape of the keys, the type of wood, the presence
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of ornamental mounts or twin holes, the turning profile and turning details, and
the shape of the bell, varied with time and from workshop to workshop (fig.4).
No reeds made earlier than the late 18th century survive, and little written
information on reeds and reed-making exists from before about 1780. It was not
unusual for players (even some professionals) to purchase ready-made reeds
from instrument makers. Pictures indicate that, dimensions apart, reeds were
made much as they are for the key-system oboe (see fig.11 below). A staple, or
metal tube, was used to connect the two blades of cane to the bore of the
instrument; the reed could be separate or fixed permanently to the staple. The
cane was shaped with parallel sides for at least half its length. Reeds must
have varied considerably, as they do now (see fig.2), and no single way of
making them can by itself be considered ‘historical’. In general terms, reeds
tended to become narrower and shorter during the course of the 18th century
as the bore became correspondingly smaller and both tessitura and pitch
moved upwards.
Throughout its history the hautboy shared with the other woodwind certain
techniques that seem stylistically remote today. It used an elaborate system of
paired tonguing patterns, the flattement or finger vibrato (not the modern breath
vibrato), and the messa di voce. These techniques were used throughout
Europe, and descriptions and demonstrations can be found in sources and
handbooks to the end of the 18th century.
(ii) Before 1670.
In all European languages the hautboy's name was either taken over directly or
transliterated from the French hautbois (pronounced ‘oh-bway’ in the 18th
century). Later German and English sources described the hautboy as having
originated in France. Lully probably began using an early form of hautboy in his
ballet L'amour malade in 1657; such an instrument was introduced into the
French military in 1663. The few surviving sources from this period indicate that
the hautboy was a new conception, the result of a fundamental redesign. This
change is difficult to date because in French both shawms and hautboys were
called ‘hautbois’. The shawms described by Michael Praetorius in 1619 were
played with a pirouette and had a range of an octave and a 5th. Shawms had
been played as an independent family, or consort; Lully’s combining of wind
with strings to form an ‘orchestra’ was thus a break with traditional practice. The
reed instrument had to match the range and pitch of its new partner, the violin; it
had to function well in more than a few tonalities, it needed a direct control of a
wide range of dynamics, and it had to blend easily with the general sound.
None of this had been required of the shawm.
The bore of the shawm was thus lengthened, and its tone holes were
repositioned further down the instrument’s length and drilled smaller. This had
several effects. It increased the effectiveness of cross-fingering (also called
‘forked fingering’) and half-holing, which was how the accidentals were played.
Examples are the notes b ' and a ': whereas b', a' and g' were produced by
closing respectively the top hole, the top two holes and the top three holes (or
1, 1 2, 1 2 3), b ' was played 1 3, and a ' used the half-hole fingering 1 2 3.
These fingerings produced greater back-pressure and played less freely than
the open-fingered notes. Not only did they feel different to play, their sound was
covered or veiled, and they produced the characteristically uneven sound of
Baroque woodwind scales, not unlike a singer using different vowels for each
note.
To compensate for the greater built-in resistance caused by the hautboy’s small
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tone holes and cross-fingerings, the reeds were wider and scraped thinner than
those of the key-system oboe. The player thus used a lower pressure, which
made it easier to perform the short intense musical gestures, quick and extreme
changes of dynamics and tone, and frequent starts and stops demanded by the
music written in the 18th century. The complex dynamic nuance of the Baroque
period and the phrasing it implied was gradually abandoned in the 19th century
in favour of the ‘long line’ phrase – an approach better served with the
narrower, harder reeds of the key-system oboe and the greater, more constant
pressure needed to play them.
These changes also caused the new treble instrument to sound a 4th lower
than the treble shawm and a major 2nd above the alto. The lower pitch and
covered fingerings darkened and decentralized the instrument's tone, helping it
to blend.
This process has been attributed to woodwind players at the French court
(members of the Hotteterre and Philidor families are mentioned). It evidently
took place in stages. The shawms described by Mersenne in 1636 possessed a
range of two octaves, and one of them appears to have had no pirouette. By the
1660s two new types of instrument that shared characteristics of both shawm
and hautboy were shown on tapestries made by the royal Gobelins studios
(fig.5 and fig.6). These protomorphic hautboys retained the shawm’s fontanelle
to cover the key, but had twin 4th and 6th tone holes and, apparently, only a
single pair of vent holes. The longer-belled instruments (which were also
featured in another Gobelin of the same decade) resemble Mersenne’s
shawms, but they are about the same acoustic length as later treble hautboys
at A'' (392 Hz). The shorter-belled ones look very much like his Haut-bois de
Poitou and, being considerably longer, were probably pitched a 5th lower.
After the production of Les plaisirs de l’île enchantée in May 1664, the hautboy
seems to have vanished from Lully’s next 14 large-scale ballets and comédies-
ballets. It did not reappear until 1670, with Le bourgeois gentilhomme. It is thus
possible that a new model, the definitive hautboy first shown in Blanchet's
engraving of 1672 (see fig.24 below) was developed during this period.
(iii) 1670–1700.
The new instrument is also shown in a Gobelins tapestry made in 1684 (fig.7).
The fingering used by the player is fictitious but is obviously inspired by a cross-
fingering.
From the mid-17th to the late 18th century the French court employed 35
woodwind players in the grande écurie, most or all of them hautboists. No other
European court used so many hautboists, many managing with two or three.
The Opéra functioned separately from the court, and other musical activities
took place in Paris that used hautboys.
Both Lully's monopoly of power and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes forced
many musicians to leave France. Other countries were very receptive of French
music, musical style, playing techniques and players, and the new hautboy was
quickly adopted all over Europe. It was first heard in England in 1675 and was
being used in English military circles by 1678. In 1677 the court at Turin was
employing a military band of six hautboists, some of whom had French names.
French hautboy players arrived in Madrid in 1679. A number of German courts
hired French hautboists in the 1680s. The hautboy was being played in Vienna
by 1697 at the latest, and it was admitted to the cappella of S Marco, Venice, in
1698, effectively replacing the cornett.
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As the instrument took root abroad, local musicians were sent to France for
instruction. And by the 1690s ‘French’ hautboys were being made in Germany,
England and Holland. In some cases (like that of Christoph Denner and other
Nuremberg makers) they were direct copies; in others, French makers (like
Peter Bressan) emigrated to other countries. By the late 17th century
Amsterdam was supporting a thriving woodwind-making industry.
Once the new hautboy had spread over Europe and had lost its primary French
association, neither its playing style nor the way it was made had any particular
national character. Players frequently circulated between countries, bringing
with them techniques of playing and instruments of the latest design.
In its earliest decades, the hautboy was often heard in bands, continuing the
consort tradition of the shawm. Repertory consisted of marches, dance suites
and ceremonial music, much of which was played by heart and is now lost;
surviving scores include the Philidor manuscript (F-Pn Rés.F.671). The normal
formation was 2 treble hautboys, 2 tenors and 2 bassoons, but, starting early in
the 18th century, horns often replaced the tenor hautboys, making a band of 2
hautboys, 2 horns and 1 or 2 bassoons.
Hautboys also doubled strings in the orchestra and provided variety by playing
short ‘trios’ by themselves. In Lully’s works they inherited the symbolic attributes
of shawms and appeared in direct connection with events occurring on stage;
their presence was associated with certain dramatic situations, especially
pastoral scenes.
The earliest chamber music that used the hautboy was usually conceived ‘en
symphonie’, that is, it could be played on any treble instrument or combination
of instruments. This music included the trios written in the 1690s by François
Couperin, Marin Marais and Jean-Féry Rebel. In the same decade Agostino
Steffani, Johann Kusser and Reinhard Keiser began writing obbligatos in opera
arias featuring the hautboy, many of them exceptionally beautiful; they
represent the earliest solo use of the instrument.
(iv) 1700–30.
In Venice the hautboy had been used sporadically in operas during the last
decade of the 17th century. Ignazio Rion, who played Handel's solos in Rome,
had taught the hautboy at the Pietà orphanage in 1704–5. Other notable
Venetian players included Onofrio Penati, Ludwig Erdmann and the girls at the
Pietà, including Pellegrina ‘dall'Oboe’, for whom Vivaldi wrote some of his
concertos and chamber music.
Among makers in France were Pierre Naust, the Hotteterres (nine individuals
from three generations were at work during this period) and Jean Jacques
Rippert. The elder Thomas Stanesby had worked in London since 1691, and his
son also began making instruments about 1714. Building on an old craft
tradition, Nuremberg was the first German centre for makers of the new French
woodwind instruments; Christoph Denner and Johann Schell were making
recorders and hautboys in the 1690s, and three hautboys survive by Benedikt
Gahn, who died in 1711. Denner's eldest son Jacob opened his own workshop
in 1707. The woodwind maker Joannes Maria Anciuti set up shop in Milan at
this time.
In Amsterdam Richard Haka founded a school of makers that included
Coenraad Rijkel, Jan Steenbergen and Abraham van Aardenberg, among at
least ten others. The number of surviving Dutch hautboys from this period is
remarkable. The only other region with as many is Germany. Considering the
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relatively small number of players who were active in the Dutch Republic, it
must be assumed that some German, English and even French hautboists
played Dutch hautboys.
The hautboy had one quality that made it unique among the instruments of the
early 18th century: it was the sole instrument to be used in every imaginable
kind of music. Philipp Eisel wrote in 1738, ‘It is used in the battlefield, in opera,
in social gatherings, as well as in churches’.
The period 1700–30 contained the greatest quantity as well as some of the
most profound and varied solo music of any period in the hautboy's history. It
was rich in solo sonatas and suites with basso continuo, concertos, and
obbligato solos for oboe with voice. Italian composers did not feature the
obbligato hautboy in vocal scores as much as Handel or J.S. Bach, but they
were probably responsible for starting the vogue for the solo hautboy concerto
continued by, for example, Benedetto Marcello, Tomaso Albinoni and Vivaldi.
France produced almost no concertos or vocal works with solo hautboy, but
provided many solo and trio sonatas.
Tutors, written for amateurs, appeared from 1688 onwards. The information
they offer is usually rudimentary; professional players probably received their
training directly from masters rather than from books.
Fingering charts of the period generally give the range as c'–d'''. From early on
there is mention of the possible use of b and of notes above d'''. Early solos
exploit the entire range but usually stay within a compass of d' or e' to b ''. Until
the Classical period, fingering charts indicate that the high notes up to b'' were
fingered like their lower octaves, and c''' was played ‘all open’.
Choice of key was of prime importance. Each scale had a specific, individual
sound, and different fingering combinations (including special fingerings for trills
and other ornaments) determined its difficulty. Tonalities with too many cross-
fingerings (i.e. those with more than four accidentals) were impractical and
avoided. Any piece that used A or G frequently was awkward, as it involved
the use of the half-hole on 3; the combination e '' to d '' set the technical limit of
the hautboy because it involved moving the little finger between the two keys
and was only imperfectly solved with alternative fingerings.
In relative volume, the hautboy was regularly equated with the violin, transverse
flute and recorder in trio sonatas, and with the voice in arias. In the orchestra,
the ratio of hautboys to violins varied greatly, from to 1:1 to 1:11. Hautboys
were regularly muted by putting a piece of cloth, paper, damp sponge, cotton
wool or wood in the bell.
Records of the grande écurie list the many hautboists who performed at the
French court (fig.10). Titles to those posts were sold or passed on to younger
family members, and generations of Rousselets, Destouches, Hotteterres,
Pièches, Philidors, Descoteaux and others filled them. Among the leading
hautboists in Germany in this period were François La Riche, Michael Böhm,
Peter Glösch, J.C. Richter, Jacob Denner, Jacques Loeillet and Alois Freymuth.
It was primarily court musicians who were soloists, although Stadtpfeifer were
responsible for church music; Caspar Gleditsch was Bach's soloist at Leipzig,
and the solos Bach wrote for him in his sacred works are the greatest single
monument to the talent of any hautboist in the history of the instrument. Bach
must also have written chamber music with hautboy, but it is lost; the hautboy
concertos (bwv1053, 1055, 1056, 1059 and 1060) survive only in arrangements
for harpsichord. At the London opera, where Handel worked from 1711,
hautboists (all foreigners) included B.J. Loeillet (i), J.C. Kytch, J.E. Galliard and
Peter La Tour (the two last using hautboys made by Colin Hotteterre, principal
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at the Paris Opéra). In 1729 Giuseppe Sammartini, one of the foremost

woodwind players of his day, settled in London.
Inventories of the Naust-Delerablée workshop (probably the most important
French maker of the 1720s and 30s) list a number of prominent woodwind-
playing clients. Some German players could well have been playing French or
Dutch hautboys, but most probably obtained them from the Nuremberg makers,
or from J.H. Eichentopf and J.C. Sattler in Leipzig. The principal source of
hautboys from the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium) was that of the
Rottenburgh family, which produced many excellent instruments from about
1700. Hautboys continued to flow from the workshops of Amsterdam.
(v) 1730–70.
This period saw the fragmentation of the archetypal ‘French hautboy’ into
several new models. By the 1730s the Italians had developed the straight-top
and, somewhat later, the type associated with Palanca (see below). The
straight-top became popular in England. The French, meanwhile, developed
another type that looks as if it had been stretched lengthwise; these instruments
are among the longest hautboys that survive, and the swellings at the balusters
and bell flare are very gradual and ‘streamlined’ (fig.11). The music of this
period was mostly played on these new models. As different as they were in
outward turning style and pitch level, the hautboys of this period generally had
one important feature in common: a distinctly narrower bore. While the earlier
models had an average minimum bore of 5·95 mm or larger, the new ones
scarcely averaged wider than 5 mm. The bores of hautboys in the period 1760–
1820 were on average about 4·8 mm, and that of the modern key-system oboe
is about 4·2.
Hautboy playing was dominated at this time by great Italian virtuosos: wherever
one looks, Italians were playing solos in important musical centres. In Paris the
appearance of the Besozzi brothers at the Concert Spirituel in 1735 changed
the French hautboy world decisively. In Germany Italians like Giovanni Platti,
Antonio and Carlo Besozzi, the Ferrandinis, Gioseffo Secchi and Vittorino
Colombazzi transformed the hautboy's image. In England Sammartini left a
lasting impression on players and audiences.
By mid-century, solo genres such as sonatas and obbligatos with voice were
less frequently used. Concertos were the dominant solo medium, and it was at
this time that the first hautboy quartets (hautboy and string trio without continuo)
began to appear. The hautboy appeared regularly in the orchestra as a soloist,
but over the course of the 18th century its relation to the violin changed.
Originally it doubled the violin in tutti passages, but by mid-century orchestral
composers were starting to give the wind a more harmonic function in the form
of held chords against moving violin lines. As hautboy parts became simpler,
the violins were gradually given more complex figuration, until by the Classical
period the two instruments had taken on quite independent functions.
Foreigners, including the Catalan brothers Joan Baptista and Josep Pia,
became popular in Paris. Virtuosos of international renown appeared in Italy:
Alessandro Besozzi at Turin, Matteo Bissoli in Padua, and Gaetano Besozzi at
Naples (the last went on to have a brilliant career in Paris). In England in the
1740s Sammartini and Thomas Vincent were frequent soloists in public concert
series. After Sammartini's death in 1750 Redmond Simpson emerged as
London's pre-eminent hautboist.
In France the Naust-Delerablée workshop was continued from 1734 by Thomas
Lot. He and Charles Bizey were the principal French woodwind makers of the
Oboe Page 10 of 37
period. Among the more interesting German makers were David Denner (who
worked until mid-century, using his father Christoph's workshop stamp), the
younger Wilhelm Oberlender and Thomas Gottlieb Crone. In London Thomas
Stanesby (ii) worked until about 1754 and was succeeded by his assistant,
Caleb Gedney. J.J. Schuchart, who may have worked for Bressan, established
his shop shortly after the latter's death in 1731.
Alternative joints on hautboys (called ‘Muttationen’ in Austria) began to appear
in the 1760s (fig.12). Such joints, usually three in number, may have been used
principally by travelling soloists; they allowed for small pitch changes (about a
comma, or a ninth of a whole tone). In military bands starting in the 1750s the
hautboy was gradually replaced by the clarinet as the principal instrument. In
many cases the players were probably the same but had simply switched
instruments.
(vi) 1770–1800.
By the 1770s the new ‘Classical’ hautboy was in vogue; it differed from its
predecessors not only in outward form but also in its smaller bore, thinner walls
and diminutive tone holes. The beginnings of such attributes can be seen in
instruments made in Italy in the previous generation, especially those by Carlo
Palanca of Turin. A year after Antonio Besozzi was appointed principal hautboy
at Dresden in 1738, Augustin Grenser moved to Dresden, and Jakob
Grundmann followed him in the early 1750s. These two makers developed a
model that was the prototype almost everywhere for the rest of the century. The
earliest surviving Grensers and Grundmanns closely resemble the instruments
of Palanca and Giovanni Panormo.
The tone of the Classical hautboy was narrower and more focussed. It played
more softly, especially in the upper register, and was extremely sensitive to
corrections in intonation and to choice of fingering; it also played the high notes
more easily. The hautboys of this period were built to be agile and mercurial
rather than, as in earlier generations, rich and sensuous. Pitch was moving
towards a relatively universal standard of a' = 440, which was in place by about
1770. It was probably no accident that a' = 440 had been traditional in Venice
and northern Italy; its adoption all over Europe was no doubt the result of the
important role of travelling Italian virtuosos in the preceding period. By 1770 the
new ‘long’ high-note fingerings were in general use (see below).
As orchestral parts became increasingly simplified, the more enterprising
players wrote concertos for themselves and began touring; hence the
remarkable number of bravura pieces for hautboy and orchestra written in the
second half of the 18th century. A number of travelling virtuosos left music for
the instrument, including Joseph Fiala, Georg Druschetzky, Franz Joseph
Czerwenka (recipient of Beethoven's variations on ‘La ci darem la mano’), Ignaz
Malzat (who probably wrote the ‘Haydn’ concerto), Carlo Besozzi (with J.C.
Fischer, the best-known hautboist of his day), J.F. Braun, L.A. Lebrun, Fischer,
and Friedrich Ramm (recipient of Mozart's Quartet). In the Habsburg lands
prominent composers, including Mysliveček, the Wranitzky brothers and
Vanhal, also wrote important works. Most of the solo and chamber genres that
had previously provided showpieces had now fallen out of favour; the dominant
genres were the hautboy quartet and quintet, which effectively replaced the solo
sonata and the trio. Despite the popularity of these forms, the quantity of new
compositions for solo hautboy was on a steady decline in the second half of the
century.
By this period, the hautboy began to cede some of its former orchestral territory
Oboe Page 11 of 37
to the clarinet. The conscious use of instrumentation to create tone-colour

meant that no specific wind instrument predominated in the orchestra, as the
hautboy had formerly done. By 1802 François-Joseph Garnier wrote of the
hautboy, ‘The usage that most of the great masters made of it in their learned
compositions attest sto its excellence and is a daily reproach to the present
taste, which seems to neglect it’.
Starting about that time, solos began to show a preference for sharper
tonalities, a higher tessitura and an extended upper range. Mozart's Quartet for
oboe and strings k370/368b, for instance, shows a mean range about a major
3rd higher than Bach's average for hautboy solos. Upward slurs of intervals
larger than a 3rd (virtually unplayable on earlier hautboys) were required more
frequently, explaining the general adoption of long high-note fingerings based
on harmonics, and the eventual addition of a speaker key. The note f'' appears
first in a sonata by Bissoli written about 1750, but it was still exceptional when
Mozart used it in his Quartet in 1781. L.J. Francoeur noted the use of g''' as
early as 1772, but it did not appear in a fingering chart until 1792 (Wragg: see
Haynes, 1978). Lebrun (who died in 1790) avoided g''' in one of his concertos.
In 1802 Garnier discouraged the use of notes above d''' in his Méthode written
for for the two-key hautboy.
In France the principal hautboists of this period were François Sallantin and
Gaetano Besozzi. Sallantin was the first professor of oboe at the Paris
Conservatoire (for which institution Garnier wrote his Méthode), and François
Devienne's Sonatas opp.70 and 71 (1793) are dedicated to him; they are
unusual in French music for being specifically for hautboy. In 1776, after a
successful career in Munich, Secchi returned to Turin to replace the aging
Alessandro Besozzi. Giuseppe Ferlendis was the principal hautboist at
Salzburg (Mozart wrote the concerto for him there) and later played in Vienna
and Venice. Sante Aguilar was active at Bologna, 1761–1808. Besides Fischer,
leading players in London included John Parke and his brother W.T. Parke.
In the latter part of the 18th century, members of the Lot family, Prudent, and
Christophe Delusse were the most celebrated makers in France. Andrea
Fornari began making hautboys at Venice some time before 1791. Among
several active makers in Germany, the Dresden makers Grundmann and his
assistant Johann Friedrich Floth, together with Grenser and his nephew
Heinrich, dominated the market in much of Europe during the last quarter of the
18th century (nearly a fifth of all the hautboys that now survive are by these
makers). Numerous English hautboys from this period have also survived,
made to meet the demands of a large amateur clientèle; William Milhouse had
the best reputation. By this time instruments were also being made in Vienna
and Prague by such makers as Friedrich and Martin Lempp and Jakob Baur.
Haydn preferred the hautboys of the Viennese maker Rocko Baur.
From the 1780s additional keys began to appear on the hautboy. Keys had
been used for centuries, usually to close holes beyond the reach of the fingers,
but dedicated key systems did not find acceptance until the Industrial
Revolution. The purpose of many of the new keys was to eliminate cross-
fingerings by providing a separate tone hole, opened by its own key, for each
semitone. This development affected fingering technique, but, more basically, it
also altered the sound and character of the instrument: accidentals were
clearer, so that the whole scale became brighter and more focussed. A few
cross-fingerings remained (the forked f' is still used on the key-system oboe),
but they came to be used as alternatives or for special effects. The advent of
the key systems indicates a rejection of the basic characteristic of the hautboy
and thus represented a turning-point in the history of the oboe.
Oboe Page 12 of 37

During the 19th century the oboe changed more than in any other period. Most
accounts have dwelt on the mechanism, with little consideration of other less
obvious alterations and how they influenced the instrument's playing
characteristics. Taken together, these changes not only allowed the hautboy to
meet the technical demands of new musical aesthetics but also affected its
pitch, timbre, carrying power, intonation, balance of registers and ultimately its
character and function. In the 19th century the oboe remained a specialist's
instrument. Because of the difficulties associated with reeds and the patience
required to produce an acceptable tone quality, the oboe never became popular
as an amateur instrument and was little used in domestic music-making. Oboe
classes in conservatories across Europe were small, and the size of the market
was responsible for consistently high production costs.
(i) Characteristics and repertory.
(ii) Additional keys, 1800–40.
(iii) Interactive mechanisms, 1840–60.
(iv) The Conservatoire-system oboe.
Oboe, §II, 3: The European oboe after 1800
(i) Characteristics and repertory.
By the mid-19th century the oboe had lost the dynamic power of the hautboy,
rendering it unsuited to military and ceremonial music, while in the orchestra it
fought a losing battle against the increasing power of the brass and string
sections. Players saw themselves as successors to the tradition established by
the Besozzis, Lebrun and Fischer, all renowned for their virtuosity and sweet
tone. The Romantic attitude to the oboe was summed up by Berlioz:
Candour, artless grace, soft joy, or the grief of a fragile being,
suits the hautboy's accents; it expresses them admirably in its
cantabile. A certain degree of agitation is also within its powers of
expression; but care should be taken not to urge it into utterances
of passion – the rash outburst of anger, threat or heroism; for then
its small acid-sweet voice becomes ineffectual, & absolutely
grotesque … The theme of a march, however manly, grand or
noble, loses its manliness, its grandeur, and its nobility, if a
hautbois deliver it.
Cantabile became the oboe's characteristic mode of expression: according to
the French oboist Henri Brod, ‘great composers use the oboe soloistically only
in melodic passages, and most often in slow tempos’ (1825–35, i, 1).
Characteristic examples include the soaring line of Florestan's aria in Fidelio
(Act 2 scene i), ‘Tristesse’ in Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette, the solo at the
beginning of the slow movement of Brahms's Violin Concerto and many
examples in Wagner's scores, such as the moment in Act 2 of Tannhäuser
where, in the words of Richard Strauss, ‘no other instrument could reveal the
sweet secret of love's innocence in such affecting tones’ (Instrumentationslehre,
1904).
Both lyricism and virtuosity had a place in the concerto and in chamber music.
Oboe with string trio or quartet was a favourite combination in the early 19th
century. A profusion of concertos, pièces de salon and operatic fantasies
emanated from the Paris Conservatoire, many written by the professors for their
own and their students' use. Few concertos were written outside France; those
by Kalliwoda and Bellini were exceptions. Among the works for oboe and piano,
the Drei Romanzen op.94 by Robert Schumann (1849, with clarinet and violin
Oboe Page 13 of 37
as alternatives) are the most important; these pieces are more lyrical than
virtuoso. At the end of the century, music by the Italian oboe virtuoso Antonio
Pasculli (1842–1924) introduced an unprecedented level of virtuosity (e.g. the
Fantasia sull'opera Poliuto di Donizetti and the Grand concerto sul I vespri
siciliani di Verdi). The oboe's pastoral associations were perpetuated in works
such as Brod's Sur le retour du petit Savoyard for oboe and piano (c1835) and
the Notturno Alpenreigen und Rondoletto pastorale by Rudolf Tillmetz as well
as in the ‘Scène aux champs’ in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.
Most of this music was written by lesser-known composers or by oboists for
their own use. Judging from quantity and the difficulty of the music, many
oboists reached a high technical standard. That few prominent composers
produced solo or chamber music for the instrument was perhaps due at least in
part to the limited range and expressive capabilities of the oboe relative to other
instruments: it was considered unequal on its own to the aspirations of
Romantic expression.
The independent traditions of oboe making that arose in France and Germany
came about to meet different musical demands. While the French oboe quickly
lost the qualities associated with the hautboy, the construction of the German
oboe encouraged a more robust tonal character. By 1840 most modern oboes
of the two schools had almost identical keywork, but were distinguished by
other features of construction. The German oboes had a slightly wider bore and
the keys were supported on wooden mounts, which tended to damp resonance;
and these characteristics, together with the use of relatively hard reeds,
produced a dark sound. The profile of the French oboe was more streamlined
and it was played with lighter, narrower reeds. The sweet, bright tone of the
French oboe added brilliance in the orchestra, while the heavy, dark tone
preferred in the German lands was better able to blend with other instruments.
Other European countries gravitated towards one or other of the two schools:
Italy towards the German school and England likewise, until French influence
began to predominate around the middle of the century. Oboe methods of the
19th century dwell on technical rather than musical aspects and contain much
information relevant to the chronological development of the instrument.
(ii) Additional keys, 1800–40.
For over a century two keys had served the oboist's needs, and although the
technology for adding keywork was available, it was rarely applied. The
development of keywork was stimulated by the challenge of adapting to the new
musical style together with the economic viability provided by the Industrial
Revolution. The oboe was the last wind instrument to be equipped with
additional keywork, but this does not mean that it was disadvantaged: the
double reed provided it with the flexibility to overcome the limitations of minimal
keywork. Some oboists thought that too many keys could damage tone quality –
Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) was one of the most outspoken on this issue. By the
mid-1820s the evenness of tone provided by keyed fingerings was widely
accepted, but cross-fingerings continued to be used for much of the century.
Not all oboists stayed abreast of the latest developments, and orchestration
manuals cautioned composers against demanding techniques available only on
the most mechanically advanced instruments.
The exact circumstances and order in which keys were added to the oboe are
difficult to track: priorities varied according to local preference. The first keys
were added by German makers. A small percentage of the oboes made in
Dresden by Heinrich Grenser (1764–1813), J.F. Grundmann (1727–1800), J.F.
Floth (1760/61–1807) and his apprentice C.G. Bormann (1770/71–1839) have
Oboe Page 14 of 37
up to ten keys. In 1823 the oboist Wilhelm Braun considered four keys essential
(C, C , E and the speaker key), and a further four advisable. Two years later
Josef Sellner (1787–1843), professor of the oboe at the Vienna Conservatory,
published his Theoretisch-praktische Oboeschule, which promoted the 13-key
oboe he had developed in collaboration with the maker Stephan Koch (fig.13).
This model did not force other oboes into immediate extinction but was to
remain the most advanced Austrian/German oboe for the next several decades.
French oboists were more cautious about adding keys; developments in the first
two decades of the century concentrated on improving the much-admired oboes
of Christophe Delusse (fl 1781–9; fig.14). François Sallantin (1775–1861), first
oboe at the Opéra to 1812 and professor at the Conservatoire to 1816, added
two keys, which Gustave Vogt, his pupil and successor, described in his
Méthode (c1816–25) as essential for correct intonation, although he rejected
the addition of further keys. However, by 1825 Vogt, then the pre-eminent
player in France, had adopted a seven-key instrument (Musée de la Musique,
Paris, 481/E263) similiar to the oboes described in methods by his pupils Brod
(1825–35) and Auguste Vény (1828). French builders of the period such as
Guillaume Triébert, Brod and F.G. Adler (d 1854) also respected the Delusse
tradition (fig.15).
Two-key oboes remained in use in Italy perhaps longer than in other countries;
Andrea Fornari continued to make such instruments until 1832. The virtuoso
solos in Rossini's operas – notably La scala di seta (1812) and La gazza ladra
(1817) – were written for Baldassare Centroni (1784–1860), who for most of his
career played a two-key oboe.
The keys added in this first phase served six main functions: to extend the
range; to modify the tuning of certain notes; to provide alternatives to cross-
fingerings; to improve the high notes; to improve trills; and to expand the range
of tonalities in which the instrument was technically fluent and tonally effective.
The range of the hautboy in late 18th-century instructions is c' to f''', fully
chromatic except for c '. A c ' key was an early addition on German oboes, but
the note continued to be unavailable in France until about 1825. A key to close
the vent holes on the bell to produce b was added to some German oboes in
the first decade of the 19th century, but it did not appear on French oboes until
Brod's model of 1835. Brod is also known to have made oboes descending to a,
by which he intended to improve the overall tone of the instrument as much as
to increase its range. The most widely accepted upper limit of the oboe's range
in the 19th century was g'''. Sellner extended it to a''', but this note was never
called for in the music of the time.
The tuning compromises inherent to the hautboy were not always compatible
with 19th-century intonation and could be eliminated with keys. The practice of
distinguishing enharmonic equivalents with different fingerings was retained in
France by contrasting cross- and keyed fingerings, with the higher of two
fingerings for a particular pitch assigned to the sharpened note.
Evenness of tone became an important component of Romantic musical
aesthetic. Keys could be used to reduce the variation in the tone of different
notes, to correct intonation without requiring adjustments to embouchure or
breath pressure, and to simplify certain passage-work.
It was discovered about 1800 that opening a small hole near the top of the bore
as a high note was attacked improved the note's response. In Germany the key
that covered this hole had two names: Schleifklappe (‘slur key’) referred to its
use as an aid in playing upward slurs and hohe F-Klappe to its use in producing
high notes, particularly f'''. The first French instruments with such a speaker key
Oboe Page 15 of 37
(clef d'octavier) were made by Brod in the late 1830s. Brod also devised a
pierced plate to provide the correct venting, to overblow d'' and e ''.
On the hautboy, many trills require one of the pitches to be ‘bent’ in tune by the
player. Trill keys such as the c' key on the Sellner oboe provided more
acceptable intonation.
The duplicate E and F keys on the Sellner oboe greatly facilitated playing in
tonalities with more than three sharps or flats, such as the D major cantabile
theme in the second movement of Schubert's ‘Unfinished’ Symphony (1822).
Austrian and German compositions for solo oboe, written for such instruments,
tend to be in tonalities further removed from C major than works by French
composers. Although keys helped to produce a more even tone, they had little
effect on the overall volume of the instrument. In addition, in this phase of the
oboe's development the keys were not always ideally placed for rapid
execution.
(iii) Interactive mechanisms, 1840–60.
The second phase of the oboe's development was centred on France,
stimulated by the flourishing school of virtuosity at the Paris Conservatoire
during the tenure of the distinguished professors Vogt (tenure 1816–53), S.-X.
Verroust (1853–63), C.-L. Triébert (1863–7), F.-C. Berthélemy (1867–8),
Charles Colin (1868–81) and Georges Gillet (1881–1919). Makers aimed to
improve the facility of execution by simplifying fingerings and to make the tone
even more uniform over the compass of the instrument. Frédéric Triébert
(1813–78) was responsible for a series of innovative designs, in which he
addressed these problems by revising the layout of the keys and adopting
interdependent mechanisms (see Keywork). The Triébert catalogue of 1862
advertised all systèmes created over the preceding 20-year period (fig.16). The
profile of the more modern oboes was streamlined to accommodate the
increasingly complex system of keys. By 1840 axles and posts had supplanted
metal saddle key supports, and rings (brilles) had been added to facilitate f ', b '
and c''.
No national schools of playing developed outside France, and, apart from a few
virtuosos such as Philipp Barth, Sellner and F.E. Thurner (1785–1827), the
market for oboes in Germany and Austria was made up predominantly of
orchestral musicians, for whom 10- to 13-key oboes were sufficient. Most
mechanical developments introduced in France in the 1840s were not adopted
in Germany until after the middle of the century. C.T. Golde of Dresden (1803–
73) made impeccably tuned oboes which, typically for German oboes of his
time, had independent key mechanisms supported by wooden blocks, and
simple levers rather than the rods found on French oboes.
(iv) The Conservatoire-system oboe.
The central figures in the final stage of the development of the modern French
oboe were Frédéric Triébert and A.-M.-R. Barret (c1803–79, from 1829 first
oboe at Covent Garden). In the second edition of his Complete Method for the
Oboe (1862) Barret announced a new design created in collaboration with
Triébert (fig.17). On the new instrument the range was extended downwards to
b '; like Brod, Barret argued that lengthening the bell improved the tone of the
instrument. The fingerings of the first octave were now used for the second
octave, with the addition of an octave key for a'' to c''; this simplified the
Oboe Page 16 of 37
fingering for b '', b'' and c''', notes formerly produced as modified 3rd harmonics
of e ', e' and f' respectively. The facility gained by the simplified fingerings was,
however, achieved at the expense of stability of pitch, tone quality and
projection. The addition of new keys and new links between keys made trills
available on all pitches throughout the compass of the instrument. Barret also
devised a thumb-plate to activate the b ' and c'' keys. Many features of Barret's
design were incorporated into Triébert's ‘système 6’ (1872); French players,
however, preferred to maintain the freedom of the thumb, so the b ' and c'' keys
were operated by the index finger of the right hand.
After the death of Frédéric in 1867, the firm of Triébert changed hands several
times. It was declared bankrupt in 1881, at which time the foreman, François
Lorée (1835–1902), established his own workshop to continue the Triébert
tradition. In the same year Georges Gillet adopted Triébert's ‘système 6’ as the
official instrument of the Paris Conservatoire. It was, however, some time
before this ‘Conservatoire system’ oboe became established as an international
standard. In Belgium it was not until the last decade of the century that it
superseded previous models. In England Alfred Morton (1827–98) made hybrid
oboes with the wider bores of German oboes and French keywork. By 1860
Central European makers had added rings on holes 5 and 6; few further
changes are noticeable in German oboe designs until the end of the century.
The Austrian oboe was the least affected by French developments and retained
most features of the Sellner-Golde tradition, with modifications by Josef Hajek
(1849–1926), whose instruments were championed by the Viennese oboist
Richard Baumgärtel (1854–1941). Pasculli was one of the first Italian oboists to
use a French oboe. He played a Triébert ‘système 3’ to the end of his career in
1884, 45 years after the model was created.
Concurrently with the development of the Conservatoire-system oboe, some
makers developed a radically new oboe based on the theories of Theobald
Boehm. Initially there was much optimism about the new design – it would
improve the oboe's faulty tuning by doing away with the ‘acoustic monstrosities
of forked fingerings and half-holings’ (Fétis, Rapports du Jury international,
Exposition universelle, 1868) – but the success of these instruments was short-
lived. In the 1840s and 50s the oboist A.J. Lavigne (1816–86), an ardent
supporter of Boehm's principles, participated in the three projects to realize a
Boehm oboe (see fig.17). The tonal results were incompatible with the oboe's
established character, and each attempt only exacerbated the oboe's reedy
tone. The Boehm-system oboe continued to be used only in military music,
where its simplified fingering, increased power and improved intonation were
appreciated. Although it failed to supplant traditional designs, the Boehm
experiment served to affirm the desired characteristics of the French oboe.
Like their 18th-century predecessors, early 19th-century makers favoured the
superior acoustic properties of boxwood, which was, however, a soft wood with
a tendency to warp. By the 1840s makers were experimenting with other woods
in an attempt to find a more stable support for the delicate interactive key
systems. The Triébert catalogue of 1862 recommended boxwood only for
oboes with minimal keywork, preferring rosewood, grenadilla and ebony for all
other models. In 1890 Gillet's revision of Brod's tutor suppressed all reference
to boxwood, naming in its place pallisander, grenadilla and ebony. Of these,
grenadilla has proved the most serviceable.
As much as the instrument itself, oboe reeds changed decisively over the
course of the 19th century. The earliest detailed reed-making instructions are
found in F.-J. Garnier's Méthode of 1802 (fig.18). Other early instructions
appear in the method books of Sellner (1825), Brod (1825–35) Clemente
Oboe Page 17 of 37
Salviani (Metodo completo per oboe, Milan, 1848) and Giuseppe Cappelli
(Metodo teoretico-pratico, Milan, 1853). During the 19th century reeds became
narrower, made from cane of smaller-diameter tubes, gouged increasingly
thinner (see fig.2 above). Like the instruments, reeds did not follow a simple
chronological evolution but varied according to national preference, the French
reeds being the smallest and lightest. A gouging machine invented by Brod
revolutionized reed making by providing more uniform results than had been
possible by scraping the interior of the cane by hand, and resulted in the
abandonment of the tapered gouges seen in some hautboy reeds. Changes to
the instrument also influenced reed design. With the addition of the speaker
key, reeds no longer needed to respond to the changes of air pressure to
overblow the high notes, and the dimensions of the staple were less critical
because intonation in the upper octave could be adjusted with less risk of the
notes dropping to the lower octave. As cross-fingerings require light and flexible
reeds, only when these fingerings became virtually obsolete did harder reeds
come into use.
As at the end of the 18th century, most orchestras in the 19th century had two
oboes. The english horn was usually played by one of the oboists, more rarely
by an additional player. This configuration was expanded to three oboes and
english horn in some of Wagner's late works (e.g. Parsifal). The tradition of
tuning to the oboe is documented from the beginning of the 19th century.
According to Vogt and Fétis (Manuel des compositeurs, Paris, 1837, p.117), the
narrow bore of the oboe made it less susceptible than other wind instruments to
pitch variation caused by temperature fluctuations.
(i) Instruments and playing styles.
(ii) Repertory and performers.
(iii) Technique.
(iv) Alternative playing styles.
Oboe, §II, 4: The European lower oboes
(i) Instruments and playing styles.
At the end of the 20th century the Conservatoire-system oboe was used by
soloists and orchestral musicians throughout the world. For over 120 years
since its invention in 1872 this design has been forced (with only minor
modifications) to adapt to performing music from the 17th century to the present
day. Richard Strauss's enthusiasm for the French oboe’s superior mechanism,
evenness of tone, facility in extreme ranges and ability to blend with other
instruments (1904, p.164) was probably responsible for its adoption in
Germany. The first oboist to promote the use of the French instruments there
was Fritz Flemming (1872–1947), professor at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik
from 1907. By 1920 most German oboists had followed his example. His
influence is evident in the playing of Karl Steins (b 1919) and Lothar Koch (b
1935), whose dark, voluminous sound, produced by playing a French oboe with
German reeds, was an unmistakable part of the sound of the Berlin PO during
the tenure of Herbert von Karajan. Vienna has remained the only place to resist
French influence. The modern Viennese oboe, descended from the instruments
of Sellner and Golde, was made in the 20th century by Hermann Zuleger and
Yamaha (fig.19a). It is characterized by a wide, non-continuous bore, thick
walls, a fingering system that incorporates cross- and harmonic fingerings, and
short, wide reeds inserted into a tapered reed well. Shorter than the French
oboe, the Viennese oboe does not usually have a key for b ; Mahler's scores
Oboe Page 18 of 37
provide alternative versions for French and Viennese oboes. At the end of the
20th century some Viennese oboes were being made with Conservatoire-
system keywork.
Attitudes towards modifying the Conservatoire-system oboe have remained
exceptionally conservative, with the result that defects in the French design
have remained unsolved on the modern instrument. The intonation of the upper
octave and the lowest notes is still problematic, and the tone of b '' to c'''
remains poor. A few small modifications have been made. Early in the century
plateaux, or pierced keys, were installed above the six finger-holes. This
innovation, called the ‘Gillet’ system after Georges Gillet, who proposed it to
Lorée, assists the execution of certain trills and encourages a dark tone-colour.
A third octave key, for playing in the extreme high register (e''' and above), has
been added to some oboes. Extra tuning vents have been added to correct the
pitch of notes affected by the lengthening of the bell to accommodate b . In the
late 1980s and early 90s the walls of the top joint were thickened, increasing
sonority and projection. The only resistance fingering used on the modern oboe
is the forked F, which is still required for certain successions of notes. With the
exception of rare examples in rosewood, 20th-century oboes are made of
grenadilla. There have been sporadic experiments with synthetic substances,
but these have not been widely used outside the production of student models.
Isolated attempts to redesign the oboe have included an oboe made about
1930, signed ‘Prof Romeo Orsi Milano’, with added tuning holes, a network of
automated octave keys and duplicate key systems for the low notes (fig.19b).
The extra weight of the encrustation of keywork alone limited the practicality of
this design. In the 1920s and 30s attempts were made to make the oboe more
accessible to doublers in dance bands. The English firms Louis (established
1923) and Boosey & Hawkes (established 1930) created oboes with saxophone
fingerings, and the Berninger-Adler oboe (1928) employed a single-reed
mouthpiece. Neither enjoyed more than limited success. Likewise a system
devised by the English oboist Arthur Forman to improve intonation of E and F
by repositioning holes 5 and 6 has not been pursued. Persistent attempts to find
an adequate synthetic substitute for reed cane have failed. Many oboists use
commercially gouged and shaped cane, which they tie and scrape themselves;
others personalize the process from an earlier stage, shaping, or gouging and
shaping, the cane to their own specifications. There are many descriptions of
the process (see Bourns, 1998). Reed-scraping machines have further
mechanized reed making.
At the end of the 20th century the market was dominated by three French
manufacturers: Lorée (see fig.3 above), Marigaux (established 1934) and
Rigoutat (established 1922). The monopoly of French makers did not result in
the total suppression of national styles. Although virtually identical
mechanically, each company's instruments possessed unique tonal qualities
adapted to specific schools: Lorée oboes were being used in North America to
the almost total exclusion of other makes; Marigaux was supplying the German
market with oboes of darker tone; and Rigoutat was making instruments with
the more delicate tone preferred in France. National differences also existed in
technique and reeds, although during the 1990s even these were becoming
less apparent. Slight variations in key mechanisms existed in some traditions.
Of these, the most important is the thumb-plate open-hole system used
extensively in Britain. Although directly affecting only b ' and c'', this system
influences the tonal balance of the whole instrument. However, the
Conservatoire-system oboe has always had a number of English adherents,
Terence McDonagh (1908–86) being one of the most renowned. In the
Oboe Page 19 of 37
Netherlands the Stotijn system (named after a famous Dutch family of oboists)
was developed; it has a special automatic octave-key mechanism. The Prestini
system, developed by the Italian firm of the same name, assigned the keys for b
and b to the left thumb.
Vibrato, which began to be used in France in the last decade of the 19th
century, may have been introduced partly to compensate for the loss of
resonance resulting from the narrow bore of the Conservatoire-system oboe.
Strauss (Instrumentationslehre von Hector Berlioz, 183) may have been
referring to vibrato when he observed: ‘The French tone, though thinner and
frequently tremulant [oft vibrierend], is much more flexible and adaptable’.
Fernand Gillet (1882–1980), following the example of his uncle Georges, used
throat vibrato discreetly in his premier prix examination in 1897 (Post, 1982,
p.36). Leon Goossens (1897–1988), inspired by the violinist Fritz Kreisler, is
considered the first oboist to have used diaphragm vibrato as a regular adjunct
to tone production. It was well into the 20th century before vibrato was accepted
by all schools; by the end of the century constant vibrato had transformed the
tonal character of the oboe.
(ii) Repertory and performers.
In the 20th century the oboe re-emerged as a solo instrument, stimulating
composers to write concertos, solos and ensemble chamber music for it. This
development was largely inspired by the playing of a number of fine oboists.
French composers continued to write for the professors of the Conservatoire
and their pupils; Saint-Saëns's Oboe Sonata (1921), written for Louis Bas
(1863–1944), is an important work from the early 20th century. Goossens, who
studied with Charles Reynolds (1843–1916) and the Belgian Henri de Busscher
(1880–1975), forged a model career as orchestral musician, soloist and
teacher. Known for the silken tone of his playing, his supple phrasing and
control of vibrato, Goossens inspired more works than any other oboist of the
20th century. Arnold Bax's Quintet for oboe and strings (1922) was the first of
the works dedicated to him; later came an incomplete suite by Elgar and
concertos by Leon's brother Eugène (1927), Gordon Jacob (1933) and
Vaughan Williams (1944).
The most important compositions of the middle of the century include concertos
by Strauss (1945), Martinů (1955) and Zimmermann (1952), and sonatas by
Wolpe (1932), Hindemith (1938), Dutilleux (1947), Schuller (1951) and Poulenc
(1962). Britten's Six Metamorphoses after Ovid op.49 for solo oboe was written
in 1951 for Goossens's pupil Joy Boughton (1913–63). This work, in particular
the two-part writing exploiting the oboe's different registral and dynamic
capabilities in no.5, ‘Narcissus’, influenced many later compositions for solo
oboe: Krenek's Sonatine (1956), John Exton's Three Pieces (1972), Stoker's
Three Pieces (1973) and Dorati's ‘Fugue à 3 voix’ from Cinq pièces for solo
oboe (1981).
From 1960 the enormous versatility and phenomenal technique of the Swiss
virtuoso Heinz Holliger (b 1939) brought prominence to the oboe in a wide
range of musical styles. Without ignoring the Baroque and Classical repertory,
Holliger has revived unknown works of the 19th century and maintained an
important position in contemporary music as both a performer and a composer
for his instrument. Works written for him include Jürg Wyttenbach's Sonata
(1961), Castiglione's Alef (1965), Penderecki's Capriccio for oboe and strings
(1965), Berio's Chemins IV (1975, based on Sequenza VII) and Carter's Quintet
for piano and wind (1992). Works for oboe and harp for performance with his
Oboe Page 20 of 37
wife Ursula include Carter's Trilogy (1944) and double concertos by Henze
(1966) and Lutosławski (1990). Of his own oboe compositions, Mobile (1962)
and Siebengesang (1967) are important.
Other noteworthy European oboists of the 20th century are Pierre Pierlot (b
1921), Maurice Bourgue, appointed professor at the Paris Conservatoire in
1979, and the Swiss-born Thomas Indemühle (b 1951), who earned a
reputation as a teacher in the Netherlands and Germany. A number of women
became prominent players: in England, Janet Craxton (1929–81) and Evelyn
Rothwell (b 1911), and in the USA, Lois Wann and Nora Post, the latter noted
as a performer of contemporary music.
The Frenchman Marcel Tabuteau (1887–1966), principal oboist of the
Philadelphia Orchestra under Stokowski and Ormandy, exerted immense
influence, establishing an ‘American’ style of oboe playing which has developed
apart from European influence. The characteristic tone of the American school
is generated by reeds with more bark scraped from the cane and a posture with
the oboe held closer to the body than in other traditions. Tabuteau's many
distinguished pupils have held principal chairs in orchestras across the USA,
notably John Mack in the Cleveland Orchestra, Harold Gomberg (1916–85) in
the New York PO, Robert Bloom (1908–84) in the NBC SO and, from 1934, the
Bach Aria Group, and John de Lancie (b 1921) in Philadelphia. Other well-
known American oboists include Joseph Marx (1913–78), Ray Still (b 1920),
principal in the Chicago SO 1954–96, Robert Sprenkle and Humbert Lucarelli.
At the end of the century prominent players included Richard Woodhams of the
Philadelphia Orchestra, Joseph Robinson of the New York PO and Alex Klein of
the Chicago SO.
(iii) Technique.
19th-century études – divorced from their obsolete accompanying technical
remarks – remained the mainstay of the oboist’s practice routine, supplemented
by études of ever-increasing technical difficulty by such French oboist-
composers as Louis Bleuzet (1874–?1940), Albert Debondue (1895–1984) and
Roland Lamorlette (1894–1960). Lawrence Singer's Metodo and Holliger's Pro
musica nova: Studien zur neuen Musik equipped the oboist with avant-garde
techniques. From the 1960s the exploration of non-conventional sounds
expanded the technical requirements of the oboist. Many of these new
techniques are described in Holliger's performance notes printed with the score
of Berio's Sequenza VII (1969; fig.20).
The range of the oboe has been extended to a''' and beyond. Extremely high
notes, devoid of the oboe's reedy sound, can be produced by placing the teeth
on the reed. Although Sellner provided a fingering for a''' in 1825, it was over a
century before the pitch became usable; the presence of this note caused the
first performance of Wolpe's Suite im Hexachord (1936) to be delayed until the
1950s. Notes below b have been demanded occasionally, for example in
Wilfred Josephs's Solo Oboe Piece (1974).
In the 20th century alternative fingerings were used for their colouristic
possibilities. Harmonics have been in use since at least 1909, when Georges
Gillet provided fingerings in L'enseignement supérieur du hautbois. A
bisbigliando, or timbral trill, can be achieved on the oboe by oscillating between
alternative fingerings producing the same pitch. Alternative fingerings are used
to create a Klangfarbenmelodie at the beginning of Berio's Sequenza VII, where
the oboist colours an electronically generated pedal with six different fingerings
of b'. Glissandos, quarter-tones and other microtonal effects can be produced
Oboe Page 21 of 37
by partly closing the tone holes; because this technique is hampered by the
plateaux system, some contemporary music specialists have preferred oboes
with open holes. Double trills exploit duplicate keys.
Other new playing techniques have also been developed. The protrusion of the
reed in the player's mouth makes double-, triple- and flutter-tonguing more
difficult on the oboe than on other wind instruments; consequently these
became an essential part of the oboist's technique only late in the century.
Flutter-tonguing can be produced either with the tongue or in the throat.
Stravinsky's marking ‘Flatterzunge’ in The Rite of Spring was probably
envisaged as a means for the oboist to articulate rapid scales rather than as the
timbral effect intended by later composers. Vibrato is sometimes specified at
different speeds. Breath noises, key clicks and other percussive effects are
featured in Holliger's Cardiophonie (1971), and other composers have called for
the reed or instrument to be played on its own. Takemitsu's Distance for oboe
and shō (1972) develops a polyphonic interplay between the performer's
singing and playing.
Circular breathing became a regular part of the oboist's technique in the 1970s.
The oboe reed provides the necessary resistance to allow the player to inhale
while playing, the cheeks acting as a reservoir. Uninterrupted passage-work
such as in Pasculli's Le api, for example, suggests that the technique had been
developed much earlier by isolated players, but since the appearance of works
like Globokar's Atemstudie (1972) circular breathing has become essential.
Multiphonics have been used in many compositions. Bruno Bartolozzi's New
Sounds for Woodwinds (1967) has been a seminal source-book. In
collaboration with the oboist Lawrence Singer, Bartolozzi determined the
audible pitches in each multiphonic and developed a number notation for the
fingerings (fig.21a). Other forms of notation have included a simplified version
of Bartolozzi's system (see Post, 1982; fig.21b) and a tablature specifying
fingerings, and breath and lip pressure (Holliger, Studie über Mehrklänge, 1971;
fig.21c). Double harmonics, the most consonant of multiphonic possibilities, are
produced by isolating two partials generated from a single fundamental. ‘Rolling
tones’ (rollender Töne), introduced in Klaus Huber's Noctes intelligibilis lucis
(1961), are produced by the disruption pattern between slightly out-of-tune
harmonics.
A variety of electronic devices and techniques have been applied to the oboe,
manipulating its sound by amplification, artificial reverberation, tape delay and
ring modulation. All of these techniques are required in Włodzimierz Kontonski's
Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1972).
With the rise of the english horn as a permanent member of the orchestra, a
third oboist has become essential in the 20th-century orchestra. However, it is
common for 20th-century scores to call for a larger oboe section. Both
Schoenberg's Gurrelieder (1901) and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms (1930)
require four oboes and one english horn.
(iv) Alternative playing styles.
The last 30 years of the 20th century saw the revival of performance on
historical oboes – primarily the hautboy, but also 19th-century models. Pioneers
were Michel Piguet (b 1948), Bruce Haynes (b 1942), Paul Goodwin and Han
de Vries (b 1941). As these players were trained in a variety of schools, a
number of different reconceptualizations of the oboe in the 18th and 19th
centuries have emerged. Some players, such as de Vries, have also had
important careers as modern oboists, but many have restricted their interests to
Oboe Page 22 of 37
pre-20th-century oboes and music. Among makers of hautboys are Paul

Hailperin (Germany), Toshi Hasegawa (Netherlands), Olivier Cottet (France)
and Sand Dalton (USA).
The oboe has not been absent from jazz or popular music: the best-known
representatives have been Bob Cooper (b 1925) in jazz and Paul McCandless
of the New Age group Oregon. At the end of the 20th century Rigoutat was
developing a new system of amplification for the oboe, hoping to encourage its
use in popular music.
Oboe
III. Larger and smaller European oboes.
1. Introduction.
2. Early lower oboes.
3. Mezzo-soprano oboes.
4. Tenor oboes.
5. Bass oboes and larger forms.
6. Smaller oboes.
Oboe, §III: Larger and smaller European oboes.
1. Introduction.
Lower oboes began to appear at the court of Louis XIV in the mid-17th century,
at the same time as the treble instrument. They were needed to play the middle
parts between treble oboe and bassoon in the five-part, later four-part, double-
reed consort. But while the treble oboe spread rapidly throughout Europe and
soon developed into a solo instrument and an integral member of the orchestra,
the lower oboes followed a more erratic course, in some places disappearing
completely for a time from the musical scene. The mezzo-soprano oboes were
favoured during the late 17th and early 18th centuries but then faded from view,
not to re-emerge until the 20th century. The tenor oboe, which had more
variants than the other sizes, was continuously in use from the 17th century.
Bass oboes, always less widespread than the others, have appeared
occasionally as ensemble instruments. By the late 20th century each member
of the family had become a soloist in its own right.
One feature common to all modern lower oboes is the bulb-shaped bell (Fr.
pavillon d'amour; Ger. Liebesfuss). It was first applied to the tenor instrument
about 1700 and to the mezzo-soprano about 1720. Such bells were used on
shawms and bagpipes from the Middle Ages onwards; small bulb-belled
shawms are depicted in the Cantigas de Santa María, from the court of Alfonso
X of Spain (late 13th century; fig.22), and bulb bells appear on both the drones
and chanters of bagpipes from Iberia to eastern Europe. The bulb bell has long
been considered the source of the distinctive tone of the modern english horn
and other lower oboes. While this is still open to debate, it is clear that the
voicing of the bell affects the tonal quality and response of the instrument as a
whole.
2. Early lower oboes.
(i) Haute-contre de hautbois.
A mezzo-soprano oboe in A. It was used to play the second line (which
sometimes descended to a, too low for the treble instrument) in the five-part
ensemble music of the Lullian era. There are no extant examples. Personnel
lists for Louis XIV's Douze Grands Hautbois reveal that there were usually two
players of the haute-contre in the ensemble (see Paris, §V, 1(b)), and
Oboe Page 23 of 37
Sébastien de Brossard (Dictionaire de musique, 1703) mentioned the

instrument, although he did not provide a separate entry for it. Lully used the
haute-contre de hautbois in stage works, including Les plaisirs de l'île
enchantée (1664), Atys (1676) and Persée (1682), and in instrumental music
(Airs de Carrousel, 1686). It fell out of use in the late 17th century as interest
shifted to the four-part ensemble of two oboes, tenor oboe (taille de hautbois)
and bassoon and the trio of two oboes and bassoon. Although the second line
in these ensembles was usually taken by a treble oboe, the part itself continued
to be referred to as ‘haute-contre’, a practice that has led to doubt about the
existence of the haute-contre de hautbois. However, by the late 17th century
the instrument had been carried to other parts of Europe, where it would take
on new forms during the early 18th century.
(ii) Taille de hautbois.
A tenor oboe in F, a 5th below the treble, employed to play the third line in the
wind ensembles and orchestras of Lully's time and later. Like the haute-contre,
the taille de hautbois had a straight body with two keys and an open bell. It may
have made its first appearance in Lully's Alcidiane (1658); he also used it in
L'impatience (1661), Les noces de village (1663) and La princesse d'Elide
(1664). A true solo part appears in Pascal Collasse's Enée et Lavinie (1690).
Along with other members of the oboe family, the taille de hautbois was carried
to England, Germany and the Netherlands, where it was employed in
orchestras and wind ensembles (fig.23). The term Taille survived into the 18th
century as a designation for a middle part in an ensemble work or for an
instrument that played such a part.
(iii) Quinte de hautbois.
A basset oboe in D, a 3rd below the taille de hautbois and a 5th below the
haute-contre, apparently the fourth voice in the five-part double-reed ensemble
during the early experimental years of the Lullian era. No examples are extant.
Its existence is inferred by analogy with the recorder family of the time, which
included haute-contres, tailles and quintes, and on a single piece of
iconographical evidence: the frontispiece of Pierre Borjon de Scellery’s Traité
de la musette (1672), which depicts an hautboïste of the period with his ‘full kit’,
including what might be a quinte de hautbois (fig.24). This instrument is
equipped with keys, probably modelled on those of the musette and designed to
assure reasonable intonation. The instrument did not survive the experimental
years.
3. Mezzo-soprano oboes.
(i) Oboe grande
(It., also oboe luongo, oboe basso; Fr. grand hautbois; Ger. grosse [H]oboe).
The 18th-century designation for the haute-contre de hautbois, a mezzo-
soprano oboe with an open bell, made in A and B versions. It was used in
central Europe in Hautboisten bands and other ensembles: Johann Fischer,
J.C. Pez and Telemann, for example, scored for it in wind music; J.G. Hoffman,
G.A. Homilius and Telemann, among others, used it in church cantatas. The
instrument in A was favoured for music in keys with several sharps, and the
instrument in B for keys with several flats; the treble in C did not play well in
tune in these keys. The oboe grande was used in a number of works by Italian
composers, beginning in the 1720s. Porpora’s Angelica (1720) and Vinci's La
caduta de’ Decemviri (1727) have parts for a pair of ‘oboi lunghi’, and
Conforto’s Livia Claudia vestale (1755) includes a solo for the instrument. By
Oboe Page 24 of 37
the late 18th century it was not much in evidence, although the Viennese
oboist-composers Johann Went and Josef Triebensee wrote for it. In the 19th
century a few oboes in B were made for use in bands. In 1874 Victor-Charles
Mahillon produced a pair of open-belled ‘hautbois d’amour’ in A, with 19th-
century keywork, for the first London revivals of J.S. Bach’s works; similar
instruments were also made in Germany around the same time.
(ii) Oboe d’amore
(It.: ‘oboe of love’; Fr. hautbois d’amour; Ger. Liebes[h]oboe). A mezzo-soprano
oboe in A with a bulb bell (fig.25a), developed in south-central Germany during
the second decade of the 18th century. The tone of the oboe d’amore,
described as ‘more sombre than the treble, but less weighty than the tenor’,
was exploited by J.S. Bach, Telemann and their contemporaries. Unlike the
oboe grande, which was primarily an ensemble instrument, the oboe d’amore
was used as a solo and obbligato instrument. The earliest extant specimen,
dated 1719 (Musikmuseum, Stockholm), is by J.G. Bauer (1666–1721) of
Leipzig. That city appears to have been a centre for oboe d’amore making;
there are a number of extant instruments by J.H. Eichentopf and J.C. Sattler,
both of whom were also active there about 1720.
The rich harvest of solo, concertante, obbligato and chamber music produced
for the oboe d’amore in Germany during the late Baroque testifies to a strong
interest in this new tone-colour. Soloists such as J.C. Gleditsch of Leipzig, who
worked with Kuhnau, then Bach, and J.M. Böhm (fl c1685–1753) of Darmstadt,
who worked with Graupner and Telemann, developed the new instrument as a
distinctive solo voice. Bach used it with special effectiveness. His earliest
surviving score to include it (Die Elenden sollen essen bwv75) dates from 1723,
after his arrival in Leipzig. He achieved a particularly striking effect in the
opening chorale of Meinen Jesum lass ich nicht bwv124 (1725); there a solo
oboe d’amore weaves an obbligato around the choral lines. One of his best-
known solos for the instrument is that in the alto aria ‘Qui sedes’ in the B minor
Mass. Telemann’s output includes solo concertos for the instrument and a triple
concerto for flauto d’amore, oboe d’amore and viola d’amore as well as
obbligato parts in vocal works for church and stage. Interest in the oboe
d’amore began to flag in the 1740s, and by the 1760s few works were being
written for it. The instrument was heard occasionally during the second half of
the 18th century: a concerto by Dittersdorf (c1778) and several other works
from this period with orchestral parts for it are preserved (D-Rtt), and
instruments are known to have been made by Grundmann of Dresden (1774)
and Otto of Neukirchen (1799).
Renewed interest in the music of J.S. Bach led to the development in the late
19th century of a new version of the oboe d’amore with ‘modern’ keywork and
bore proportions. After first producing mezzo-soprano oboes with open bells,
Mahillon began to make instruments with bulb bells; both types earned him
medals at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Shortly thereafter, the Berlin firm of
C.W. Moritz began to make Liebesoboen for performances at the Berlin
Hochschule für Musik and the Bach summer festivals then becoming popular in
Germany. Other makers followed, including François Lorée, who produced the
first French oboes d’amore in the 1880s. The first modern composer to use the
new instrument was Richard Strauss, who scored for it in his Symphonia
domestica op.53 (1903). During the 20th century the instrument was used in the
orchestra by many composers, including Mahler (‘Um Mitternacht’, orchestrated
1904–5), Debussy (‘Gigues’, Images, 1913), Holst (A Somerset Rhapsody
op.21 no.2, 1906–7), Ravel (Boléro, 1928), Havergal Brian and Ligeti.
Holbrooke, Koechlin and Ligeti have written solo and chamber works for it.
Oboe Page 25 of 37

4. Tenor oboes.
(i) The taille (de hautbois) in the 18th century.
(ii) Vox humana
(iii) Oboe da caccia
(iv) English horn
(v) Alt[h]oboe.
Oboe, §III, 4: Larger and smaller European oboes., Tenor oboes.
(i) The taille (de hautbois) in the 18th century.
At the end of the 17th century the taille de hautbois had the same profile as the
treble oboe, but about 1700 the instrument began to be fitted with a bulb bell
(fig.25b), probably by German makers. The taille served as the middle voice of
the double-reed consort in France, northern and central Europe, England and
Italy. In France it was used in theatre and concert works until the middle of the
18th century, and after that its use waned. In Germany it was called for in
numerous church cantatas (for example, J.S. Bach’s Falsche Welt, dir trau ich
nicht bwv52). The taille de hautbois probably arrived in England in 1673, along
with the first treble oboes; there it became known as the ‘tenner hautboy’. Henry
Purcell was the first English composer to take an interest in the instrument,
scoring for it in The Prophetess, or The History of Dioclesian (1690) and other
theatre music. By the 1720s horns had replaced tenor oboes in wind bands.
However, a preference for the older consort instrumentation was retained in
some locations, and tailles continued to be made for several more decades.
The instrument had disappeared by about 1780. The bulb-belled version was
revived half a century later when Henri Brod developed the cor anglais
moderne, the prototype of the modern english horn. The open-belled version
enjoyed a brief reincarnation as Wagner's ‘Althoboe’ (see (v) below).
(ii) Vox humana
(Lat.: ‘human voice’; It. voce umana). A tenor oboe in F, pitched a 5th below the
treble, in use in the mid- to late 18th century. It is characterized by a narrow and
largely unadorned profile, two-part construction (with the bell integral with the
lower joint; fig.25c), minimal flare at the bell aperture and an angular crook to
support the reed. It has two keys and six single finger-holes. The name of the
instrument was apparently derived from the eponymous organ stop. Long
associated exclusively with England, the vox humana is now known also to
have been used in southern Italy.
The vox humana appeared in England just as the ‘tenner hautboy’ was giving
way to the horn. It may have been invented by Thomas Stanesby (ii), the
earliest active of the known makers of the instrument, who was also the author
of a fingering chart for it. The first known appearance of the vox humana was in
a concert at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, in May 1733; according to an
advertisement, duets were to be performed on a pair of these new instruments.
Though heard occasionally in the theatre, the vox humana was used primarily in
the double-reed bands often employed in lieu of organs in poor provincial
churches. One such band at Swalcliffe, north Oxfordshire, purchased a vox
humana, reeds, a reed case and a fingering chart from Thomas Collier in 1783.
This church supported a double-reed ensemble until 1815. A similar type of
ensemble was used in Swiss churches around the same time (see Hautbois
d'église).
During the 1770s and 80s Gregorio Patria, an Italian living in Dublin, performed
Oboe Page 26 of 37
with success there on the vox humana, ‘a new Italian instrument’. The vox
humana was a favoured instrument in southern Italy, especially Naples, in the
era before the english horn became common there. Paisiello included it in
church and theatre music performed in Naples and Rome, primarily in the
1760s and early 1770s, and Sacchini and G.F. de Majo also wrote for it. The
only known Italian maker of the vox humana was Giovanni Panormo of Naples,
whose instruments have more flaring bells than the English models, a doubled
third hole for C and carved ivory rosettes at the bell aperture. By the 1780s the
vox humana had been supplanted by the english horn. The term ‘vox humana’
was sometimes used for the english horn in Italy and England in the late 18th
and early 19th centuries; it is often unclear which instrument was being referred
to.
The vox humana was also made in a larger size, pitched in C, a 4th below the
tenor instrument. Such instruments were probably used in lieu of bassoons to
play the bass parts in church bands. An unmarked example with an octave key
and keys for C, C and E , three-part construction and vent holes in the bell is
preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
(iii) Oboe da caccia
(It., also oboe di silva; Fr. hautbois de chasse, hautbois de forêt; Ger. Jagd[h]
oboe, Jagdhautbois, Wald[h]oboe, Waldhautbois). A curved, leather-covered
tenor oboe in F with a broadly flaring bell, in use between 1720 and about 1760
(fig.25d). It was produced by only a few makers and used in a small number of
places in central Europe. The one-piece body of the oboe da caccia is strongly
curved, sometimes in a complete semicircle. It was constructed by cutting a row
of small wedges along the back of a straight instrument, then bending the body
into an arc. The joins were usually pinned and the body sealed and covered
with a leather binding, often decoratively tooled. The curved shape and flaring
bell give the instrument a horn-like appearance, hence its name. The most
distinguished maker of the oboe da caccia was J.H. Eichentopf of Leipzig, who
made instruments with brass rather than wooden bells.
Bach began to use the oboe da caccia shortly after his arrival in Leipzig, where
he found a fine soloist in J.C. Gleditsch. The instrument has a gentle and
expressive nature, which Bach understood perfectly; one of the most striking
moments in the St Matthew Passion is the soprano aria ‘Aus Liebe will mein
Heiland sterben’, accompanied only by a solo transverse flute and two oboes
da caccia. Other composers who wrote for the instrument include J.F. Fasch in
Zerbst and Graupner in Darmstadt; in Munich G.B. Ferrandini wrote three
symphonies for a pair of oboes da caccia with strings and continuo. Although
the instrument had a distinctive sound, it was still considered a tenor oboe and
as such was also used to play parts marked ‘taille’.
(iv) English horn
(Fr. cor anglais; Ger. englisches Horn, Englisch-Horn, Englischhorn; It. corno
inglese; in the 18th century the instrument was also known as: Fr. hautbois
anglois, corne d’anglois, cor de chasse anglais; Ger. englische Wald[h]oboe,
englisches Waldhorn). The tenor oboe in F, a 5th below the oboe, in use from
the early 18th century to the present. Its keywork corresponds to that of the
oboe of its day and the reed is mounted on a short crook. It was created when a
bulb bell was added to an oboe da caccia body shortly after 1720, possibly by
J.T. Weigel of Breslau. Late 18th-century english horns were more gently
Oboe Page 27 of 37
curved than Baroque models, and by about 1790 some were being made in
angular form, resembling contemporary basset-horns. Both curved and angular
forms were made into the 19th century (fig.25e and fig.26).
The open-belled straight tenor oboe and particularly the flare-belled oboe da
caccia reminded people of the angels’ horns depicted in medieval and later
religious imagery, especially in German-speaking central Europe. In Middle
(High) German, the word engellisch meant ‘angelic’ (as engelgleich in modern
Hochdeutsch). With the Middle German word for ‘England’ being Engellant, the
word engellisch also meant ‘English’. These dual meanings naturally became
conflated, and ‘angel's horn’ thus became ‘English horn’. This unlikely epithet
remained with the curved, bulb-belled tenor oboe even after the oboe da caccia
had faded (c1760) and in the absence of any better denominations.
Music for the english horn has been notated in a variety of ways. In Italy, during
the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th, the parts were notated in the
bass clef an octave below sounding pitch, because the instrument was often
played by bassoonists. Elsewhere parts were notated at pitch in the alto clef
(the method also preferred by Bach for the oboe da caccia parts). In France
they were notated in the mezzo-soprano clef, to be read as if in the treble clef in
order to effect the correct transposition. In modern notation the player reads
from the treble clef, fingering the notes as on the oboe; the instrument sounds a
perfect 5th below. In modern scores, however, the part is often notated at
sounding pitch.
During its early years the english horn was used interchangeably with other
tenor oboes, and few works were written specifically for it; most of those known
came from Poland or Saxony, near the birthplace of the instrument. It began to
be specified more frequently by the late 1740s; the Viennese version of
Jommelli’s Ezio (1749) called for a pair. One of the first composers to exploit
the instrument was Gluck, who began to use it in 1755, scoring for a pair in La
danza. In Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) a pair of english horns appears in Orfeo’s
aria ‘Piange, il mio ben così’, an operatic lament; this foreshadows the use of
the instrument in the works of many of Gluck’s followers, particularly Berlioz.
Joseph Haydn had a pair of english horns available to him at the Esterházy
court and he used the instrument in a number of works, including Symphony
no.22 (‘The Philosopher’, 1764), in which two english horns replace the usual
oboes. Others who scored for the instrument in the mid- to late 18th century
included Bonno, Hasse and Starzer in Vienna, Michael Haydn in Salzburg, who
treated the instrument as a soloist in several works, and the player-composers
Joseph Fiala, Joseph Lacher, Ignaz Malzat, Josef Triebensee and Johann
Went.
In the German-speaking parts of Europe, the most significant english horn
player of the late 18th century was Philipp Teimer (Filip Matyas Tajmar, 1761–
c1817), the youngest of three oboe-playing brothers. He served, with his
brothers and father, in the musical establishment of Prince Johann Joseph
Schwarzenburg (who maintained a Harmonie with pairs of oboes, english
horns, horns and bassoons), and also appeared frequently as a soloist. A
number of trios for oboes and english horn, including possibly Beethoven’s
op.87, were written for the three brothers. Other works written with Teimer in
mind include the Singspiel Babylons Pyramiden (1797) by Johann Mederitsch
and Peter Winter, in which the english horn plays a role analogous to that of the
flute in Die Zauberflöte, Salieri’s Requiem of 1804 and Hummel’s cantata Lob
der Freundschaft (1807), which includes an extraordinarily difficult obbligato
part rising to written g'''. Another well-known english horn player of the late 18th
century was the oboist-composer Giuseppe Ferlendis (1755–1810), who was so
Oboe Page 28 of 37
closely associated with the instrument that he was credited in several sources
with its invention. His success as a performer was probably due at least in part
to the excellent curved instruments made for him by the Venetian maker Andrea
Fornari (1753–1841).
The english horn was usually associated with Italian opera in the late 18th
century, and the majority of instruments were made in cities that supported
Italian opera houses, among them Vienna, Dresden, Milan, Venice and Lisbon.
Towards the end of the century Venice became an important centre for english
horn writing; perhaps not coincidentally, Ferlendis was employed there between
1778 and 1801. Among the composers who wrote operatic scores with english
horn for performance there were Bianchi, Cimarosa, Simon Mayr, Traetta, Sarti
and Zingarelli. While in some of these works the english horn rivals the voice in
virtuosity, the obbligato parts by Bianchi and Sarti, although occasionally florid,
are essentially lyrical. The singing style would soon become accepted as the
most effective for the instrument.
The english horn did not become established in France until the early 19th
century. The first important player of the instrument there was Gustave Vogt
(1781–1870), soloist at the Opéra and the leading French oboist of his day.
Vogt’s english horn playing was highly praised by critics such as Castil-Blaze
and F.-J. Fétis, and many solos were written for him, including that by Rossini in
the Overture to Guillaume Tell (1829). From 1810 Vogt worked with the firm of
Guillaume Triébert to improve the instrument. Triébert’s english horns were
initially patterned after the curved, two-keyed models made in Italy at the end of
the 18th century. The firm soon began to add its own keywork and other
refinements, and its instruments gained a high reputation. Later instruments
have a straight lower joint and a curved upper joint, and those made by Frédéric
Triébert from about 1860 are entirely straight.
Vogt’s playing was greatly admired by Berlioz, who exploited the special
character of the instrument from his earliest works; in his Huit scènes de Faust
op.1 (1828–9) the english horn was associated with absence and melancholy,
an idea continued in the Symphonie fantastique (1830), which also linked the
instrument with pastoral scenes. More than any other composer, Berlioz helped
to form the character of the english horn as an instrument creating ‘feelings of
absence, of forgetfulness, of sorrowful loneliness’ (Grand traité
d’instrumentation).
Henri Brod (1799–1839), Vogt’s successor at the Opéra, became dissatisfied
with the muffled sound and unwieldy shape of the contemporary english horn
and by 1823 had begun to collaborate with the Triéberts in an attempt to
modernize it. By 1830 he was making instruments himself, developing a straight
tenor oboe, the ‘hautbois-alto’, which was easier to hold and more resonant
than the old instrument. He later renamed this instrument the ‘cor anglais
moderne’ (see fig.15). François Lorée, who had been Triébert’s chief of staff,
opened his own workshop in 1881 and began to make english horns based on
Brod’s straight-form model. In the hands of this maker, the instrument reached
its modern form.
The english horn was little known in Germany and Austria in the early to mid-
19th century. German orchestration texts of the first half of the century scarcely
mention the instrument, composers did not use it, and Mendelssohn was unable
to find a pair for his Berlin revival of the St Matthew Passion in 1829. Wagner,
who had heard the english horn in Paris, was the first German composer of the
era to make extensive use of it. As Kapellmeister at Dresden he had in his
orchestra Rudolf Hiebendahl (c1818–90), one of the first German oboists of the
period to develop an interest in the instrument. Wagner’s first score to include it
Oboe Page 29 of 37
was Der fliegende Holländer (1843), in which it was employed in the overture.
In both Tannhäuser (1845) and Tristan und Isolde (1865) it imitates a
shepherd’s pipe. Lohengrin (1850) had the first ‘symphonic’ part for the english
horn; the instrument was used as a full member of the orchestra, not only for
special effects. Other composers who wrote for the instrument included
Schumann (Manfred, 1848–9) and Liszt, especially Der nächtliche Zug from the
two episodes from Lenau’s Faust (1856–61) and Christus (1866–72).
The english horn continued to be heard regularly in Italian opera all over
Europe, including in areas where it otherwise had no exposure. Rossini made
much use of the instrument, particularly in the operas he wrote for Venice,
including La scala di seta (1812), Tancredi (1813), Il signor Bruschino (1813)
and Sigismondo (1814). Significant obbligatos also appear in two of his scores
for Naples, the Messa da gloria (1821) and Zelmira (1822). Rossini's younger
colleague Bellini requested the instrument in Il pirata (1827) and Bianca e
Fernando (revised version, 1828). The former uses the corno inglese to
enhance the tragic mood in the heroine's mad scene and prayer. Later
composers used the instrument to advantage in similar settings. In Donizetti, for
example, the unique voice of the english horn is heard to excellent effect in
Gabriella di Vergy (composed 1826, rev. c1838), L'esule di Roma (1828), Anna
Bolena (1830), La fille du régiment (1840), Maria Padilla (1841) and Maria di
Rohan (1843). Verdi was certainly familiar with most of these works, and he
began scoring for the instrument early in his career, notably in Nabucco (1842).
Other outstanding uses of the corno inglese in his output occur in Giovanna
d'Arco (1845), Attila (1846), Un ballo in maschera (1859), Don Carlos (1867)
and particularly in Otello (1887). Mercadante's Il giuramento (1837) is another
work in which, as in most of the Italian Romantic repertory, the instrument is
used to underscore a tragic situation. The instrument was used similarly in
French opera (Halévy, La Juive, 1835). In Russia Glinka laid the groundwork for
use of the instrument there in his A Life for the Tsar (1836).
Concert works of this era to include the instrument used it, as in opera, as a
pastoral or sentimental instrument. Mercadante included it in at least four
symphonies from the 1850s and 60s, and Saint-Saëns also scored for it in two
of his early symmphonies. Franck’s Symphony in D minor (1886–8) has a
continuous symphonic part as well as an elegiac solo in the second movement.
Dvořák wrote frequent solos for the english horn; that in his Symphony no.9
(‘From the New World’, 1893) well exploits the nostalgic and elegiac character
of the instrument. In Richard Strauss’s colourful scoring the english horn was
treated as an essential member of the orchestra. The Scandinavian nationalists
were also attracted to it. In The Swan of Tuonela (1893) Sibelius used the
english horn as the voice of the swan, singing over a sombrely coloured
orchestra. The english horn was also used to create an exotic mood, imitating
the reed pipes of the Middle East and Asia (Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila,
1877, and Borodin, In Central Asia, 1880).
By the beginning of the 20th century the english horn was established as a solo
voice within the orchestra. Most of the orchestral works of the first half of the
century continued to exploit the Romantic sentiments associated with the
instrument. A mysterious mood is created in C.M. Loeffler’s A Pagan Poem
(1906), scored for large orchestra with english horn, piano and offstage solo
trumpets; Janáček’s Taras Bulba (1915–18) and Rodrigo's Concierto de
Aranjuez (1939) exemplify the nostalgic, Vaughan Williams’s Pastoral
Symphony (1921) the pastoral, and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (1913) the tragic.
The most substantial solo works of the period are Carter’s Pastoral (1940) and
Hindemith’s Sonata (1941), both with piano.
Oboe Page 30 of 37
During the second half of the century the english horn was often included in
chamber and orchestral music, and many concertos were written for it. While
the traditional character of the instrument was often set aside in concert music,
it was retained in many film scores; those of Virgil Thomson, Hugo Friedhofer,
David Raksin, Miklós Rózsa and Victor Young contain some outstanding parts.
The Concertino op.4 (1982) for english horn and strings by Arne Running is
particularly well written for the instrument, and the Australian oboist-composer
Graham Powning has written an effective and interesting quartet for four english
horns, among his many ensemble works for double reeds.
Important players of the 20th century included Hans Hadamowsky (1906–96) of
the Vienna PO, Leo van der Lek (1908–99) in Amsterdam, James McDonagh (d
1933) and his son Terence (1908–86) in London, Paul Brun and Paul Taillefer
(b 1912) in Paris, Peter Henkelman (1882–1949), John Minsker (b 1912) and
Louis Rosenblatt (b 1928) in Philadelphia, Louis Speyer (1890–1980), to whom
many works were dedicated, in Boston, and Thomas Stacy (b 1938), who has
commissioned and given first performances of many works for the instrument in
New York.
(v) Alt[h]oboe.
A tenor oboe in F, with an english horn body and a clarinet-like bell. Some time
between 1872 and mid-1875 Wagner had the Bayreuth woodwind instrument
maker J.S. Stengel (1803–85) build this new oboe to his specifications. It was
meant to provide a more penetrating sound than the english horn, in effect
extending the oboe section into the tenor register. In the first edition of Siegfried
(1875), Wagner specified that the new Altoboe was to replace the english horn
in all future performances of his scores. However, the instrument is specifically
called for only in Parsifal (1882). It was used at Bayreuth with some regularity,
especially between 1882 and 1894, but it seems to have fallen out of use by
1896. A single specimen from Stengel’s workshop survives (Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna) and there are several by other makers, including two by
Joseph Pöschl (1866–1947) with both Altoboe and english horn bells
(Musikinstrumentenmuseum im Münchner Stadtmuseum; private collection).
During the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th
‘Altoboe’ was sometimes used in Germany as an alternative term for the english
horn.
5. Bass oboes and larger forms.
(i) Bass oboe.
A large oboe pitched an octave below the treble. The instrument has also been
known as the baritone oboe, after Triébert’s bass oboe of 1825, which he called
‘hautbois baryton’ by analogy with the baritone voice. The modern bass oboe is
an enlarged english horn equipped with a bulb bell and a bassoon-like crook, on
which the reed is placed. Music for the instrument is notated in the treble clef,
sounding an octave below written pitch. A few instruments in this range survive
from the 18th century, including a specimen from about 1700 by J.C. Denner of
Nuremberg in the form of an enlarged treble oboe (Germanisches
Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg). Two instruments made by Charles Bizey in
Paris about 1749 have a bassoon-like boot and wings with obliquely drilled tone
holes, and an open oboe-like bell (see fig.25f). About 1825 Triébert began to
make bass oboes patterned, apparently, after Bizey’s instruments, but with
added keys and bulb bells (see fig.25g). Brod received a medal for a straight
Oboe Page 31 of 37
bass oboe at the Paris Exposition of 1839. No period music for this instrument
survives. It is not known how it was used; it may, perhaps, have been played in
wind ensembles.
The first modern bass oboe was built by François Lorée about 1889. Lorée’s
instrument was straight-formed, like the model designed by Brod 50 years
before, and equipped with the latest keywork. The first composer to interest
himself in the new instrument was Delius, who became familiar with the
instrument during his years in Paris (1888–96). Through him the instrument
became known in England, where it was used by a number of composers,
including Holst, Brian and Tippett. It has been used in chamber music and film
scores in Europe and America. The first solo concerto for the instrument, East
Coast by Gavin Bryars, was written in 1994.
(ii) Sub-bass and contrabass oboes.
Only a few experimental oboes have been made to play in this register, for
which there was already a successful instrument, the bassoon. Several 18th-
century sources, including Majer and Walther, mention an oboe in this register,
and according to Garsault (1761) it was known in its day as the basse de
cromorne (see Cromorne (i)). An enormous contrabass 203 cm in height, with a
sounding length of 267 cm, a huge brass crook and nine keys, was made by
Christophe Delusse before 1781 (Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire, Paris).
According to the Almanach musical of 1781, the instrument was used in place
of the bassoon at the Opéra for six months. Pierre wrote that Lorée had
proposed to complete the oboe family with an instrument two octaves below the
treble, but that plan was never realized.
6. Smaller oboes.
In the mid-19th century S.-X. Verroust, who had taught at the Gymnase Musical
Militaire, advocated the use of a range of hautbois pastoraux, small oboes with
a penetrating tone, in military music. These instruments, pitched in A , G, E or
D , were suited to tonalities preferred by the clarinets and the brass
instruments. They are often used to play the difficult high oboe part in the third
of Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne. Similar instruments were made in
Germany and the USA (where they were called Oboettes). At Heinz Holliger's
behest, Marigaux created a full Conservatoire-system ‘musette’ in F for use in
contemporary music. The instrument is required in Maderna's Grande aulodia
for the flute and oboe (1970), in which the oboist is also required to play the
oboe, oboe d'amore and english horn.
Oboe
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JIDRS
Journal of the International Double Reed Society (1972–)
bibliographies
T.E. Warner: An Annotated Bibliography of Woodwind Instruction Books, 1600–
1830 (Detroit, 1967)
M. Hošek: Oboen-Bibliographie (Wilhelmshaven, 1975–94)
V.S. Gifford: Music for Oboe, Oboe d'amore, and English Horn: a Bibliography
of Materials at the Library of Congress (Westport, CT, 1983)
B. Haynes: Music for Oboe 1650–1800: a Bibliography (Berkeley, 1986,
2/1992)
D. Bournes: ‘Oboereedbib: an Annotated Bibliography of Oboe Reed Material’,
Oboe Page 32 of 37
JIDRS, xvi (1988), 93–7

instruction materials
For a more complete list see Warner (1967) above
E. Loulié: Méthode pour apprendre à jouer de la flûte douce (MS, c1685, F-Pn
n.a.fr.6355)
B. Bismantova: ‘Regola generale per suonare l’oboe’, Duetti à due trombe da

camera, libro secondo (MS, 1688/9, D-BSKt Sign.4017–002)
J.P. Freillon-Poncein: La véritable manière d’apprendre à jouer en perfection

du haut-bois, de la flûte et du flageolet (Paris, 1700/R; Eng. trans., 1969,
2/1992)
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flûte à bec, ou flûte douce, et du haut-bois (Paris, 1707/R, 7/1741; Eng.
trans., 1968, 2/1983)
[J.P. Eisel]: Musicus autodidactus (Erfurt, 1738/R) [description of the oboe

almost exactly as in Mattheson (1713)]
J.J. Quantz: Versuch einer Anweisung, die Flöte traversiere zu spielen

(1752/R, 3/1789; Eng. trans., 1966/R, 2/1985)
F. Chalon: Méthode pour le cor anglais ou hautbois (Paris, 1802)
F.-J. Garnier: Méthode raisonnée pour le haut-bois (Paris, 1802/R; Eng. trans.,
1987)
B. Asioli: Principj elementari di musica (Milan, 1809)
J. Fröhlich: Hoboeschule nach den Grundsätzen der besten über dieses

Instrument bereits erschienenen Schriften (Bonn, 1810)
G. Vogt: Méthode de hautbois (MS, c1816–25, F-Pn)
J. Sellner: Theoretisch-praktische Oboeschule (Vienna, 1825, 2/1901)
H. Brod: Méthode pour le hautbois (Paris, 1825–35, rev. 2/1890 by G. Gillet)
A. Vény: Méthode abrégée pour le hautbois (Paris, 1828/R as Méthode

complète)
A.M.-R. Barret: A Complete Method for the Oboe (London, 1850, 2/1862/R)
P. Soler: Tablature du nouveau système de hautbois à anneaux mobiles (Paris,

c1850)
Oboe Page 33 of 37
S. Verroust: Méthode pour le hautbois, d’après Joseph Sellner op.68 (Paris,

c1857)
V. Chalon: Méthode de hautbois ordinaire et à système Boehm (Paris, 1877)
R. Rosenthal: Theoretisch-praktische Oboe Schule (London, Mainz and

Brussels, 1901)
G. Gillet: L’enseignement supérieur du hautbois (Paris, 1909)
W. Spassoff: Griff-Tabelle für die Oboe: Modell der Wiener Oper und Wiener
Musik Akademie (Vienna, ?1914–35)
E. Rothwell: Oboe Technique (London, 1953, 3/1982)
R. Sprenkle and D. Ledet: The Art of Oboe Playing (Evanston, IL, 1961)
L. Singer: Metodo per oboe (Milan, 1969)
H. Holliger: Pro musica nova: Studien zur neuen Musik (Wiesbaden, 1972)
E. Rothwell: The Oboist’s Companion (London, 1974–7)
P. Veale and C.-F. Mahnhopf: The Techniques of Oboe Playing/Die

Spieltechnik der Oboe (Kassel, 1994, 3/1998) [with sound disc]
reeds
W. Bainbridge: Observations on the Cause of Imperfections in Woodwind
Instruments, particularly in German Flutes; with Remarks on the
Embouchure … also Remarks on Oboe, Clarionet and Bassoon Reeds
(London, 1823)
F.-J. Fétis: ‘Variétés: machine à faire les anches de hautbois et de basson’,
Revue musicale, xiv (1834), 221
R.E. Perdue: ‘Arundo donax’, Economic Botany, xii (1958), 368–404
B. Haynes: ‘Making Reeds for the Baroque Oboe’, EMc, iv (1976), 31–4, 173–9
D. Ledet: Oboe Reed Styles (Bloomington, IN, 1981)
N. Post: ‘The 17th-Century Oboe Reed’, GSJ, xxxv (1982), 54–67
B. Haynes: ‘Double Reeds, 1660–1830: a Survey of Surviving Written
Evidence’, JIDRS, xii (1984), 14–33
D. Bournes: ‘Oboereedbib: an Annotated Bibliography of Oboe Reed Material’,
JIDRS, xvi (1988), 93–7
G. Burgess and P. Hedrick: ‘The Oldest English Oboe Reeds? An
Examination of Nineteen Surviving Examples’, GSJ, xlii (1989), 32–69
A Time of Questioning: Utrecht 1994 [incl. G. Burgess: ‘Historical Oboe Reeds:
Avenues for Further Research, or “Now what do we do with all these
measurements?”’, 205–22]
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LaBordeE
MersenneHU
PraetoriusSM
Oboe Page 34 of 37
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c1740, Paris, Archives Nationales 01 878 no.240); ed. in BenoitMC
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eröffnete musikalische Bibliothek, oder Gründliche Nachricht nebst
unpartheyischem Urteil von musikalischen Schriften und Büchern, iii/4
(Leipzig, 1752/R), 713–19 [incl. table]
J.J. Quantz: ‘Herrn Johann Joachim Quantzens Lebenslauf, von ihm selbst
entworfen’, Historisch-kritische Beyträge zur Aufnahme der Musik, ed. F.W.
Marpurg, i (1755/R), 197–250; ed. in W. Kahl: Selbstbiographien deutscher
Musiker des XVIII. Jahrhunderts (Cologne, 1948); Eng. trans. in P. Nettl:
Forgotten Musicians (New York, 1951), 280–319
L.J. Francoeur: Diapason général de tous les instruments à vent (Paris, 1772)
‘Ueber die Hoboe’, AMZ, xiv/5 (1812), 69–74
‘The Rise and Progress of the Hautboy’, Quarterly Musical Magazine and
Review, ix (1827), 464–74
I.P.: ‘On the Oboe and Bassoon’, The Harmonicon, viii (1830), 192–3
W.T. Parke: Musical Memoirs (London, 1830/R)
F.-J. Fétis: ‘Exposition des produits de l’industrie’, Revue musicale, viii/19
(1834), 145–9
W. Schneider: Historisch-technische Beschreibung der musikalischen
Instrumente (Neisse and Leipzig, 1834)
F.-J. Fétis: Exposition des produits de l’industrie française en 1839, ii (Paris,
1839)
H. Berlioz: Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes (Paris,
1843, 2/1855/R; Eng. trans., 1856, rev. 2/1882/R by J. Bennett); Ger. trans.
by R. Strauss as Instrumentationslehre (Berlin, 1904; Eng. trans., 1948)
F.J. Fétis: ‘Exposition universelle de Londres, 14ème lettre’, RGMP, xviii
(1851), 393–5
F.-J. Fétis: Fabrication des instruments de musique, Paris, Exposition
universelle de Paris 1855: rapports du jury mixte international (Paris, 1859)
E. Pauer: Amtlicher Bericht über die Industrie- und Kunst-Ausstellung zu
London im Jahre 1862 (Berlin, 1863)
F.-J. Fétis: Rapports du jury international: Exposition universelle 1867, groupe
II, classe 10 (Paris, 1868)
C. Pierre: La facture instrumentale à l’Exposition universelle de 1889 (Paris,
1890)
C.R. Day: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments Recently
Exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition (London, 1891)
W. Altenburg: ‘Eine Original-Oboe von Theobald Boehm’, ZI, xx (1899–1900),
34–7
L. Bechler and B. Rahm: Die Oboe und die ihr verwandten Instrumente
(Leipzig, 1914/R)
F. Dubitzky: ‘“Englisch Horn” oder “Alt-Oboe”? Eine Entgegnung’, Die Musik,
xiv/3 [no.17] (1914–15), 224–6
L. Bleuzet: ‘Hautbois d’amour, cor anglais, hautbois baryton’, EMDC, II/iii
(1927), 1542–4
A. Baines: ‘James Talbot’s Manuscript, I: Wind Instruments’, GSJ, i (1948), 9–
26
E. Halfpenny: ‘The English Début of the French Hautboy’, MMR, lxxix (1949),
149–57
E. Halfpenny: ‘The English 2- and 3-Keyed Hautboy’, GSJ, ii (1949), 10–26
E. Halfpenny: ‘The “Tenner Hoboy”’, GSJ, v (1952), 17–27
Oboe Page 35 of 37
E. Halfpenny: ‘The French Hautboy: a Technical Survey’, GSJ, vi (1953), 23–

34; viii (1955), 50–69
P. Bate: The Oboe: an Outline of its History, Development and Construction
(London, 1956, 3/1975)
A.C. Baines: Woodwind Instruments and their History (London, 1957,
3/1967/R)
M. Byrne: ‘The Church Band at Swalcliffe’, GSJ, xvii (1964), 89–98
A. Schnoebelen: ‘Performance Practices at San Petronio in the Baroque’,
AcM, xli (1969), 37–55
K. Ventzke: Boehm-Oboen und die neueren französischen Oboen-Systeme
(Frankfurt, 1969)
P. Hailperin: Some Technical Remarks on the Shawm and Baroque Oboe
(diploma, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, 1970)
M. Benoit: Versailles et les musiciens du Roi, 1661–1733 (Paris, 1971)
W. Braun: ‘Entwurf für eine Typologie der “Hautboisten”’, Der Sozialstatus des
Berufsmusikers vom 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert, ed. W. Salmen (Kassel,
1971), 43–63; (Eng. trans., enlarged, 1983), 123–58
E. Nickel: Der Holzblasinstrumentenbau in der Freien Reichsstadt Nürnberg
(Munich, 1971)
D.L. Busch: A Technical Comparison of an 1807, 1916 and a 1968 Oboe and
Related Reed-Making and Performance Problems (diss., Louisiana State
U., 1972)
J. Grush: A Guide to the Study of the Classical Oboe (DMA diss., Boston U.,
1972)
R. Dahlqvist: ‘Taille, Oboe da Caccia and Corno Inglese’, GSJ, xxvi (1973),
58–71
S. Sandman: Wind Band Music under Louis XIV: the Philidor Collection, Music
for the Military and the Court (diss., Stanford U., 1974)
J.A. Sidorfsky: The Oboe in the 19th Century: a Study of the Instrument and
Selected Published Solo Literature (diss., U. of Southern Mississippi, 1974)
R. Hildebrand: Das Oboenensemble in Deutschland von den Anfängen bis ca.
1720 (diploma, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, 1975); summary in Tibia, iii–
iv (1978–9), 7–12
E. Selfridge-Field: Venetian Instrumental Music from Gabrieli to Vivaldi
(Oxford, 1975)
J.W. Denton: The Use of Oboes in the Church Cantatas of Johann Sebastian
Bach (diss., U of Rochester, NY, 1977)
L. Goossens and E. Roxburgh: Oboe (London, 1977)
K.F. Golde: ‘On Oboe Making’, GSJ, xxxi (1978), 19–28 [appx 1 to C. Karp:
‘Woodwind Instrument Bore Measurement’, 9–18]
B. Haynes: ‘Oboe Fingering Charts, 1695–1816’, GSJ, xxxi (1978), 68–93
B. Haynes: ‘Tonality and the Baroque Oboe’, EMc, vii (1979), 355–7
G. Joppig: Die Entwicklung der Doppelröhrblattinstrumente von 1850 bis heute
und ihre Verwendung in Orchester und Kammermusik (Frankfurt, 1980)
N. Post: ‘The Oboe in the Electronic Age’, JIDRS, viii (1980), 1–16
C. Schneider: ‘Ein Oboisten-Portrait von 1767’, Tibia, v (1980–81), 205–7
[Sante Aguilar]
G. Joppig: Oboe und Fagott (Berne, 1981; Eng. trans., 1988)
H.O. Koch: Sonderformen der Blasinstrumente in der deutschen Musik vom
späten 17. bis zur Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts (?Heidelberg, 1981)
N. Post: ‘Multiphonics for the Oboe’, Interface, x (1981), 113–36
N. Post: ‘Varèse, Wolpe and the Oboe’, PNM, xx (1981–2), 135–48
D. Hilkenbach: ‘Die Boehm-Oboe: Illusion oder verpasste Chance?’, Tibia, vii
(1982), 21–30
N. Post: ‘Monophonic Sound Resources for the Oboe’, Interface, xi (1982),
Oboe Page 36 of 37
131–76
R. Fischer-Waldhagen: ‘Richard Wagner und die Altoboe’, Bläserklang und
Blasinstrumente im Schaffen Richard Wagners: Seggau 1983, 89–97
D. Lasocki: Professional Recorder Players in England, 1540–1740 (diss., U. of
Iowa, 1983)
G. Ziegler, ed.: The Writings of Josef Marx: an Anthology, i (New York, 1983)
M. Gerard: Du hautbois à trois clefs au hautbois à treize clefs (diss., U. of
Strasbourg, 1983–4)
F. Fleurot: Le hautbois dans la musique française, 1650–1800 (Paris, 1984)
C.D. Lehrer: ‘Repertoire of the Oboe in the Nineteenth Century: the Hidden
Structure’, JIDRS, xii (1984), 3–13
A. Bernardini: ‘Carlo Palanca e la costruzione di strumenti a fiato a Torino nel
Settecento’, Flauto dolce, no.13 (1985), 22–6
B. Haynes: ‘Questions of Tonality in Bach’s Cantatas: the Woodwind
Perspective’, JAMIS, xii (1986), 40–67
H. Heyde: Musikinstrumentenbau, 15.–19. Jahrhundert: Kunst-Handwerk-
Entwurf (Leipzig, 1986)
A. Bernardini: ‘Due chiavi per Rossini? Storia e sviluppo dell'oboe a Bologna
prima del 1850’, Flauto dolce, nos.17–18 (1987), 18–32
E. Selfridge-Field: ‘The Viennese Court Orchestra in the Time of Caldara’,
Antonio Caldara: Essays on his Life and Times, ed. B.W. Pritchard
(Aldershot, 1987), 115–51
EMc, xvi/3 (1988) [double-reed issue; incl. articles by A. Bernardini, B. Haynes,
D. Lasocki, J.K. Page]
M. Piguet: ‘Die Oboe im 18. Jahrhundert’, Basler Jb für historische Musikpraxis,
xii (1988), 81–107
A. Bernardini: ‘Woodwind Makers in Venice, 1790–1900’, JAMIS, xv (1989),
52–73
J. de La Gorce: ‘Some Notes on Lully’s Orchestra’, Jean-Baptiste Lully and the
Music of the Baroque: Essays in Honor of James R. Anthony, ed. J.H.
Heyer (Cambridge, 1989), 99–112
B. Haynes: ‘The Oboe Solo before 1800: a Survey’, JIDRS, xvii (1989), 7–14
P. Hedrick: ‘A Ten-Keyed Oboe by Guillaume Triébert’, JIDRS, xvii (1989), 19–
28
O. Landmann: ‘The Dresden Hofkapelle during the Lifetime of Johann
Sebastian Bach’, EMc, xvii (1989), 17–30
A. Bernardini: ‘Vier Oboistenporträts als Quelle zum Studium der Zwei-
Klappen-Oboe’, Oboe, Klarinette, Fagott, v (1990), 30–42
R. Harris-Warrick: ‘A Few Thoughts on Lully’s Hautbois’, EMc, xviii (1990), 97–
106
B. Haynes: ‘Bressan, Talbot and the “Galpin” Oboe’, GSJ, xliii (1990), 112–23
B. Haynes: ‘Johann Sebastian Bachs Oboenkonzerte’, BJb 1992, 23–43
B. Haynes: ‘Mozart and the Oboe’, EMc, xx (1992), 43–62
R. Harris-Warrick: ‘From Score into Sound: Questions of Scoring in Lully’s
Ballets’, EMc, xxi (1993), 355–62
J. Page: ‘“To Soften the Sound of the Hoboy”: the Muted Oboe in the 18th and
Early 19th Centuries’, EMc, xxi (1993), 65–80
A Time of Questioning: Utrecht 1994 [incl. M. Ecochard: ‘Hautbois in
Mersenne's Harmonie universelle: Tuning, Classification, Evolution’, 155–
65]
G. Burgess: ‘Gustave Vogt (1781–1870) und Konstruktionsmerkmale
französischer Oboen im 1. Viertel des 19. Jahrhunderts’, Tibia, xix (1994),
14–26
G. Burgess: ‘On Writing a History of the Oboe in the 19th Century’, FoMRHI
Quarterly, no.76 (1994), 25–44
Oboe Page 37 of 37
B. Haynes: ‘The Addition of Keys to the Oboe, 1790–1830’, JIDRS, xxii (1994),
31–46
S. Weth: Die französischen und deutschen Oboenschule des 19. Jahrhunderts
(diss., Hochschule für Musik, Cologne, 1994)
C. Adkins: ‘William Milhouse and the English Classical Oboe’, JAMIS, xxii
(1996), 42–88
B. Haynes: ‘Das Fingervibrato (Flattement) auf Holzblasinstrumenten im 17.,
18. und 19. Jahrhundert’, Tibia, xxii (1997), 401–7, 481–7
B. Haynes: ‘New Light on some French Relatives of the Hautboy in the 17th
and Early 18th Centuries: the Cromorne, Hautbois de Poitou and
Chalumeau simple’, Sine musica nulla vita: Festschrift Hermann Moeck,
ed. N. Delius (Celle, 1997), 257–70
B. Haynes: ‘Playing “Short” High Notes on the Hautboy’, JIDRS, xxv (1997),
115–18
B. Haynes: ‘Tu ru or not Tu ru: Paired Syllables and Unequal Tonguing
Patterns on Woodwinds in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries’,
Performance Practice Review, x/1 (1997), 41–60
R. van Acht, J. Bouterse and P. Dont: Niederländische
Doppelrohrblattinstrumente des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts/Dutch Double
Reed Instruments of the 17th and 18th Centuries (Laaber, 1997)
M. Finkelman: ‘Die Oboeninstrumente in tieferer Stimmlage’, Tibia, xxiii (1998);
xxv (2000)
B. Haynes: ‘Versuch der Rekonstruktion eines spielbaren Oboenrohres nach
dem Massangaben von James Talbot’, Tibia, xxiii (1998), 191–6
C. Adkins: ‘Proportions and Architectural Motives in the Design of the
Eighteenth-Century Oboe’, JAMIS, xxv (1999), 95–132
M.C.J. Bouterse: ‘The Deutsche Schalmeien of Richard Haka’, JAMIS, xxv
(1999), 61–94
S.E. Thompson: ‘Deutsche Schalmei: a Question of Terminology’, JAMIS, xxv
(1999), 31–60
G. Burgess and B. Haynes: The Oboe in History (London, forthcoming)
For further bibliography see Band, Instrumentation and Orchestration, and

articles on individual makers and performers.

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Oboe Page 1 of 37

See also Būq; Mizmār; and Piffaro.

For bibliography see individual entries.

II. The European treble oboe.

at the Paris Opéra). In 1729 Giuseppe Sammartini, one of the foremost

to the clarinet. The conscious use of instrumentation to create tone-colour

Oboe, §II: The European oboe

pre-20th-century oboes and music. Among makers of hautboys are Paul

Sébastien de Brossard (Dictionaire de musique, 1703) mentioned the

Oboe, §III: Larger and smaller European oboes.

JIDRS, xvi (1988), 93–7

For a more complete list see Warner (1967) above

B. Bismantova: ‘Regola generale per suonare l’oboe’, Duetti à due trombe da

J.P. Freillon-Poncein: La véritable manière d’apprendre à jouer en perfection

J.M. Hotteterre: Principes de la flûte traversière, ou flûte d’Allemagne, de la

[J.P. Eisel]: Musicus autodidactus (Erfurt, 1738/R) [description of the oboe

J.J. Quantz: Versuch einer Anweisung, die Flöte traversiere zu spielen

F. Chalon: Méthode pour le cor anglais ou hautbois (Paris, 1802)

B. Asioli: Principj elementari di musica (Milan, 1809)

J. Fröhlich: Hoboeschule nach den Grundsätzen der besten über dieses

G. Vogt: Méthode de hautbois (MS, c1816–25, F-Pn)

J. Sellner: Theoretisch-praktische Oboeschule (Vienna, 1825, 2/1901)

H. Brod: Méthode pour le hautbois (Paris, 1825–35, rev. 2/1890 by G. Gillet)

A. Vény: Méthode abrégée pour le hautbois (Paris, 1828/R as Méthode

P. Soler: Tablature du nouveau système de hautbois à anneaux mobiles (Paris,

S. Verroust: Méthode pour le hautbois, d’après Joseph Sellner op.68 (Paris,

V. Chalon: Méthode de hautbois ordinaire et à système Boehm (Paris, 1877)

R. Rosenthal: Theoretisch-praktische Oboe Schule (London, Mainz and

G. Gillet: L’enseignement supérieur du hautbois (Paris, 1909)

E. Rothwell: Oboe Technique (London, 1953, 3/1982)

L. Singer: Metodo per oboe (Milan, 1969)

E. Rothwell: The Oboist’s Companion (London, 1974–7)

P. Veale and C.-F. Mahnhopf: The Techniques of Oboe Playing/Die

E. Halfpenny: ‘The French Hautboy: a Technical Survey’, GSJ, vi (1953), 23–

For further bibliography see Band, Instrumentation and Orchestration, and

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