An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette.
The following is a list of notable past and present professional oboists, with indications when they were/are known better for other professions in their own time. Oboists with an asterisk (*) have biographies in the online version of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Historical oboists
Baroque period 1600–1760
Francesco Barsanti (1690–1772), Italian * (composer) Alessandro Besozzi (1702–1773), Italian Antonio Besozzi (1714–1781), Italian Cristoforo Besozzi (1661–1725), Italian Giuseppe Besozzi (1686–1760), Italian Paolo Girolamo Besozzi (1713–1778), Italian Mateo Bissoli (Bisioli) ( 1711 – 1780), Italian Esprit Philippe Chédeville (1696–1762), French * Nicolas Chédeville (1705–1782), French * Pierre Chédeville (1694–1725), French * André Danican Philidor (c. 1652–1730), French * (music librarian) Anne Danican Philidor (1681–1728), French Jean Danican Philidor ( 1620 – 1679), French (1580–1651), French (1681–1731), French John Ernest Galliard ( 1675 – 1747), German * Johann Caspar Gleditsch (1684–1747), German ("Bach's oboist") Peter Glösch ( 1685 – 1754), German Jean Hotteterre ( 1610 – 1691), French * (instrument maker) (one of several oboists in the family) Martin Hotteterre (1635–1712), French * (instrument maker) Nicolas Hotteterre (1637–1694), French * Johann Christian Jacobi (1719–1784), German (oboist at Janitsch's "Freitags-Akademien") Jean Christian Kytch (died 1738), Dutch ("Handel's oboist") François La Riche (1662 – after 1733), Flemish *"The Trio Sonatas of Jan Dismas Zelenka" . www.idrs.org. Jacques Loeillet (1685–1748), Flemish * Jean-Baptiste Loeillet (1680–1730), Flemish * Jacques Paisible ( 1656 – 1721), French (oboist in Robert Cambert orchestra which moved to London in 1673) Joan Baptista Pla ( 1720 – 1773), Spanish * Josep Pla (1728–1762), Spanish * Manuel Pla ( 1725 – 1766), Spanish * Giovanni Benedetto Platti (1697–1763), Italian *"Caro Mitis. Catalogue. The booklet of disk Giovanni Benedetto Platti. Antologia – CM 0052006". www.caro-mitis.com. Johann Christian Richter (1689–1744), German Jacob Riehman ( 1680 – 1729), Dutch * Giuseppe Sammartini (1695–1750), Italian * (son of French oboist Alexis Saint-Martin) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), German composer (Oboe was one of over 10 instruments he played) Roberto Valentine (1674 – ), English * (composer)"HOASM: Roberto Valentini (Robert Valentine)". www.hoasm.org.
Classical period 1730–1820
Sante Aguilar ( 1734 – 1808), ItalianBruce, Haynes, (1 February 1992). "Mozart and the oboe". Christian Frederik Barth (1787–1861), Danish Christian Samuel Barth (1735–1809), German * Frederik Philip Carl August Barth (1774–1804), Danish * Georg Benda (1722–1795), Czech * (composer) Carlo Besozzi (1738–1791), Italian Francesco Besozzi (1766–1816), Italian Gaetano Besozzi (1725–1794), Italian Girolamo Besozzi ( 1745 – 1788), Italian Friedrich Braun (1759–1824), German * Franz Joseph Czerwenka (1759–1835), Czech-Austrian ("Beethoven's oboist")Burgess, p. 91 Georg Druschetzky (1745–1819), Czech * Giuseppe Ferlendis (1755–1810), Italian *"HOASM: Giuseppe Ferlendis". www.hoasm.org. Josef Fiala (1748–1816), Czech * ("Mozart's oboist 1") Johann Christian Fischer (1733–1800), German *"Web Gallery of Art, searchable fine arts image database". www.wga.hu. Joseph François Garnier (1755–1825), French * Michel Joseph Gebauer (1763–1812), French * Gottlieb Graupner (1767–1836), German-American William Herschel (1738–1822), German (astronomer) (before 1765 primarily oboist, only later an astronomer) François Jadin (1731–1790), French * Carl Khym (1770–after 1819), Czech * Ludwig August Lebrun (1746–1790), German * Ignace Malzat (1757–1804), Austrian (probably wrote the "Haydn" oboe concerto) * ( 1723 – 1804), Italian * Carl Ludwig Matthes (1751–?), German John Parke (1745–1829), English * William Thomas Parke (1762–1847), English * Giuseppe Prota (1737–1807), Italian * Friedrich Ramm (1744–1813), German ("Mozart's oboist 2") François Alexandre Antoine Sallantin (1755 – ), French * Johann Friedrich Schröter (1724–1811), German * Charles J. Suck ( – ), English * Philipp Teimer (Filip Matyas Tajmar) (1767–1817), Bohemian (English horn)Burgess, p. 99 Georg Triebensee (1746–1813), Bohemian * Josef Triebensee (1772–1846), Bohemian * (composer) (1745–1801), Bohemian * Thomas Vincent (1720–1783), English *
Romantic period 1815–1910
Apollon Barret (1804–1879), French *"Introduction to the New Barret Oboe Method" . www.idrs.org. Christian Frederik Barth (1787–1861), Danish * Richard Baumgärtel (1858–1941), GermanBurgess, p. 176-9 Félix-Charles Berthélemy (1829–1868), French"BERTHELEMY Félix (1829–1868)" . www.appl-lachaise.net. Carl A.P. Braun (1788–1835), German * Wilhelm Braun (1796–1867), German * Henri Brod (1799–1839), French *"Introduction to the New Brod Oboe Method" . www.idrs.org. Baldassare Centroni ( 1784 – 1860), Italian ("Rossini's oboist")Burgess, p.153 (1832–1881), French Franz Wilhelm Ferling (1796–1874), German (1909–1971), GermanHans-Rainer Jung, Claudius Böhm: Das Gewandhaus-Orchester. Seine Mitglieder und seine Geschichte seit 1743. Faber and Faber, Leipzig 2006, , S. 228. Georges Gillet (1854–1920), French *Storch, Laila. "Georges Gillet—Master Teacher and Performer." Journal of the International Double Reed Society 5 (June 1977): 1–19. Joseph Gungl (1810–1889), Hungarian * (conductor) Johann Peter Heuschkel (1773–1853), German * Ernst Krähmer (1795–1857), German * Olivo Krause (1857–1927), Danish Desiré Alfred Lalande (1866–1904), French * Antoine Joseph Lavigne (1816–1886), FrenchBurgess, p. 162-165 Johann Heinrich Luft (1813–1877), German William Malsch (1855–1924), English * Giovanni Paggi (1806–1887), Italian * Antonio Pasculli (1842–1924), Italian * (the "Paganini of the oboe") Charles Reynolds (1843–1916), English"Charles Reynolds: glimpses of a life". 4 March 2011. Friedrich Ruthardt (1800–1862), German Adolf Rzepko (1825–1892), Polish * Joseph Sellner (1787–1843), AustrianWillhalm, Gerhard. "Musiklexikon für Klassische Musik". www.musiklexikon.net. Pedro Soler (1810–1850), SpanishPhilip Bale, The Oboe: An Outline of Its History, Development, and Construction, W.W. Norton, 1975, , pp. 80, 201 Friedrich-Eugen Thurner (1785–1827), German Charles Triébert (1810–1867), French * Frédéric Triébert (1813–1878), French * (instrument maker) Raoul Triébert (1845 – ), French * Stanislas Verroust (1814–1863), French Gustave Vogt (1781–1870), French * Friedrich Westenholz (1778–1840), German * Carlo Yvon (1798–1854), Italian
20th-century oboists
A–L Albert J. Andraud (1884–1975), French-American Rhadames Angelucci (1915–1991), American Alfred Barthel (1871–1957), French Evelyn Barbirolli (born Evelyn Rothwell), (1911–2008), English *"News". 15 March 2016 – via www.telegraph.co.uk. Louis Bas (1863–1944), French Burgess, p. 188,194,202,348 Etienne Baudo (1903–2001), French (1871–1941), French Robert Bloom (1908–1994), American *"Robert & Sara Bloom" . www.cranberryisles.com. Joy Boughton (1913–1963), English Maurice Bourgue (1939–2023), French Leonard Brain (1915–1975), English * Henri de Busscher (1880–1975), Belgian * Natalie Caine (1909–2008), English (1932–1984), French Janet Craxton (1929–1981), English * (Sister of the painter John Craxton) William Criss (1921–1984), American John de Lancie (1921–2002), American * Albert Debondue (1895–1984), FrenchBurgess, p. 202 Antonio Estévez (1916–1988), Venezuelan * (composer) Alvin Etler (1913–1973), American * (composer) Svend Christian Felumb (1898–1972), DanishShaman, William; Smith, Edward Joseph; Collins, William J.; Goodwin, Calvin M. (21 September 1999). "More EJS: Discography of the Edward J. Smith Recordings : "Unique Opera Records Corporation" (1972–1977), "A.N.N.A. Record Company" (1978–1982), "special-label" Issues (circa 1954–1981), and Addendum to "The Golden Age of Opera" Series". Greenwood Publishing Group – via Google Books. Peter Fischer (1924–2004), GermanHans-Rainer Jung, Claudius Böhm: Das Gewandhaus-Orchester. Seine Mitglieder und seine Geschichte seit 1743. Faber & Faber, Leipzig 2006, , pg. 244. Fritz Flemming (born 1872 or 1873; died 1947), GermanBurgess, p. 175-6 (1905–1984), Canadian Bert Gassman (1911–2004), American Fernand Gillet (1882–1980), French Ruth Gipps (1921–1999), British (composer) Albert Goltzer (1918–2007), American"Paid Notice: Deaths GOLTZER, ALBERT". 12 November 2007 – via query.nytimes.com. Harold Gomberg (1916–1985), American * Ralph Gomberg (1921–2006), American * Leon Goossens (1897–1988), English * Peter Graeme (1921–2012), English Percy Grainger (1882–1961), Australian-American (1910–1990), Czech * Earnest Harrison (1918–2005), American Hans Kamesch (1901–1975), AustrianDavid Ledet, Oboe reed styles: theory and practice, Indiana University Press, 1981, pp.63–4 Rudolf Kempe (1910–1976), German * (conductor) Bruno Labate (1883–1968), Italian"Bruno Labate Tribute by Jeffrey Sward". www.jeffreysward.com. Roland Lamorlette (1894–1960), French Alfred Läubin (1906–1976), American (instrument maker) Marc Lifschey (1926–2000), American Georges Longy (1868–1930), French *
M–Z Terence MacDonagh (1908–1986), British Arno Mariotti (1911–1993), German-born American Josef Marx (1913–1978), German-American * Robert Mayer (1910–1994), American Karl Mayrhofer (1927–1976), Austrian Mitch Miller (1911–2010), American (choir conductor, recording director) Myrtile Morel (1889–1979), French (1904–1983), American Pierre Pierlot (1921–2007), French Giuseppe Prestini (1877–1930), Italian David Reichenberg (1950–1987), American * (also listed under period instrumentalists below) A. Clyde Roller (1914–2005), American Marcel Saillet (1898–1983), Swiss Wakin, Daniel J.. "How Strauss Came to Write His Oboe Concerto". Jürg Schaeftlein (1929–1986), Austrian * Riccardo Scozzi (1878–1955), Italian Edgar Shann (1919–1984), Swiss"Edgar Shann – concerts-bach" . concerts-bach.lutry.ch. Harry Shulman (1916–1971), American"Oboe Cane and Reeds" . www.stuart-dunkel.com. Jerry Sirucek (1922–1996), American (1922–1995), Dutch Václav Smetáček (1906–1986), Czech * (conductor) Robert Sprenkle (1914–1988), American"Robert Sprenkle – Eastman School of Music". www.esm.rochester.edu. Warren Stannard (1923–1995), American"Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com."MusicSack / Music Sack". musicsack.com. William Grant Still (1895–1978), American * (composer) (1915–1964), Dutch * Jaap Stotijn (1891–1970), Dutch * František Suchý (1902–1977), Czech * Sidney Sutcliffe (1918–2001), Scottish (1922–2008), Japanese Marcel Tabuteau (1887–1966), French/American * Jiří Tancibudek (1921–2004), Czech-Australian Giuseppe Tomassini (1915–1987), ItalianPetritoli, Comune di. "Comune di Petritoli". www.comune.petritoli.fm.it. Lois Wann (1912–1999), American"Lois Wann, 87, an Oboist and Teacher". 8 March 1999 – via www.nytimes.com. Alexander Wunderer (1877–1955), AustrianScholz-Michelitsch, Dr. Helga. "Alexander Wunderer". www.1133.at.
20th-century players of the English horn
Engelbert Brenner (1904–1986), Austrian- born American"Engelbert Brenner (1904–1986); My Mentor". 4 July 2006. Harry Freedman (1922–2005), Polish-born Canadian (composer) Hans Hadamowsky (1906–1986), Austrian Peter Henkelman (1882–1949), Dutch Leo van der Lek (1908–1999), Dutch John Minsker (1912–2007), American Louis Speyer (1890–1980), French-born American
Contemporary classical oboists
A–B Theodore Baskin (born 1950), American Perry Bauman (1918–2004), American-Canadian"Perry Bauman". William Bennett (1956–2013), American