Why were oboes more playable than other early woodwinds? Early oboes had six finger holes and only a few keys (for the lower little finger). The conical shape of the oboe allows it to
overblow (repeat fingerings) at the
octave . Cross-fingering (closing some holes below the first open hole), which helps an instrument get all the notes of the
chromatic scale , also works better on an oboe than on many other woodwinds. While other woodwinds had to wait for technical improvements in keys and key systems, even early oboes could easily play in many keys throughout their range. In fact, extra keys were added to the oboe a bit later than they were added to instruments like the
bassoon and
clarinet , which had more need of them. The modern oboe is fully keyed, like other woodwinds, although it still does not need as many keys as, for example, a clarinet.
Repertoire
The oboe is most easily recognizable (sound-wise) as the instrument that gives the "A" for tuning at the beginning of an orchestra concert or rehearsal. If you would like to hear the oboe, it should be pretty easy to find recordings of some of the following:
Oboe was the first wind instrument to be regularly included in the orchestra, so it is often heard in Baroque and Classical orchestral works. Listen to early orchestral works, including cantatas. (The "Sinfonia" of Bach's Cantata No. 156 has a particularly lovely oboe solo.)
Even in later orchestral works, the oboe remains a favorite soloist. For example, Bizet's
Symphony in C major features a solo oboe in both the first and second movements.
From Bach and Vivaldi to Strauss and Vaughan Williams, many composers have written oboe concertos. Marcello's Concerto in D minor is particularly popular. (In fact, there are so many popular oboe concertos, that many have also been transcribed for other solo instruments.)
The most famous English horn part is the solo in the slow movement of Dvorak's
Symphony #9 "From the New World" .
Practical information for composers and arrangers
Written ranges
The oboe is a concert-pitch instrument; it sounds as written.
Oboe d'amore sounds a minor third lower, and
cor anglais sounds a perfect fifth lower than written.
The oboe is a concert-pitch instrument, but music for
oboe d'amore must be written a minor third higher than you want it to sound, and music for
cor anglais must be written a perfect fifth higher. These transpositions allow an oboe player to play all three instruments with essentially the same fingerings. (See
Transposing Instruments and
Transposition for more information.)
The oboe's loud voice, distinctive
timbre , and ability to play fast, technical passages all make it a good choice for solo work. Both oboe and
cor anglais are particularly popular with composers who want a wistful or melancholy mood for long, sustained solos. (Oboe players don't need to breathe as often as other winds, because the stream of air that goes through their reeds is so small.) But the oboe is also quite good at fast, short notes.
Oboe d'amore and
cor anglais have lower
ranges and softer voices than the oboe, but both are higher than the bassoon. Usually, parts for these instruments are only included when a composer particularly wants their distinctive sounds for solo work.
Generally, an orchestra, and even a band (which may have dozens of clarinets and flutes) will only have two, maybe three oboes. (One oboe player may also double on English horn or
oboe d'amore as needed.) As a rule, you will want to write a different part for each oboe player; oboes in unison are quite loud and, if the players are young or inexperienced, may cause unusually unpleasant tuning problems. Some groups do not have
oboe d'amore or
cor anglais ; it is not necessary to include parts for these instruments. If you want to include them, you may want to check to make sure that the group you are writing for has them.
Cor anglais is much more common these days than
oboe d'amore .
