With the dual objective of promoting both 17^th and 18^th century French music with historically informed performances, the CMBV has completed a vast musicological and organological research project culminating in the building of late 17^th century double reed instruments.

For the requirements of the production of Lully’s Atys directed by Alexis Kossenko in March 2024, the CMBV commissioned oboes and cromornes true to French instrument manufacture in the 1680’s. In association with IReMus (the CNRS musicology research institute) and the French music museum, and with input from Neven Lesage (CMBV oboist), Lola Soulier (oboist & researcher at Sorbonne university - IReMus) and Achille Davy-Rigaux (IReMus researcher), a vast project gathering and analysing sources helped identify instruments housed in the music museum and create facsimile and 3D tomographic (X-ray) reproductions. A bid for tender resulted in the selection of four craftsmen to reproduce a set of oboes and cromornes, including 5 treble oboes, 2 alto cromornes and I bass cromorne.

In the wake of this instrument reproduction project, the CMBV can offer musicians the use of:

• 5 treble oboes (392 Hz): 3 replicas of oboes signed ROVGE N°E.979.2.12 conserved in the French music museum, built by Alberto Ponchio;  2 replicas of unsigned oboes  N°E.108 conserved in the French music museum, built by Olivier Clémence;
• 2 tenor cromornes (392 Hz): 2 unsigned cromornes E.980.2.149 conserved in the French music museum - 1 replica built by Thierry Bertrand and 1 built by Henri Gohin;
• 1 basse cromorne (392 Hz) : replica conserved in the French music museum - 1 replica built by Henri Gohin.

It also makes available to musicians and researchers the 6 prototypes (unadapted replicas of the originals), namely the 4 treble oboes and 2 alto oboes built for the project.

Lastly, it can provide musicians and researchers with 3D digital printouts of the ROVGE oboes and N°E.108 oboes conserved in the French music museum.

To coincide with the production of Jean-Baptiste Lully's Atys, the CMBV has had copies of historic French oboes rebuilt by the makers Thierry Bertrand, Olivier Clémence, Henri Gohin and Alberto Ponchio, thanks to funding provided by Mr Romain Durand, Grand Patron of the CMBV - Durand Milanolo instruments.

As part of this reconstruction project, the CMBV has commissioned several publications to document the research project ‘Typologie du hautbois en France entre 1650 et 1765’ (Typology of the oboe in France between 1650 and 1765):

• CAHIER PHILIDOR
  Les Hautbois d’Atys : projet de reconstruction du consort de hautbois français des années 1670 (FR) by Lola Soulier (University of Paris-IV Sorbonne), scientific advisor (organology)
  CONSULT 

• ARTICLE
  À la recherche des hautbois pour « Atys 2024 » (FR) – Critères morphologiques de hautbois conservés datables entre ca. 1670-1710 / Mise en relation de ces instruments avec des documents visuels contemporains – by Florence Gétreau (Emeritus Director of Research at the CNRS, IreMus), Neven Lesage (Advisor and Organology Officer, CMBV) and Vincent Robin (musicologist)
  CONSULT 
• SUMMARY DOCUMENT
  Les anches de hautbois sous l’ancien régime (FR) by Lola Soulier (University of Paris-IV Sorbonne), scientific advisor (organology)
  CONSULT 

• ARTICLE 
  Origins of the oboe : typologies and musical (EN) by Geoffrey Burgess
  CONSULT