Treble double-reed instruments have for centuries been invested with the potential to captivate those who hear them and to still the savage spirit. Shawms were used by Muslims and Christians alike to muster forces for battle and to inflame their warriors with courage, and alongside their comrade-at-arms the trumpet, shawms and oboes have been the instruments of power, attendants to colonial conquest.

–The Oboe by Geoffrey Burgess and Bruce Haynes, p7

(We can make you calm. We can get you to fight. We are multi-talented.)
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