The oboe is the
soprano member of a whole family of instruments, called, appropriately enough, the
oboe family.
The oboe is a descendant of a long line of
double reed instruments, possibly beginning as early as ancient
Egypt. This line also includes the
aulos or
double aulos of ancient
Greece.
The more direct lineage of the modern oboe begins in the
Renaissance with the
shawm, another
double reed instrument, which shares an ancestor with the
bagpipes. The
shawm, played without the lips on the
reed, was a loud, obnoxiously-toned instrument, explaining perhaps the French,
hautbois (literally, high or loud wood). The transition in this lineage from
shawm to oboe occurred as it became necessary to find an indoor equivalent for the
shawm in the mid-17th century. The modern oboe was invented by
Jean Hotteterre and
Michel Danican Philidor to suit the needs of French ballet, specifically, the tastes of
Louis XIV. It has a more narrow bore than the
shawm, and is played by placing the lips directly on the
reed.
The earliest oboes utilized minimal keywork, beginning with two to four keys. As traditions and technique solidified, keys were added, reaching fifteen by the nineteenth century. The oboe of today was first introduced in 1880 by the
Loree firm in France, and has existed effectively unadjusted since.