Theoboe (/ˈoʊboʊ/OH-boh) is a type ofdouble-reedwoodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites.
The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, measures roughly 65 cm (25+1⁄2 in) long and has metalkeys, a conicalbore and a flared bell. Sound is produced by blowing into thereed at a sufficient air pressure, causing it to vibrate with the air column.[1] The distinctive tone is versatile and has been described as "bright".[2] When the wordoboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the soprano member rather than other instruments of the family, such as thebass oboe, thecor anglais (English horn), oroboe d'amore.
In comparison to other modernwoodwind instruments, the soprano oboe is sometimes referred to as having a "bright and penetrating" voice.[4][5]The Sprightly Companion, an instruction book published byHenry Playford in 1695, describes the oboe as "Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet".[6] In the playAngels in America the sound is described as like "that of a duck if the duck were a songbird".[7] The richtimbre is derived from itsconical bore (as opposed to the generallycylindrical bore offlutes andclarinets). As a result, oboes are easier to hear over other instruments in large ensembles due to its penetrating sound.[8] The highest note is a semitone lower than the nominally highest note of the B♭clarinet. Since the clarinet has a wider range, the lowest note of the B♭ clarinet is significantly deeper (a minor sixth) than the lowest note of the oboe.[9]
Music for the standard oboe is written in concert pitch (i.e., it is not atransposing instrument), and the instrument has asoprano range, usually from B♭3 to G6. Orchestras tune to aconcert A played by the first oboe.[10] According to the League of American Orchestras, this is done because the pitch is secure and its penetrating sound makes it ideal for tuning.[11] The pitch of the oboe is affected by the way in which thereed is made. The reed has a significant effect on the sound. Variations in cane and other construction materials, the age of the reed, and differences in scrape and length all affect the pitch. German and French reeds, for instance, differ in many ways, causing the sound to vary accordingly. Weather conditions such as temperature and humidity also affect the pitch. Skilled oboists adjust theirembouchure to compensate for these factors. Subtle manipulation of embouchure and air pressure allows the oboist to express timbre and dynamics.
OboistAlbrecht Mayer preparing reeds for use. Most oboists scrape their own reeds to achieve the desired tone and response.
The oboe uses a double reed, similar to that used for the bassoon.[12] Most professional oboists make their reeds to suit their individual needs. By making their reeds, oboists can precisely control factors such as tone color, intonation, and responsiveness. They can also account for individual embouchure, oral cavity, oboe angle, and air support.
Renaissance oboe (shawm); baroque oboe (Stanesby copy, maker Olivier Cottet); classical oboe, early 19th century (Copy of Sand Dalton on the original by Johann Friedrich Floth); Viennese oboe, early 20th century; Viennese oboe, late 20th century; modern oboe.
Novice oboists rarely make their own reeds, as the process is difficult and time-consuming, and frequently purchase reeds from a music store instead. Commercially available cane reeds are available in several degrees of hardness; a medium reed is very popular, and most beginners use medium-soft reeds. These reeds, like clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon reeds, are made fromArundo donax. As oboists gain more experience, they may start making their own reeds after the model of their teacher or buying handmade reeds (usually from a professional oboist) and using special tools includinggougers, pre-gougers, guillotines, shaper tips, knives, and other tools to make and adjust reeds to their liking.[13] The reed is considered the part of oboe that makes the instrument so difficult because the individual nature of each reed means that it is hard to achieve a consistent sound. Slight variations in temperature, humidity, altitude, weather, and climate can also have an effect on the sound of the reed, as well as minute changes in the physique of the reed.[14]
Oboists often prepare several reeds to achieve a consistent sound, as well as to prepare for environmental factors such as chipping of a reed or other hazards. Oboists may have different preferred methods for soaking their reeds to produce optimal sounds; the most preferred method tends to be to soak the oboe reed in water before playing.[15]
Plastic oboe reeds are rarely used, and are less readily available than plastic reeds for other instruments, such as the clarinet. However, they do exist, and are produced by brands such as Legere.[16]
Centuries before the Spanish and Portuguese conquests in the New World, the early version of thechirimía arrived in Europe from the Middle East due to cultural exchanges. The Crusades brought Europeans into contact with the Turko-Arabiczurna. However, the oboe’s roots go back even further, linked to ancient reed instruments like those of Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as the Greekaulos and Romantibia. Nearly lost in the West during the Dark Ages, the oboe reappeared with the Arabiczurna in the 13th century, evolving through European bagpipes and finally becoming the French hautbois in the 17th century, which is when modern oboe history truly began.[17] In English, prior to 1770, the standard instrument was called ahautbois,hoboy, orFrench hoboy (/ˈhoʊbɔɪ/HOH-boy). This was borrowed from theFrench name,hautbois[obwɑ], which is a compound word made up ofhaut ("high", "loud") andbois ("wood", "woodwind").[18] The French word means 'high-pitched woodwind' in English. The spelling ofoboe was adopted into Englishc. 1770 from the Italianoboè, a transliteration of the 17th-century pronunciation of the French name.
The regular oboe first appeared in the mid-17th century, when it was called ahautbois. This name was also used for its predecessor, theshawm, from which the basic form of thehautbois was derived.[19] Major differences between the two instruments include the division of thehautbois into three sections, or joints (which allowed for more precise manufacture), and the elimination of thepirouette, the wooden ledge below the reed which allowed players to rest their lips.
The exact date and location of origin of thehautbois are obscure, as are the inventors. Circumstantial evidence, such as the statement by the flautist composerMichel de la Barre in hisMemoire, points to members of thePhilidor (Filidor) and Hotteterre families. The instrument may in fact have had multiple inventors.[20] Thehautbois quickly spread throughout Europe, including Great Britain, where it was calledhautboy,hoboy,hautboit,howboye, and similar variants of the French name.[21] It was the main melody instrument in early military bands, until it was succeeded by theclarinet.[22]
The standard Baroque oboe is generally made ofboxwood and has threekeys: a "great" key and two side keys (the side key is often doubled to facilitate use of either the right or left hand on the bottom holes). In order to produce higher pitches, the player has to "overblow", or increase the air stream to reach the next harmonic. Notable oboe-makers of the period are the GermansJacob Denner and J.H. Eichentopf, and the English Thomas Stanesby (died 1734) and his son Thomas Jr (died 1754). The range for the Baroque oboe comfortably extends fromC4 to D6. In the mid-20th century, with the resurgence of interest inearly music, a few makers began producing copies to specifications taken from surviving historical instruments.
TheClassical period brought a regular oboe whose bore was gradually narrowed, and the instrument became outfitted with several keys, among them those for the notes D♯, F, and G♯. A key similar to the modern octave key was also added called the "slur key", though it was at first used more like the "flick" keys on the modern Germanbassoon.[23] Only later did French instrument makers redesign the octave key to be used in the manner of the modern key (i.e. held open for the upper register, closed for the lower). The narrower bore allows the higher notes to be more easily played, and composers began to use the oboe's upper register more often in their works. Because of this, the oboe'stessitura in the Classical era was somewhat broader than that found in Baroque works. The range for the Classical oboe extends from C4 to F6 (using thescientific pitch notation system), though some German and Austrian oboes are capable of playing one half-step lower.
Several Classical-era composers wrote concertos for oboe.Mozart composed both the solo concerto in C major K. 314/285d and the lost original of Sinfonia Concertante in E♭ major K. 297b, as well as a fragment of F major concerto K. 417f.Haydn wrote both the Sinfonia Concertante in B♭ Hob. I:105 and the spurious concerto in C major Hob. VIIg:C1.Beethoven wrote the F major concerto, Hess 12, of which only sketches survive, though the second movement was reconstructed in the late 20th century). Numerous other composers includingJohann Christian Bach,Johann Christian Fischer,Jan Antonín Koželuh, andLudwig August Lebrun also composed pieces for the oboe. Many solos exist for the regular oboe in chamber, symphonic, and operatic compositions from the Classical era.
TheWiener oboe (Viennese oboe) is a type of modern oboe that retains the essential bore and tonal characteristics of the historical oboe. The Akademiemodel Wiener Oboe, first developed in the late 19th century by Josef Hajek from earlier instruments by C. T. Golde of Dresden (1803–73), is now made by several makers such as André Constantinides, Karl Rado,Guntram Wolf, Christian Rauch and Yamaha. It has a wider internal bore, a shorter and broader reed and the fingering-system is very different from the conservatoire oboe.[24] InThe Oboe, Geoffrey Burgess and Bruce Haynes write "The differences are most clearly marked in the middle register, which is reedier and more pungent, and the upper register, which is richer in harmonics on the Viennese oboe".[25] Guntram Wolf describes them: "From the concept of the bore, the Viennese oboe is the last representative of the historical oboes, adapted for the louder, larger orchestra, and fitted with an extensive mechanism. Its great advantage is the ease of speaking, even in the lowest register. It can be played very expressively and blends well with other instruments."[26] The Viennese oboe is, along with the Vienna horn, perhaps the most distinctive member of theWiener Philharmoniker instrumentarium.
This oboe was developed further in the 19th century by theTriébert family of Paris. Using theBoehm flute as a source of ideas for key work, Guillaume Triébert and his sons, Charles and Frederic, devised a series of increasingly complex yet functional key systems. A variant form using large tone holes, the Boehm system oboe, was never in common use, though it was used in some military bands in Europe into the 20th century.F. Lorée of Paris made further developments to the modern instrument. Minor improvements to the bore and key work have continued through the 20th century, but there has been no fundamental change to the general characteristics of the instrument for several decades.[27]
The modern standard oboe is most commonly made fromgrenadilla, also known as African blackwood, although some manufacturers also make oboes out of other species of the genusDalbergia, which includescocobolo,rosewood, and violetwood (also known askingwood).Ebony (genusDiospyros) has also been used. Student model oboes are often made from plastic resin to make the instrument cheaper and more durable.
The oboe has an extremely narrowconical bore. It is played with a double reed consisting of two thin blades of cane tied together on a small-diameter metal tube (staple) which is inserted into the reed socket at the top of the instrument. The commonly accepted range for the oboe extends from B♭3 to about G6, over two and a half octaves, though its commontessitura lies from C4 to E♭6. Some student oboes do not have a B♭ key and only extend down to B3.
A modern oboe with the "full conservatoire" ("conservatory" in the US) or Gillet key system has 45 pieces of keywork, with the possible additions of a third-octave key and alternate (left little finger) F- or C-key. The keys are usually made ofnickel silver, and aresilver- or occasionallygold-plated. Besides the full conservatoire system, oboes are also made using the British thumbplate system. Most have "semi-automatic" octave keys, in which the second-octave action closes the first, and some have a fully automatic octave key system, as used onsaxophones. Some full-conservatory oboes have finger holes covered with rings rather than plates ("open-holed"), and most of the professional models have at least the right-hand third key open-holed. Professional oboes used in the UK andIceland frequently feature conservatoire system combined with a thumb plate. Releasing the thumb plate has the same effect as pressing down the right-hand index-finger key. This produces alternate options which eliminate the necessity for most of the common cross-intervals (intervals where two or more keys need to be released and pressed down simultaneously), as cross-intervals are much more difficult to execute in such a way that the sound remains clear and continuous throughout the frequency change (a quality also calledlegato and often called for in the oboe repertoire).
The standard oboe has several siblings of various sizes and playing ranges. The most widely known and used today is thecor anglais (English horn) the tenor (or alto) member of the family. Atransposing instrument; it is pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe. Theoboe d'amore, the mezzo-soprano member of the family, is pitched in A, a minor third lower than the oboe.J.S. Bach made extensive use of both the oboe d'amore as well as thetaille andoboe da caccia, Baroque antecedents of the cor anglais.
Less common is thebass oboe (also called baritone oboe), which sounds one octave lower than the oboe.Delius, Strauss andHolst scored for the instrument.[28]
Similar to the bass oboe is the more powerfulheckelphone, which has a wider bore and larger tone than the baritone oboe. Only 165 heckelphones have ever been made. Competent heckelphone players are difficult to find due to the extreme rarity of this particular instrument.[29]
The least common of all are themusette (also called oboe musette or piccolo oboe), the sopranino member of the family (it is usually pitched in E♭ or F above the oboe), and thecontrabass oboe (typically pitched in C, two octaves deeper than the standard oboe).
Folk versions of the oboe, sometimes equipped with extensive keywork, are found throughout Europe. These include the musette (France) and thepiston oboe andbombarde (Brittany), thepiffero and ciaramella (Italy), and the xirimia (also spelledchirimia) (Spain). Many of these are played in tandem with local forms ofbagpipe, particularly with the Italianmüsa andzampogna or Bretonbiniou.
David Stock's concerto "Oborama" features the Oboe and its other members as a soloist, the instrument changing in each movement. (ex. Oboe D'amore in movement 3 and Bass Oboe in movement 4)
Johann Sebastian Bach,Brandenburg concertos nos. 1 and 2, Concerto for violin and oboe, lost oboe concerti, numerous oboe obbligato lines in the sacred and secular cantatas
Samuel Barber,Canzonetta, op. 48, for oboe and string orchestra (1977–78, orch. completed by Charles Turner)
Vincenzo Bellini,Concerto in E-flat, for oboe and chamber orchestra consisting of two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, tho bassoons, two French horns, and strings (before 1825)
Luciano Berio,Chemins IV (on Sequenza VII), for oboe and string orchestra (1975)
Harrison Birtwistle,An Interrupted Endless Melody, for oboe and piano (1991)
Heinz Holliger,Mobile, for oboe and harp (1962);Trio, for oboe (doubling English horn), viola, and harp (1966);Sechs Stücke, for oboe (doubling oboe d'amore) and harp (1998–99)
Witold Lutosławski, Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp, and Chamber Orchestra
Bruno Maderna, 3 oboe concertos (1962–63) (1967) (1973);Grande aulodia, for flute, oboe, and orchestra (1970), Aulodia for Oboe d'amore (and guitar ad Libitum)
The oboe remains uncommon injazz music, but there have been notable uses of the instrument. Some early bands in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably that ofPaul Whiteman, included it for coloristic purposes. Most often in this era it was used for dance band music, but occasionally oboists may be heard used in a similar manner to a saxophone for solos. Most of the time these oboists were already playing with the band or orchestra on a different woodwind instrument. The multi-instrumentalistGarvin Bushell (1902–1991) played the oboe in jazz bands as early as 1924 and used the instrument throughout his career, eventually recording withJohn Coltrane in 1961.[32]Gil Evans featured oboe in sections of his famousSketches of Spain collaboration with trumpeterMiles Davis. Though primarily atenor saxophone andflute player,Yusef Lateef was among the first (in 1961) to use the oboe as a solo instrument in modern jazz performances and recordings. Composer and double bassistCharles Mingus gave the oboe a brief but prominent role (played byDick Hafer) in his composition "I.X. Love" on the 1963 albumMingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus.
The 1980s saw an increasing number of oboists try their hand at non-classical work, and many players of note have recorded and performed alternative music on oboe. Some present-day jazz groups influenced by classical music, such as theMaria Schneider Orchestra, feature the oboe.[33]
The oboe is frequently featured in film music, often to underscore a particularly poignant or emotional scene. An example is the 1989 filmBorn on the Fourth of July. One of the most prominent uses of the oboe in a film score isEnnio Morricone's "Gabriel's Oboe" theme from the 1986 filmThe Mission.
^J.B. (1695).The Spritely Companion. London: printed by J. Heptinstall for Henry Playford. p. 2. Retrieved19 May 2022.
^Kushner 1993, 167: "The oboe: official instrument of the International Order of Travel Agents. If the duck was a songbird it would sing like this. Nasal, desolate, the call of migratory things."
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Fletcher, Neville H.; Rossing, Thomas D. (1998).The Physics of Musical Instruments (second ed.). New York, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.ISBN978-1-4419-3120-7.
Joppig, Gunther (1988).The Oboe and the Bassoon. Translated by Alfred Clayton. Portland: Amadeus Press.ISBN0-931340-12-8.
Kushner, Tony (1993).Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (single-volume edition). New York: Theatre Communications Group.ISBN1-55936-107-7.
Marcuse, Sybil (1975).Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary (Revised ed.). New York: W. W. Norton.ISBN0-393-00758-8.
Baines, Anthony: 1967,Woodwind Instruments and Their History, third edition, with a foreword by Sir Adrian Boult. London: Faber and Faber.
Beckett, Morgan Hughes: 2008, "The Sensuous Oboe". Orange, California: Scuffin University Press.ISBN0-456-00432-7.
Gioielli, Mauro: 1999. "La 'calamaula' di Eutichiano".Utriculus 8, no. 4 (32) (October–December): 44–45.
Harris-Warrick, Rebecca: 1990, "A Few Thoughts on Lully's Hautbois"Early Music 18, no. 1 (February, "The Baroque Stage II"): 97-98+101-102+105-106.
Haynes, Bruce: 1985,Music for Oboe, 1650–1800: A Bibliography. Fallen Leaf Reference Books in Music, 8755-268X; no. 4. Berkeley, California: Fallen Leaf Press.ISBN0-914913-03-4.
Haynes, Bruce: 1988, "Lully and the Rise of the Oboe as Seen in Works of Art".Early Music 16, no. 3 (August): 324–38.
Haynes, Bruce: 2001,The Eloquent Oboe: A History of the Hautboy 1640–1760. Oxford Early Music Series. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-816646-X.
