Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand

MT era oboe

Presenting the life and teaching
of the great musician/oboist
Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966)
and communicating his imaginative concepts to the larger musical world.

Presenting the life and teaching
of the great musician/oboist
Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966)
and communicating his imaginative concepts to the larger musical world.

This website was created for the purpose of assembling from primary sources the musical concepts of the great oboist and musician Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966) and sharing them with classical musicians around the world. The section on The Tabuteau System is a compilation of those concepts as understood and passed on by his students and colleagues.

Tabuteau, a French native who became an American citizen, is considered the founder of the American school of oboe playing. He served as principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1915 to 1954 and taught at the Curtis Institute of Music (as well as privately) from 1925, one year after Curtis opened its doors, until his retirement in 1954.

This website was created for the purpose of assembling from primary sources the musical concepts of the great oboist and musician Marcel Tabuteau (1887-1966) and sharing them with classical musicians around the world. The section on The Tabuteau System is a compilation of those concepts as understood and passed on by his students and colleagues.

Tabuteau, a French native who became an American citizen, is considered the founder of the American school of oboe playing. He served as principal oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1915 to 1954 and taught at the Curtis Institute of Music (as well as privately) from 1925, one year after Curtis opened its doors, until his retirement in 1954.

During those years, he came to exercise a decisive influence on the standards of classical music performance in the United States, raising them to an unprecedented level. His influence upon classical musicians of every discipline continues to be felt even today.

This website is an ongoing work in progress. Information is being gathered from living musicians, as well as from written accounts and interviews of now-deceased musicians, all most fortunate to have studied with and/or worked alongside the master himself; hence our title ‘Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand.’ The site should be viewed as a continuation of, and supplement to, the exceptional research by Laila Storch in her monumental biography of Marcel Tabuteau published by Indiana University Press in 2008.

Since Tabuteau did not share the totality of his musical ideas with any single individual, the compilation of information from many sources should be of great interest to a broad range of classical musicians. We profusely thank those who are providing Tabuteau-related material for this website and encourage others to do so as well by clicking Submissions. Full credit is given to everyone who contributes. Special thanks to Laila Storch/Martin Friedmann and Guy Baumier for sharing their extensive Tabuteau archival material.  

Here, then, are the musical concepts of Marcel Tabuteau (and more) as articulated by him and passed on by those with whom he had direct contact.

Sections

Much of the material on this website is being presented with kind permission of the copyright owners. Any use and/or duplication of certain materials must be approved by the copyright owners. Therefore, you must seek permission at msmostovoy@comcast.net before using or duplicating any material to ascertain whether it is presently under copyright. Certain excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given as per the instructions you will receive from your inquiry. If this website has inadvertently posted material without the proper attribution or authorization, to remedy, please contact msmostovoy@comcast.net.

Copyright © 2017-2024 Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand and www.marceltabuteau.com. All rights reserved.

What's New!

With the passing of Wilbur Isaac Hilles in August 2023 and now Martha Scherer-Alfee in February 2024, no oboe students of Marcel Tabuteau at the Curtis Institute are still living.

A letter sent to the Curtis Institute by Laila Storch’s mother about Tabuteau not teaching at Curtis–and the reply.

See the older model Lorée oboe now pictured on the website masthead.

An important video of Laila Storch speaking about Marcel Tabuteau at the 1996 IDRS conference.

New family information from Guy Baumier, Tabuteau’s grand nephew.