The history of the oboe goes back about 500 years. Double reed instruments date back as far as Greek and Roman civilizations where they were considered very respectable and high class. They most often used the aulos or tibia.
The 16th-century shawm is most commonly named as the predecessor to the oboe. But this was not a specific instrument as much as a family of reed instruments that included bagpipes (2). Also an instrument that can be considered as a precursor to the oboe was the reed flute (3). All these instruments contained reeds inside the instrument that were vibrated with none or very little contact with the reed itself. Because of this, the reeds had to be much more sensitive and had a much more raucous sound than a modern day oboe.
The “hautbois” originated in France and spread so rapidly that the term for it had this French root all across Europe. It means “high” or “principal wood” and the modern term “oboe” is the Italianate form (1). For a time, a shawm and an hautbois would be used together. The newer hautbois was said to have more expressive flexibility than the shawm and eventually became the preferred instrument (1). The first true oboe recorded appeared in the French court in the mid 17th century (1). These early oboes only had two to three keys (3). One of the defining features making it the first official oboe is the exposed reed that is manipulated directly with the mouth. This allowed for greater control over the instrument than before, which became a crucial component in the instrument’s difficulty and beauty (2). Louis XIV, the “sun king,” was in power when his court was one of the firsts to accept the oboe into its orchestra. The baroque oboe was also unique in that it did not initially have a school or style where it fit in, but it was used in every context, courtly or military. The instrument doubled the violins in orchestras initially, but it was first given solo roles in opera. Over the 18th century, the oboe became more and more narrow as it developed. This made the sound more focused and increased the range from reaching D6 to G6 (3).
After the French introduced the hautbois, the Germans quickly developed the instrument giving it more keys. In 1795, the Paris Conservatoire was founded and around this time the conservatoire model of oboe was created in France. The distinction between French and German styles of oboes became the two competing styles of oboe playing. The second oboe professor at the Conservatoire, Vogt, is recorded to have said that the simpler, four-key oboes that the French use are superior to the German nine-key oboes because they are not impaired by the extra mechanics. But it was his student Henri Brod that ended much of the stigma against mechanics on the oboe, and he worked with the well-known Triebert family to develop an eight-key model that included the half-hole key among other things. Brod’s oboes are the most slender and delicate that have been created and for this reason still captured the French preference well (1).
The German oboes were (and still usually are) thicker and produced a more mellow sound that was created to blend as much as possible with an orchestral sound. The French oboes had a much brighter tone (2). German and French oboes were almost equally used until Richard Strauss claimed that the best oboe was the French style. From then on, French oboes are so universally used that it is only in the Vienna area where there are oboists who are loyal to the German-style now called the Wiener oboe (3). These oboes today have fifteen keys and are not much more complicated than Sellner’s model (1).
In the 18th century, the oboe was really established as a staple in orchestras, but it was not till the 19th century that the oboe was fully developed into the wonderfully refined and flexible instrument it is known as today (1). In this century, it was used almost exclusively in orchestral settings, but the 20th century saw a resurgence of compositions for solo oboe. Much of this was due to the new techniques introduced by Leon Goossens (1897-1988) that included diaphragmatic breathing and a relaxed embouchure, as well as Heinz Holliger (1939- ) who developed many extended techniques on the oboe. This gave composers new inspiration and more flexibility in what they could write for oboe (3).
Many oboes today combine the different styles throughout the oboe’s history, but there are some distinctions across borders still. Americans vastly prefer French-style oboes but they do seek a more robust tone than the English. French oboes were becoming somewhat thicker and longer this past century as there was interest in improving the lower register in France (1).
There are still limitations to oboe technique today, and who knows how much further the oboe will change in this century. Are there improvements you wish the oboe would develop?
Sources
- Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th edition. (1954), s.v. “oboe.”
- “Oboe-History.” Vienna Symphonic Library. Accessed 6 March 2020. <https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Oboe/History>
- “The Story of the Birth of the Oboe.” Yamaha Corporation. Accessed 6 March 2020. <https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/oboe/structure/>