Oboe d'amore

The oboe d'amore (pronounced [ˈɔːboe daˈmoːre]; Italian for "oboe of love"), less commonly hautbois d'amour, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, between the oboe (soprano) and the cor anglais, or English horn (alto). It is a transposing instrument, sounding a minor third lower than it is notated, i.e. in A. The bell is pear-shaped and the instrument uses a bocal, similar to the larger cor anglais, whose bocal is larger.

Invention and use

The oboe d'amore was invented in the eighteenth century and was first used by Christoph Graupner in Wie wunderbar ist Gottes Güt (1717). Johann Sebastian Bach wrote many pieces—a concerto, many of his cantatas, and the "Et in Spiritum sanctum" movement of his Mass in B minor—for the instrument. Georg Philipp Telemann also frequently employed the oboe d'amore.