As we continue our series on the history of the orchestra, let’s turn our focus to the woodwind section.
In a typical modern symphony orchestra, the woodwinds include flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons and their various permutations. A standard orchestral lineup contains two to four players of each instrument, with one player usually doubling on piccolo, English horn, bass clarinet or E-flat clarinet, and contrabassoon in each respective section. Saxophones and other derivatives of the above instruments are sometimes included as well, depending on the repertoire. However, for the purposes of this article, we will focus on the four main woodwind instruments and give examples of some of their most famous orchestral solos.
An oboe reed
We will begin with the double-reed instruments: the oboe and the bassoon. Without getting too lost in the “reeds,” a double reed consists of two pieces of cane that vibrate against each other when air is blown through them. Single reeds, used in clarinets and saxophones, involve a single piece of cane that vibrates against the mouthpiece of the instrument. Simply put, double reeds produce more complex harmonics and thus a richer sound, whereas single reeds produce a brighter sound.
The flute, by contrast, does not have a reed but is played by blowing air across the embouchure hole. The different ways air can flow into the body of an instrument—be it through a single or double reed or no reed at all—contribute to the instrument’s distinctive tone qualities alongside the dimensions, materials, and other design elements of the instrument itself.
Oboe
The oboe has roots stretching back to antiquity, with precedents for double-reed instruments appearing across the ancient world. The first documented double-reed instrument appears in an Egyptian artwork from around 3000 BCE. In ancient Greece, their version of a double-reed instrument was the aulos, and in ancient Rome, the tibia. The most direct ancestor of the modern oboe comes from the Middle Eastern zurna, which, like the modern oboe, has a conical bore (body) and flared bell, and the reed and mouthpiece are similar. From the zurna came the shawm, which first appeared in the 13th century and proliferated across Europe during the Middle Ages. Shawms typically accompanied municipal and court activities as well as dancing. All of these oboe predecessors had one thing in common: they were loud and usually played outdoors.
In mid-17th-century France, the “hautboy” (meaning “high wood” and the etymological root of “oboe”) gradually diverged from the shawm. It is hard to determine when exactly this began, as the French used the word “hautboy” for the shawm as well. Some consider 1657 the birthdate of the oboe, when composer Jean-Baptiste Lully incorporated it in his ballet L’amour malade. This inclusion marked a turning point that paved the way for the modern orchestra, as shawms were customarily played in consorts of like instruments, not in combination with string instruments. Woodwind players at the French court gradually developed the instrument over the ensuing decades, improving its range, dynamic control, and ability to play in different keys and blend with other instruments. The oboe soon took off, spreading across Europe by the end of the 17th century and finding a home in every kind of music, from the battlefield to the opera house.
In the Baroque and Classical periods, the oboe dominated the wind sections of orchestras. The 1780s saw the addition of more keys, making chromatic notes easier to play and simplifying fingerings. Select keys had been used for centuries to close holes out of reach of the player’s fingers, but key systems did not become standard until this period. The 19th century saw the most technological innovations, allowing the instrument to meet the new demands of Romantic musical aesthetics. These developments ultimately made the tone more uniform (albeit quieter), extended the instrument’s range, and made it easier to play. Reeds also changed dramatically during this period. These advances in oboe construction did not follow a simple chronological evolution but differed greatly according to regional preferences. In a return to its French roots, the “conservatoire-system” oboe was invented in Paris in 1872, eventually becoming the international standard by the end of the 20th century.
Bassoon
The rich tapestry of historical names for the bassoon reflects its complicated history. These names fall into four categories, corresponding to defining characteristics of the instrument: its shortened body (e.g., curtal), gentle sound (e.g., dulciana), bass register (e.g., basson), and resemblance to a bundle of sticks (e.g., fagotto). While similar to the shawm in its use of a double reed, the instrument developed alongside the shawm, not necessarily as a direct descendant.
The early bassoon, today referred to as a dulcian for simplicity, was likely invented in Italy in the mid-16th century in response to a need for a low wind instrument that was portable and loud enough to play in outdoor processionals. Elements from existing instruments—the double reed of the shawm, the curved bocal (metal tube that holds the reed) of the bass recorder, and the u-bend of the phagotum—were combined to create a new instrument to meet this need. The dulcian soon spread throughout Europe, with regional makers and variations springing up by the early 17th century. Like the shawm, it existed in multiple sizes, with the bass version, called a Choristfagott, serving as a common continuo instrument until the 18th century.
The bassoon emerged by the end of the 17th century as a refinement of the dulcian, just as the oboe was a refinement of the shawm. The bassoon differed from the dulcian in several ways: it was jointed in four pieces (as opposed to being in one continual piece). It also had a taller chimney (the portion of the bell extending above the bocal) and more keys. The instrument continued to evolve according to regional preferences, musical tastes, and technological developments in an effort to stabilize tuning and increase the volume to compete with growing orchestras. In the mid-19th century, the bassoon eventually diverged into two “systems”: German (or “Heckel”) and French. Beginning about 1930, the German system started to supplant the French system, with French bassoons all but disappearing from most orchestras. Check out this video for a demonstration and comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Clarinet
Single-reed instruments have been played virtually everywhere since antiquity. However, the clarinet is a relatively new instrument, popping up seemingly out of nowhere in about 1700. German woodwind maker Johann Christian Denner (1655–1707) of Nuremberg is often cited as the inventor of the clarinet. Historical clarinet specialist Eric Hoeprich explains, “Initially an anomaly, Johann Christoph Denner’s prototypes from circa 1700 seem practically to have appeared out of thin air, notwithstanding slight and ambiguous connections with various folk instruments, organ pipes, and bagpipe drones, as well as the more established woodwinds.”
The closest predecessor of the clarinet is the chalumeau, which evolved in the late 17th century. Denner made modifications to the chalumeau, repositioning the thumb hole and reducing the size of the mouthpiece to enable overblowing, expanding the instrument’s limited range. The chalumeau and clarinet developed along distinct lines during the 1700s, coexisting for about a century until the clarinet eventually won out. To this day, the clarinet’s lowest register is still called the “chalumeau” register.
As the clarinet developed, it was quickly recognized for its versatility, finding a home in court orchestras, military bands, opera orchestras, churches, country bands, and more. This diversity of uses ensured its survival amid other more established woodwind instruments (and its later adaptability to different genres, from Klezmer to Brazilian choro to jazz). Jean-Philippe Rameau and Johann Stamitz were among the first composers to bring the instrument into the Baroque orchestra. Classical composers like Haydn and Mozart helped to establish the clarinet as an integral member of the orchestra and an important solo instrument. Clarinet specialists started to emerge around 1770 as the instrument developed mechanically and the technical demands of the music written for it increased. The 18th-century clarinet had two or three keys, expanding to five by the end of the century. The first half of the 19th century saw the invention of key mechanisms, leading to the divergence of two key systems: the French “Boehm” system and the German “Oehler” system. Unlike the bassoon, the French system predominates today.
Flute
Considered the oldest woodwind instruments, flutes have been played across the world since the Paleolithic era, with examples made of bone and ivory discovered in German caves that date back to 43,000–35,000 BCE. The transverse (i.e., horizontal) flute dates to ancient Rome but dropped out of use in Europe until about the 11th or 12th century. A medieval transverse flute was simply a cylindrical tube stopped at one end with a mouth hole and six finger holes. In the Renaissance, the transverse flute came in three basic sizes (alto, tenor, and bass) and was often played in consorts. The transverse flute developed alongside its initially more popular vertical cousin, the recorder.
The first revolutionary change in flute design came in the 17th century with the Baroque flute. Its invention is often credited to the Hotteterre family of flute players and makers in Paris, though other makers were experimenting with flute design across Europe. The Baroque flute differs from the Renaissance flute in that it has three sections (head, body, and foot) instead of one, the body is conical instead of cylindrical, and there is a key at the bottom. These developments allowed for clearer semitones, better intonation, and more control and flexibility.
Closeup of a flute
In the early 18th century, flutes were usually made of boxwood, ebony, or ivory, possessing a conical bore and a single key. However, the design was far from standardized, differing between countries and depending on the predilections of individual players and makers. In 1720, flutes started to be made in four sections instead of three. The mid-18th century saw the addition of more keys, especially in England, which favored a more robust, penetrating sound. At the end of the Classical era and into the early 19th century, these key systems became more complicated.
As was the case with the other woodwind instruments, the flute saw a surge of technological developments during the 19th century. One of the most influential designers was Theobald Boehm, whose “Boehm-system flute” of 1847 is considered the basis for the modern flute. The Boehm flute marked a return to cylindrical instead of conical bores. It also had larger tone holes closed by padded keys interlinked with rod-axles and clutches. The French makers who adopted his design tended to make these flutes out of silver or other metals. The Boehm flute was not universally accepted straight away. Some preferred conical “old-system” or “simple-system” flutes, which had a greater variety of tone than the more consistent Boehm-system flutes. These two styles of flutes (and hybrids of the two) coexisted for a long time as older players stuck with what they knew. Eventually, the Boehm-style flute won out and became standard in orchestras after World War II.
The woodwind section contains some of the most diverse and distinctive sounds of the orchestra. As we have seen, their evolution is just as diverse and complex. The common thread between these instruments is that they each developed in response to shifting musical tastes. Variations in color between keys gave way to greater consistency of intonation, and certain tone qualities were sacrificed for greater volume so the instrument could be heard over the growing orchestra. Regional differences and personal preferences abounded until the turn of the 20th century, when greater standardization won out, leading us to the largely consistent orchestral line-up we have today.
Stay tuned for our next segment on the history of the brass section, and be sure to revisit our articles on the string section and an overview of the history of the orchestra itself.
