bout the Baroque Oboe

A Baroque oboe is a double reed woodwind instrument. They are characterized by their conical bore and end in a somewhat understated bell that turns inward. They typically have six fingerholes and two keys. Baroque oboes are in the key of d major and are traditionally made in a low pitch, such as a=415. Hotteterre indicates that they have a range similar to that of the transverse flute, approximately two and a half octaves middle c through g''' and are fully chromatic with the exception of low c sharp.

The word oboe comes from the French hautbois, which sounds similar. It means loud woodwind. The instrument was called oboe in Italian, hoboe or oboe in German, and hoboy, hautboy, or hoyboye in English.

Baroque oboes were descended from shawms. The latter were in fact called hautbois during the sixteenth century. Oboes can be distinguished from shawms in that they lack the pirouette at the top of the instrument. This allowed greater control of the reed between the lips and increased the range of the instrument. They were shorter than shawms, typically measuring just over two feet long. Oboes also had the characteristic bell that turned inwards. (It should be noted that bulb shaped bells were depicted on instruments in the Cantigas de Santa Maria of the 13th century. However, such bells were not known to be used in the shawms of the Renaissance.)

Baroque oboes originated in France during the seventeenth century. The score for Cambert's opera Pomone included a part for hautbois, and is the earliest known use of the instrument. Three years later, in 1674, Cambert brought the instruments to England for a production of the opera Calisto. They were probably further developed by the Hotteterres, Philidors, or Chedevilles. Baroque oboes are usually made in three sections, just like the baroque flute. The sections are connected with tenon-and-socket joints. Their smaller scale than shawms resulted in new fingerhole placements. These new placements were constructed to allow for the production of chromatic notes. Like recorders of the time, their fingerholes were undercut to allow for comfortable placement of the holes. Baroque oboes were commonly made from hardwoods such as boxwood.

Like most musical instruments, the Baroque oboe produces both odd and even overtones. However, its sound changes character fairly drastically based on the register that is being played. As the pitch increases, so does the loudness of the fundamental frequency with respect to the loudness of the overtones. They overblow at the octave, rather than the 12th like the clarinet.

The bore of the Baroque oboe is very narrow at the top of the instrument (smaller than the circumference of pencil) and expands at a regular rate for approximately 5/6 of the length of the instrument. The diameter of the bore prior to the bell is approximately 1.5 cm. The bell almost doubles the size of the bore. The rim of the bell turns inward, which is different than most other musical instruments. There are holes in the sides of the bell to determine the vibrating length of the instrument.

There are two different types of keys on the Baroque oboe. The main key, which has a doubled flange (sometimes called a butterfly or fishtail) so that it can be pressed by fingers on either hand, covers an open hole when it is pressed. The side key, which is used to play d sharp, opens a closed hole when it is pressed. The third and fourth fingerholes, are actually two pairs of holes. Ordinarily both holes are covered. Sometimes a single hole is covered to facilitate playing a chromatic note.

There are many extant Baroque oboes from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Represented makers include: Anciuti, Abraham van Aardenberg, Jan Barend Beuker, Willem Beukers sen. & jun., Thomas Boekhout, J. C. Denner, Desjardins, J. H. Eichentopf, Goulding, Richard Haka, Albertus and Jan van Heerde, N. Hotteterre, Johannes van de Knikker, Johann Gottfried Liebel, Thomas Lot, W. Milhouse, Frederik and Hendrik Richters, Coenraad Rijkel, H. Rijkstijn, Thomas Stanesby Sr., Jan Steenburgen, Engelbert Terton and Robert Wijne. Very much less common are reeds that survive from those periods. The earliest surviving reeds date to the eighteenth century. The Bate Collection contains such a reed. From it we learn that the reeds were wider than modern reeds.

Hotteterre provides a description of how to play the oboe. He directs players to hold the instrument straight out, level with the ground. He also provides instruction as to which fingerings differ from those on the transverse flute.

The Baroque oboe gained in popularity quite quickly, and became a regular member of the orchestra. It was sometimes used interchangeably with the flute or violin as a solo instrument, and other times it was specifically called for as soloist. Many composers of the mid to late Baroque wrote for the oboe. Even earlier composers, such as Purcell, wrote for the instrument. Famous works include concertos by Albinoni, Bach, Handel, Alessando Marcello (which was later transcribed by Bach for Harpsichord), Telemann (who played the instrument), and Vivaldi. The instrument has a prominent role in Bach's Brandenburg concerti numbers one and two. Chamber works include trio sonatas by Handel, Hotteterre, Loeillet, Telemann and Vivaldi. Quantz wrote a handful of works for oboe, amongst his voluminous output for flute.

There are other members of the oboe family that existed during the Baroque era. Three of these are the oboe d'amore, the cor anglais or English horn, and the oboe da caccia or jadg hautbois. The oboe d'amore was pitched a minor third lower than the baroque oboe. It is featured prominently in Quia Respexit from Bach's Magnificat in D, and has concerti written by Lotti and Graupner. The English horn was still lower in pitch, and was sometimes made with a angled or curved body. The oboe da caccia was also low in pitch like the English horn, but could have an outward turned bell, and larger bore.

The Baroque oboe shown below is made by Roessler. It is tuned at a=442 / 440, which is unusual, but lets it be played with modern instruments, or act as an instrument in e flat at a=415. The oboe appears to be a copy of one by Johann Heinrich Eichentopf. He was born in 1678 and died in Leipzig, Germany in 1769. It is suspected that his instruments were used in the first performances of some of J. S. Bach's works. Eichentopf stamped his instruments with a Saint Andrew's cross with his name below it.