Date of Award

Fall 12-2015

Type

Thesis

Major

Music Performance - Instrumental Concentration

Degree Type

Master of Music in Music Performance

Department

Schwob School of Music

First Advisor

Susan Tomkiewicz

Second Advisor

Kristen Hansen

Third Advisor

Andree Martin

Abstract

Throughout Western music history, the oboe has served as one of the primary members of the orchestra. From its beginnings in the Baroque consort to the modern day orchestra, the instrument's story is one of unique ups and downs between being a staple and being a necessity. Though the instrument has weathered much through Western music history, it has endured and evolved into the instrument that is so familiar today. What is not as familiar, however, is the progression the oboe took to get to its modern iteration. The modern oboe represents years of development, both technologically and musically, on the part of oboists, instrument makers, and composers alike. This lecture aims to expose this progression, showing the changes the oboe both inspired and absorbed within the framework of Western music History.

The likely origin of the oboe was in 1657 at the French court under Lully.1 Lully introduced the oboe as an eventual replacement of the shawm, participating in the same role in the consort: playing "marches, dance suites, and ceremonial music."2 Very early on, the oboe began picking up theatrical connotations, as Lully used them frequently on stage during pastoral scenes.3 It was common to see oboes used to help represent a simple and innocent shepherd's life on stage; a representation of peace to contrast the trumpet, which was the personification of glory, heroism, and battle.4 Despite this association with peace and the pastoral, the oboe was quite loud, with the ratio of oboes to violins varying anywhere from 1:1 to 1:11.5 In the Baroque ensemble, the violin and the oboes were partners in all things, often doubling lines or performing similar leadership functions for their respective groups; strings for violins and winds for oboes.6 An example of this can be found in the manuscript of Handel's Judas Maccaebus. With the top two lines being the oboe parts and the bottom two violin parts, it is easy to see the correlation these two instruments had with each other, as the first oboe and fire violin parts nearly double each other. Interestingly enough, the oboes also provide reinforcement to the sopranos in the oratorio.

Download
DAISY

Share

COinS