Different Courtois branches
The first Courtois (first name is unknown) founded his first workshop in 1789 in the rue Mazarine in Paris. Two instruments are still extant: a horn (Berlin) and a “cavalry trumpet having belonged to the courier for the parliamentary officer sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to St John of Acre (Egypt), occupied by his troops in 1799” (currently in the Museum of the Cité de la Musique in Paris). [The textes in quotation are excerpts from the A. Courtois catalog from ca. 1920.] In 1803, probably after the decease of the founder, various sons and nephews set up shops (with varying degrees of success) under different names and addresses (e.g. “The elder Courtois Nephew”, “The 3 sons of the Courtois nephew”, “Auguste Courtois”). But the line that interests us here is that of Antoine Courtois (1770–1855), one of the sons of the founder, who created the brand that we still know today. Setting up shop in the rue du Caire, he made use of the most important research and acoustical techniques of the era, and was the trusted partner of many principal players of the Paris Opera. But it was evidently the army who was the main customer, as was the case for manymanufacturers. Many instruments (cornets, keyed fluegelhorns, horns, ophicleides, trombones, etc.), produced under his name, can be found today in museums and prestigious collections. He gave a trombone to Antoine-Jean Simon (1807–1883), first prize winner in 1838 of the newly-opened trombone class of Dieppo at the Paris Conservatory. Simon then became a member of the Paris Opera orchestra. In 1841 it was Paul Delisse (1817–1888) who received a trombone for his prize. Delisse played trombone with the major Parisian orchestras, and in 1871 succeeded Dieppo as professor at the Paris Conservatory.
In 1844, Antoine (Denis) Courtois (junior) (ca. 1800?–1880) succeeded his father. In 1856 he moved to the rue des Marais, where he remained for a long time. Continuiting the work of his father, “he was able to interest the greatest artists in his work, notably Jean-Baptiste Arban,” (see Jean-Pierre Mathez, “Jean-Baptiste Arban...”, Editions Bim, 1977) with whose assistance he created the famous Arban Cornet which enjoyed such exceptional success. The slide trombone was also a great Courtois specialty. Antoine Courtois junior passed away in 1880 without leaving a descendant, and it was the faithful Auguste Mille (1838–1898), engaged in 1856 and becoming head of the workshop in 1878, who succeeded him. In 1881 the enterprise had 25 employees. Mille continued to give special attention to improvements in the trombones, but also built a quadruple piston cornet (1886) invented by the Italian Alexander Scuri. Upon the death of Mille (ca. 1895 according to the 1920 catalog, ca. 1898 according to The New Langwill Index) the Courtois company passed into the possession of his associate E. Delfaux, and in 1908 went to his sister Marguerite, who lost no time in teaming up with Mr. Legay, “the eminent engineer director who, with remarkable ability, had carried on the precious traditions of the company for many years. Legay created the tenor and bass trombones with rotary valves, giving the instrument new pedal tones [...]”.

Emmanuel GAUDET

Anciennement Rue des Marais et de Nancy

Entry of the Gaudet family
On October 1, 1917, the Courtois company was bought by Emmanuel Gaudet (1860–1933) who secured the services of P. Deslaurier as managing director by generously offering him free shares in the company. Both “breathed new artistic and commercial life” into the company. In the workshops, work was done using pulley- turned lathes connected by long drive belts to a central rotating axis fixed to a platform, which had the effect of shaking the whole building. Paul Gaudet recalls: “At the top floor of our building lived a clairvoyant. One day, distraught, she came to beg my father to stop the vibrations which were keeping her from reading coffee grounds and was causing her to lose clients. I suppose she had to choose between going broke or moving away.” When Emmanuel Gaudet died in 1933, Deslaurier took over sole control of the firm, but times were hard and the Courtois company soon found itself on the brink of ruin. In 1937, Paul (*1911), son of Emmanuel Gaudet, bought out Deslaurier’s shares and took the helm. But war soon broke out and Paul Gaudet was immediately drafted and had to close the shops. Valuable stocks of metal and instruments of historical value were stolen during this period. Paul Gaudet, during his captivity in Stalag XXB in Gotenhafen (Danzig) succeeded in founding and directing an orchestra. Thanks to the Red Cross, he obtained authorization to retrieve instruments from the Courtois workshops in Paris for his musicians. The orchestra was broken up in 1944 by the German authorities after the refusal of the musicians to perform on a propaganda broadcast by Radio Danzig called the “Prisoners’ quarter-hour”. In this same year Paul Gaudet was liberated, and Courtois was open for business again.
In 1956 he decided to decentralize his enterprise and had a production factory built in Amboise (a small city of 12,000 inhabitants located 220 km from Paris on the Loire), where Courtois instruments are still being made today. Jacques Gaudet (*1948), son of Paul, got his start in the business in 1967, and quickly made a reputation for himself for his tact, competence, and aptitude for contact with the great artists of his time with whom he tirelessly continues to improve and develop Courtois models. Jacques Gaudet succeeded his father in 1980.

Integration in Buffet Crampon

Jacques et Paul GAUDET avec l'équipe d'essayeur d'AC en 1980

Collaboration avec les grands artistes de chaque époque
Depuis 200 ans, la Maison Courtois s’est attaché la collaboration des meilleurs solistes français, le plus souvent professeurs au Conservatoire de Paris. Dans la deuxième moitié du XIXe siècle, Jean-Baptiste Arban, par exemple, contribua largement au succès de la marque. Vinrent ensuite les Albert Adriano, cornet solo à l’Opéra, André Lafosse, prof. de trombone au CNSM de Paris, André Paquinet et Marcel Librecht, trombonistes de jazz et Paul Bernard, prof. de tuba au CNSM de Paris. Les Gaudet ont maintenu jusqu’en 1990 une sympathique tradition qui réunissait une fois par an les artistes «essayeurs» officiels. La réunion de 1982 est immortalisée par la photo ci-dessus où l’on relève, de gauche à droite :
Gilles Millière (prof. au CNSM de Paris), Pierre Pollin (à l’époque trompette solo de l’Orchestre National de France), Michel Becquet (prof. au CNSM de Lyon), Jacques Gaudet (qui venait, 2 ans plus tôt, de reprendre la direction de la Société P. Gaudet et Cie), Fernand Lelong (prof. au CNSM de Paris, tuba solo de l’Orchestre de Paris), Paul Gaudet (qui restait conseiller technique de son entreprise), Michel Cantin (cor solo de l’Orchestre National de France), Gérard Pichaureau (à l’époque encore prof. au CNSM de Paris), Georges Barboteu (à l’époque prof. au CNSM de Paris, soliste à l’Orchestre de Paris), et Roger Delmotte (prof. au CNR de Versailles, alors trompette solo à l’Opéra de Paris). Cette tradition a été abandonnée à la mort de Mme Paul Gaudet en 1990.

Collaboration with major artists of every era
For 200 years, the Courtois company has secured the collaboration of the best French soloists, most of them teachers at the Paris Conservatory. In the second half of the 19th century, Jean-Baptiste Arban, for example, contributed much to the success of this brand. Then came Albert Adriano, principal cornet at the Opera, André Lafosse, trombone teacher at the Paris Conservatory, André Paquinet and Marcel Librecht, jazz trombonists and Paul Bernard, tuba teacher at the Paris Conservatory.
The Gaudet maintained until 1990 a fine tradition that brought together the official «tester» artists once a year. The gettogether in 1982 is immortalized in the photo above. Left to right:
Gilles Millière (prof. at the Paris Conservatory), Pierre Pollin (at the time, principal trumpet at the National Orchestra of France), Michel Becquet (prof. at the Lyon Conservatory), Jacques Gaudet (who took over the direction of the Société P. Gaudet et Cie two years earlier), Fernand Lelong (prof. at the Paris Conservatory, principal tuba at the Orchestre de Paris), Paul Gaudet (who remains technical advisor to his company), Michel Cantin (principal horn of the National Orchestra of France), Gérard Pichaureau (at the time still teaching at the Paris Conservatory, principal at the Orchestre de Paris), and Roger Delmotte (prof. at the Versailles Conservatory, then principal trumpet at the Paris Opera). This tradition was abandoned upon the death of Mrs. Paul Gaudet in 1990. The lighter versions in Bb or in C (Series III or IV) followed in 2002. In 2003, their jubilee year, the evolutionary circle will be completed in an appropriate manner with the very French, very classic Model Grand Siècle - Antoine Courtois 1803-2003. In 1998 the superb orchestral trombone developed with Gilles Millière, the 410 GM, appeared, while other consultants launched the new “Challenger” trombone series which is aimed more at the North-American mainstream and is being developed in a number of improved versions. Independently of this, Antoine Courtois has taken on the function within JA Musik GmbH of supplier for the whole range of brass band instruments.

© by Jean-Pierre Mathez: “Antoine Courtois Paris” in Brass Bulletin no. 97 / I–1997, completed and revised in 2003

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Jacques Gaudet