Background
John Sherwood de Lancie was born in 1921 in Berkeley, California.
John Sherwood de Lancie was born in 1921 in Berkeley, California.
Before he enlisted in World World War II, he was principal oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner. He met Richard Strauss during his tour of duty as a soldier in Europe at the end of World World War World War II In April 1945, at the war"s end, Strauss was apprehended by American soldiers at his Garmisch estate. As he descended the staircase, he announced to Lieutenant
Milton Weiss of the United States. Army, "I am Richard Strauss, the composer of Rosenkavalier and Salome." Lieutenant
Weiss, who, as it happened, was also a musician, nodded in recognition. An "Office Limits" sign was subsequently placed on the lawn to protect Strauss.
De Lancie was among those in the unit He knew Strauss"s orchestral writing for oboe thoroughly and asked the composer if he had ever considered writing an oboe concerto.
The composer answered simply "Number", 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. Strauss saw to it that the rights to the United States. premiere were assigned to de Lancie. But de Lancie had switched to the Philadelphia Orchestra and was only a junior member there.
De Lancie also commissioned a piece for oboe and orchestra, L"horloge de flore (The Flower Clock), by the composer Jean Françaix.
He taught at Curtis Institute of Music, and served as its director from 1977 to 1985. At his death, de Lancie was one of the few remaining students of the legendary Marcel Tabuteau of Curtis.
De Lancie"s playing, marked by an extraordinary intensity that replaced the traditional vibrato of the European school, was marked by a dramatic character and an expressive use of color, as he always aimed for what he called the "bottom" of the sound. 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 (The Pendragon Review, 2001).
He died in Walnut Creek, California in 2002, aged 80.