Fourteen Leipzig Oboes from the time of J. S. Bach

For Johann Sebastian Bach the oboe was an instrument of choice, for which he wrote a great number of solo parts. Although we know which oboists performed his works during his Leipzig tenure, we don't know which instruments they used for daily practice. Fourteen surviving Leipzig oboes of the Bach have been located and examined, resulting in a comparative study of measurement data, with some use of digital techniques such as CT-scanning and 3D-printing. This study brings new insights concerning woodwind making in Leipzig in the second quarter of the eighteenth century, but also poses new questions with regard to the authorship of these instruments.