John Sherwood de Lancie (July 26, 1921 – May 17, 2002) was an American oboist and arts administrator. He was principal

oboist 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 pres ...

of the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

for 23 years and also director of the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

. De Lancie was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. Starting in 1940, he was principal oboist of the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Pittsburgh, Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Sy ...

under

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose t ...

. In 1942, he enlisted and served in the US military during World War II, performing with the US Army Band. He met

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

during his tour of duty as a soldier in Europe at the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. De Lancie knew Strauss's orchestral writing for oboe thoroughly and asked the composer if he had ever considered writing an oboe

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...

. The composer answered simply "no" and the topic was dropped. Six months later, de Lancie was astonished to see that Strauss had changed his mind and was indeed publishing an

Oboe Concerto A number of concertos (as well as non-concerto works) have been written for the oboe, both as a solo instrument as well as in conjunction with other solo instrument(s), and accompanied by string orchestra, chamber orchestra, full orchestra, conce ...

. Strauss saw to it that the rights to the U.S. premiere were assigned to de Lancie. However, de Lancie had joined the

in 1946 as a section oboist, so that as a junior member and under orchestral protocol, he was not able to premiere the concerto since Philadelphia's principal oboist,

Marcel Tabuteau Marcel Tabuteau (2 July 18874 January 1966) was a French-American oboist who is considered the founder of the American school of oboe playing. Life Tabuteau was born in Compiègne, Oise, France, and given a post in the city's municipal wind band ...

, had seniority. De Lancie then gave the rights to perform the premiere to a young oboist friend at the CBS Symphony in New York,

Mitch Miller Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...

, who later became famous as a music producer and host of a sing-along TV show. De Lancie became principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1954, and held the post until 1977. He also performed with chamber ensembles such as the Philadelphia Woodwind Quintet. He also commissioned a piece for oboe and orchestra ''L'horloge de flore'' (The Flower Clock) by the composer

Jean Françaix Jean René Désiré Françaix (; 23 May 1912, in Le Mans – 25 September 1997, in Paris) was a French neoclassicism (music), neoclassical composer, piano, pianist, and orchestration, orchestrator, known for his prolific output and vibrant style. ...

. He taught at the

, and served as its director from 1977-85. At the time of his death, de Lancie was one of the few remaining students of

of Curtis. One of his own students, Richard Woodhams, eventually succeeded him as principal oboe in the Philadelphia Orchestra. His former student of the same time, Peter Bloom, aided by de Lancie, published in detail the history of the Strauss Oboe Concerto and de Lancie's role in its creation.Bloom, Peter (2005), "History, Memory, and the ''Oboe Concerto'' by Richard Strauss", ''The Double Reed'', Vol. 28, No. 2 (Fall 2005), pp. 77–95. De Lancie died in

Walnut Creek, California Walnut Creek is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about east of the city of Oakland. With a total population of 70,127 per the 2020 census, Walnut Creek ser ...

in 2002 of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

. His wife Andrea, whom he met in Paris during the war, survived him (born July 3, 1920 – died October 18, 2006), as did their son, actor

John de Lancie John Sherwood de Lancie, Jr. (born March 20, 1948) is an American actor, television director, director, film producer, producer, writer, and comedian, best known for his role as Q (Star Trek), Q in various ''Star Trek'' series (1987–present); ...

, and their daughter Christina (born November 21, 1953), and de Lancie's brother Richard.

References

External links

Richard Woodhams, 'A Tribute to My Teacher, John de Lancie'. ''The Double Reed''. International Double Reed Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Lancie, John 1921 births 2002 deaths Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California American classical oboists Male oboists Musicians from Berkeley, California People from Walnut Creek, California United States Army personnel of World War II Curtis Institute of Music faculty 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians Classical musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra