A defining oboist
mainIt’s the centenary year of Haakon Stotijn (11-02-1915 – 03-11-1964), principal oboist of the Concertgebouw orchestra from 1940 to his early death. His father Jaap was principal oboe in The Hague. The Stotijns set the tone across the Netherlands.
Haakon’s son, Marc, is building a website to their achievements. See it here.
Great, great oboist and great musician! he and his colleague Hubert Barwahser are two of my favorite wind players of all time.
The video is apparently not working, but Stotijn can be seen and heard in the oboe symphony par excellence, the Eroica, conducted by Eduard van Beinum in 1955: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyjoJQ13N3I
Peter Pears told me about this man’s playing and I can see why from this recording. Such human warmth and PHRASING….
I was a student of Haakon Stotijn in 1958-59 while studying on a Fulbright Grant in Amsterdam. It was a marvelous experience and we remained good friends and colleagues until his untimely death. I treasure that time! – Don Th. Jaeger
I was a student of Wim Ket, who was also a student of Haakon Stotijn. He became principle Oboist of “het Gelders Orkest” in Arnhem. He alway spoke with great affection about mr. Stotijn and taught me many things like his way of phrasing.