Christmas Concert - How the Oboe Conquered Europe

How the Oboe Conquered Europe

The Sun King Louis XIV had a passion for splendour and ceremony, science, art, and above all music. To have it at hand for every occasion, he organised the players at the Versailles court into separate sections. As French influence spread across Europe, it soon became fashionable for every self-respecting monarch to hire a dozen oboists along the same lines. What might that have sounded like? The ensemble from Basel brings the grandeur of those ceremonies back to life, taking us on a journey through the courts of Europe - from Versailles through Nuremberg and Rastatt to London...

Students from the baroque oboe, bassoon, and historical percussion classes of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Antoine Torunczyk, oboe and direction