Thursday, February 22nd, 2013
Dear Friends and Family,
Claude Monteux breathed his last this morning, after living a
complete life, at age 92. He died peacefully near his son, in
Sacramento, California.
Claude was born in
the United States in 1920. The first years of his life were
spent in Paris where he became an accomplished pianist. His
mother, browsing through a Readers Digest, saw an
advertisement for a new music program at Black Mountain
College in North Carolina. It is there that he heard the flute
solo from Brahms 4th for
the first time, when his father, Pierre Monteux, toured with
the Boston Symphony. He was so moved by the solo, he decided
to play the flute.
He studied flute exclusively with George Laurent, Principle
Flute of the Boston Symphony. Claude’s flute is one the very
first handmade Powells.
After working as a translator during WW2, Claude settled into
the life of a working musician. He was the principal flute in
many symphony orchestras, worked in NY shows, was the
assistant conductor of the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo,
Conductor and Artistic Director of the Hudson Valley Symphony,
soloed with the London Symphony and St. Martins in the Fields,
taught at the New England Conservatory of Music and at San
Diego State University, hosted summer flute retreats in Maine,
and made some of the first recordings ever…on wax. Claude was
the first person to bring Jean-Pierre Rampal to New York in
1963.
I met Claude on the
Flute list, after he took me to task for my Top Ten Flutists
list (the usual characters were absent). I explained that the
players on my list are both exceptional players, and people
who have a broader use for their talent –towards using their
Art to do good things in the world. He invited me for coffee.
After three years of intensely wonderful
time spent with Claude, I have bumped him to the top of my
list. Claude knew how to pull my playing together in magical
ways, and asked only for my friendship in return. Always a
teacher, he taught me to have the courage to sit with him near
the very end. Like many of his dedicated students, I will keep
his memory and teachings alive.
No services will be held. He requests only that his remains
be placed next to his wife Mary, in his beloved Maine.
Thoughtfully, Elizabeth Gaston--Abell flutes, San Francisco, CA
|
IN TRIBUTE TO
GREAT TEACHER:
These pages are
dedicated to Claude Monteux, who was my teacher, mentor and
friend. A good teacher teaches you not only his main
subject, but also about being a good person and giving
something back to the world. He also doesn't just teach you
"technique"... but the importance of playing with feeling,
or in Claude's own words as he conducted: "Play with
Love!" I visited Claude a few years ago in San
Diego, and he is still as handsome, charming and talented as
ever! I know he'd love to hear about where you are and what
you are doing, so if you are a former student or peer,
please leave him a message in his guestbook below so he can
read all about your progress in the music world or just life
in general, and to say hello! Please take the time to
listen to the entire jukebox below. Never have I heard
another flutist make the flute "talk" as Claude could with
so pure a tone and such nuance; and yet, he has never been
recognized for his great talent as he should have been.
But that is my own personal observation... He gave me the
gift of playing with feeling...
Geri Rizzo |
|