Considering strictly modern
instruments, a family consisting of four members.
The title member of the family, the
oboe, is the
soprano member, in the key of C. Modern
orchestras, as a standard, have two
oboe players with a third playing both
oboe and
English Horn as necessary.
The
English Horn is the second most common member of the family, in the key of F. This
instrument is considerably longer than the
oboe and has a pear-shaped bell, which is considered commonly to produce a darker, more mellow tone -- although practical experiments show the shape has no bearing on the tone. The
English Horn is generally considered a
solo instrument in orchestral literature, beginning in the
Romantic period and continuing to this day. Most famously, the
English Horn plays a
solo in the slow movement of
Antonin Dvorak's
Ninth Symphony (old No. 5). It is also featured in the
Pastorale movement of
Hector Berlioz's
Symphonie Fantastique, to name a very small portion of the literature.
Less common members of the family include the
oboe d'amore (also,
oboe d'amour) and the
bass oboe. The
oboe d'amore is in the key of A, and the
bass oboe, in C, but one octave below the
soprano member.
The
oboe d'amore is shaped similarly to the
English Horn, but it is considerably smaller and lighter in weight and tone, while still larger than the
oboe. It is featured most often in works of
Baroque music, most notably of
Johann Sebastian Bach. However,
Richard Strauss also made extensive use of it in his
tone poems, and other, more modern composers, have reawakened to the
oboe d'amore's particular attributes as the "
alto" member of this family.
The least well-known member of the modern oboe family is the
bass oboe. The existence of this member may be little more than a vestige of the
Renaissance practice of filling out
consorts of instruments, as this instrument is little used in modern orchestral literature. It is used, however, in
Gustav Holst's
The Planets, to great novel effect.