Oboe playing, like bird watching and taffy pulling, is a passion that seems to run in families. The earliest famous oboe clan was that of Frenchman Jean Philidor, who played at the court of Louis ...

The oboe proves an excellent conduit for such enigmatic games. The pungency of its timbre puts the ears on alert and on edge: no one can fall into a blissful trance at an oboe recital.