John Alfred Terence MacDonagh (3 February 1908 – 12 September 1986) was an English

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 ...

and

cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

player, particularly known as one of the four members of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

's so-called "Royal Family" of woodwind players.

Life and career

MacDonagh was born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, London, the son of the oboist and cor anglais player James MacDonagh. He studied in Paris with Myrtile Morel,Burgess and Haynes, p. 204 and in London with

Léon Goossens Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist and ...

.Brown, James.
"MacDonagh, Terence"
Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 4 June 2013 In 1926 he joined the

Scottish Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Throughout its history, the O ...

, and quickly moved to the

British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...

, with which he played from 1926 to 1929. When

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

was assembling the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

in 1930, MacDonagh was recruited as its cor anglais player. In 1937 he was promoted to principal oboist. He also played the

oboe d'amore The oboe d'amore (; Italian for "oboe of love"), less commonly , is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and a more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the me ...

when needed, though he was not enamoured of the instrument: "You don't want to play that bloody thing. It's always out of tune, has a mind of its own and no bloody ''répertoire''." During the Second World War MacDonagh served in the armed forces. He returned to the BBC in 1945. When

Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...

founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) in 1946 his first principal oboe was Peter Newbury, formerly of the

London Philharmonic The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

. Newbury left the following year and joined the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

; Beecham invited MacDonagh to replace him. The RPO became celebrated for its team of woodwind principals, in which MacDonagh was joined by Jack Brymer (clarinet),

Gwydion Brooke Gwydion Brooke (16 February 191227 March 2005) was the principal bassoonist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of its "Royal Family" of wind instrumentalists, along with Jack Brymer (clarinet), Terence MacDonagh (oboe), and Gerald ...

(bassoon) and

Gerald Jackson Gerald Jackson (January 1900 – 1972.(Marylebone, London)) was an English flautist particularly known as one of the four members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's so-called "Royal Family" of woodwind players. He had earlier been principal ...

(flute). ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' described them as "arguably the finest ever wind section ...

hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...

became known as 'The Royal Family'." After Beecham's death in 1961, MacDonagh, Brymer and others became unhappy with the management of the RPO, and they moved – in MacDonagh's case moved back – to the BBC Symphony Orchestra. This was MacDonagh's last orchestral position. He retired in 1973. From 1945 to 1978 MacDonagh was professor of oboe at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

; his students included

Edwin Roxburgh Edwin Roxburgh (born 1937) is an English composer, conductor and oboist. Roxburgh was born in Liverpool. After playing oboe in the National Youth Orchestra, he won a double scholarship to study composition with Herbert Howells and oboe with T ...

John Warrack John Hamilton Warrack (born 1928, in London) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack. He was educated at Winchester College (1941-6) and then at the Royal College ...

Neil Black Neil Cathcart Black OBE (28 May 1932 – 14 August 2016) was an English oboist. He held the post of principal oboe in four London orchestras, and taught at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Early life a ...

Roy Carter Roy Carter is an English oboist. Early career Carter began playing the oboe at the age of 10. He won scholarships to study with Margaret Eliot at the Royal Academy of Music (at 12) and later under Terence MacDonagh at the Royal College of ...

and

Anthony Camden Anthony Camden (26 April 1938 – 7 March 2006) was the Principal Oboe and Chairman of the Board at the London Symphony Orchestra. He was also a founding member of the ensemble London Virtuosi and went on to become the Provost and Director of th ...

."Anthony Camden", ''The Times'', 6 April 2006, p. 63 He is credited by the oboist Geoffrey Burgess with introducing a lasting French influence into English oboe playing. MacDonagh was appointed OBE in 1979. He died in London on 12 September 1986, aged 78.

Notes

Photo by Geoffrey Browne

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonagh, Terence 1908 births 1986 deaths English classical oboists Male oboists Academics of the Royal College of Music Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians