The Development of the Oboe as we know it to-day has mainly taken place over the past 350 years. Prior to the late 17th Century its earlier ancestor was as a Shawm that was used mainly for outdoor dancing events and military occasions. The shawm was a wooden instrument played with a double reed inside the top of the instrument, slightly similar to a bassoon reed, rather than the one we use inserted in the top of  the Oboe to-day. The Shawm was of a conical shape, as is the Oboe, but with a larger bore (i.e.it is wider!).  It was exceedingly loud and strident which was fine out doors, but not so good when an instrument was required for indoor performances.


In 1655 two Frenchmen adapted the shawm to make it more indoor friendly. They arranged to split it into three separate jointed pieces for ease of carrying it about. They  reduced the size of the bore and changed the reed into one attached to a staple and looking more familiar to those of us who play the Oboe to-day. They named it the hautbois (high wood) which changed over time to hoboy and eventually oboe. This meant that, when Bach, Handel and other Baroque period composers were writing their great works, they had available this instrument with enormous potential for a very special solo type of sound. Bach often used it in his major choral works to accompany the Soprano and Alto soloists, as well as a solo instrument in its own right. There were many solo works written for it by Albinoni, Vivaldi and many, many other composers of the period. It was quite a simple instrument with the standard recorder finger holes and only the beginnings of some very basic keywork to simplify the intricate fingering needed to play these difficult works. There are manufacturer's to-day replicating these Baroque Oboes so the works can be performed and heard as they would have been heard in the 18th century.
The pitch of the Baroque oboe was approximately set at a sharper level than the modern day Oboe possibly giving a slightly brighter sound.  The original pitch was around A=415Hz whereas  to-day's generally accepted concert pitch level of  A=440 Hz.

If you are interested in more detail about the Baroque period of the Oboe's development, which was the foundation of the instrument as we know it to-day, I suggest you get a copy of Oboe Tips & Techniques where a much larger section is devoted to this important topic. Also included is more detail about the Oboe di Caccia, or hunting oboe, which has now been superceded by the Cor Anglais. The Oboe D'Amore is still much used to-day and other less well known cousins are all described in Tips and Techniques.

This is what a Baroque Oboe looked like:

Once the Oboe had evolved it then had a period of fragmented development by instrument makers all over Europe developing new keywork and techniques as each would operate in isolation from the others. Communications were not very advanced in the 19th Century!  The next major development was an agreed general standardizing of the level of pitch for orchestras at A=440Hz during the 1940's  During the postwar period and the 1950's. large numbers of instruments had to be scrapped as they were not possible to tune to this slightly flatter pitch. In the 1950's and 1960's there were many high pitch oboes on the secondhand market that had had inserts made to the various joints to lengthen them but this was never particularly successful and the resulting oboes were usually very unreliable in their general intonation.

In the 1950's the British firm of Howarth's started producing an English Oboe to compete with the mainly French and German Oboes being made at that time. The European system was mainly the conservatoire fingering and the English has the thumbplate under the left thumb. The American professional market tends to favour the French Oboe manufacturers, but American manufacturers have developed their own instruments. Both the conservatoire and thumbplate systems have strengths and weaknesses.

 Much research has been done in the past fifty years to try to develop other materials to make cheaper and possibly stronger oboes. As prices have increased student models with less gadgetry have appeared at the lower end of the market and, at the top range, keywork to match the demands of modern composing has been added. One problem with all the added keywork is the increasing weight, most of which is carried on the right thumb.

Reeds have also developed in the quality and types of cane available. Machine made reeds have appeared as have new types of staples. All these issues are dealt with in far more detail in Tips and Techniques, which needs exploring if you want a more informed understanding about the choices that are available for oboists to-day. The oboe is a very personal instrument and needs to become an extension of the player. The choices and decisions to-day are many and varied.  Consequently you need to find the  Oboe that is nearest to being a perfect match for needs of the individual. If the Oboist is to achieve real satisfaction in their performance the oboe must be able to perform at the level the player is capable of achieving.  Mistakes can be expensive!