Oboe d’amore

As Printed on a Score

Labels the oboe d’amore staff, abbreviated Ob. d’am.; Bach often wrote the French form, hautbois d’amour. Modern editions write it in treble clef a minor third above the sound (in A); Bach’s own notation varies, so an edition’s preface is worth checking.

Abbreviations: Ob. d’am., Ob. d'am.

Also spelled: Oboe d'amore, Oboe damore, Hautbois d’amour, Hautbois d'amour, Liebesoboe

How Composers Use It

Pitched in A, a minor third below the oboe, with a pear-shaped bell that softens and veils the tone. Bach favored it in cantatas and Passions for tender, intimate obbligatos, and it returns in a few later scores, among them Strauss’s Sinfonia domestica and Ravel’s Boléro. Treat it as a gentle alto voice: it blends well with voices and strings but lacks the oboe’s carrying power, so keep the accompaniment light.

Example

Bach, Mass in B minor, “Et in Spiritum sanctum”: the bass aria’s two obbligato instruments are labelled “Oboe d’amore 1” and “Oboe d’amore 2”.

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