A Brief History of the Oboe

With an educational background in biology, chiropractic, functional medicine, and functional neurology, Yola Dabrowski is a health professional with nearly 20 years of chiropractic experience. She also possesses experience in business consulting and has provided project management services to clients in nonprofits, health care, software, and real estate. In her free time, Yola Dabrowski enjoys playing the violin and oboe.

The oboe belongs to a category of instruments known as woodwinds. The oboe’s earliest form, a double-reed instrument known as the aulos, was popular among the Greeks and Romans as far back as 2800 BC.

By the Middle Ages, a more advanced form of the double-reed instrument, known as a shawm, was popular in Europe until the 17th century when the hautbois was developed. The hautbois, the first baroque oboe, made its orchestral debut in France in 1657. Made of boxwood with multiple holes and two or three keys, the hautbois was considerably improved by narrowing the bore, adjusting the reed sizes, and altering the position and diameter of tone holes. The name oboe came into use in the 18th century.