Marcel Tabuteau First-Hand

MT era oboe

Photo Autographed for Hershy Kay

Hershy Kay (1919–1981) was a highly regarded American composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He studied cello, composition and orchestration at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1936 to 1940. As a Curtis student, he would have attended some of Tabuteau’s classes (as did most Curtis students) and transcribed the second movement of Ravel’s (piano) Sonatine: ‘Mouvement de menuet’ for his woodwind class. In appreciation, Tabuteau gave Kay the autograph pictured below.

MT photo autographed for Hershy Kay
From the Hershy Kay Collection. Courtesy of the Gilmore Music Library, Yale University

Congratulations—
To Hershy Kay for his delightful transcription of Ravel’s “Menuet” for woodwinds
Marcel Tabuteau

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What's New!

An audio interview with Joan Browne (Champie), a private Tabuteau student in the early 1950s.

A photograph of the music stand that was in Tabuteau’s private studio in Philadelphia.

An autographed photo of Marcel Tabuteau inscribed to Vladimir Sokoloff.

An autographed photo of Marcel Tabuteau inscribed to Joan Browne Champie.

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.