Oboe
“Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet.” So wrote Henry Playford of the oboe in The Sprightly Companion, an oboe ‘how to’ published in 1695. Handel’s ‘favourite’ instrument, Tomaso Albinoni’s vehicle to fame (listen to his Opus. 7 oboe concertos) and the lucky recipient of some of Vivaldi’s most technical writing (he…
Read MoreHorn
Today’s horn, what is often known as the French horn, is a descendant of the natural horn, which in turn is a descendant of the hunting horn. Small and circular in shape, the hunting horn was easy to carry and convenient to play whilst sat atop a moving horse. Although the basic shape is still…
Read MorePeriod Instruments. Some frequently asked questions
1. Why is the orchestra called “The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment”? We are a period instrument orchestra named after the age in European history known as The Enlightenment, an era spanning the late seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This was a time of great experimentation and innovation, a period during which instruments,…
Read MoreViolin
What makes the OAE a ‘period instrument orchestra’ is that the players use either original instruments or copies of original instruments from the Age of the Enlightenment (17th/18th centuries). This means that the sound they create is closer to the sound that composers such as Mozart and Haydn would have had in mind when composing….
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