The Oboe

Oboe-like instruments existed already in the ancient world (early versions were found in Egyptian tombs)., and in the 8th century, it was brought to Europe; but the oboe as we know it only appeared in the 17th century, and it was the first wind instrument to be introduced into the classical orchestra.

In 1777, Mozart wrote an oboe concerto in C major, that was lost. Telemann composed the Oboe Concerto in D minor and Cimarosa wrote the concerto for oboe and orchestra in G minor, among the gentle works of baroque period; Tchaikovsky opens the "Swan Lake" ballet music with the oboe, and Prokofiev deployed the oboe to describe the character of the duck in "Peter and the Wolf".

The English horn is a kind of big tenor oboe, lower than the oboe in a perfect fifth. The constricted bell opening gives the tone a hollow sound. It is not a regular participant in orchestra, and when required, the oboist plays it. The source of its name is apparently a mispronunciation of the French word Angle, meaning "angular", since the instrument used to be rounded, and it was only in the Classic period when it "straightened-out". Used rarely before the 19th-century Romantics but often thereafter in the orchestra, but still rarely in chamber music.

Dvorak, in his 9th symphony ("From the New World"), uses the English horn in the second movement (Largo), and so does Rossini in one of his most beautiful sections in the "Wilhelm Tell" overture.