Liutaio:
Anonymous
From “
Il Museo della Musica” by Artemio Versari
The oboe, an instrument with a double reed and a cone-shaped tube, has the Greek aulos as a famous ancestor, and other less famous, but closer, in the dulciana, the bombardon, the bombard, and the bassanelli.
It became a part of the orchestra in the late seventeenth century, and for some time remained a doubling instrument, but soon took on an increasingly important role.
Its soft as well as pathetic tone suggested its use, especially for the theatre, for harmonious situations; it actually became a must for pastoral scenes.
For this instrument too, as for the flute, improvements of technical possibilities of the early types, equipped simply with holes, were sought, slowly adding more keys.
The names of those who improved the oboe are those of delusse, Sellner, Lavigné (who introduced in the oboe the ring of the Böhm system), but above all Triebert brothers. The structure they gave to the technique of making oboes is the same that is used for the instrument today.