De Lancie, John (Sherwood)

De Lancie, John (Sherwood) , prominent American oboist and teacher; b. Berkeley, Calif., July 26, 1921. His father was an electrical engineer and an amateur clarinet player; his brother played the violin. In 1935 he won an audition for the Philadelphia Orch., and was also accepted to study oboe in the class of Tabuteau at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia (1936–40). He was engaged as oboist with the Pittsburgh Sym. Orch. (1940–42). In 1942 he was drafted into the U.S. Army as a member of the U.S. Army Band. De Lancie was sent to Algiers, to Eisenhower’s headquarters; he was subsequently employed by the Office of Strategic Services. After World War II, De Lancie joined the Philadelphia Orch. (1946), serving as its principal oboist (1954–74). In 1977 he was appointed director of the Curtis Inst. of Music, retiring in 1985. He rapidly advanced to the position of one of the greatest virtuosos on his instrument. An interesting episode in his career concerns his meeting with Richard Strauss in Munich in 1945, during which he asked Strauss why he had not composed an oboe concerto, in view of the fact that there were so many beautiful oboe solos in many of his WORKS. This suggestion bore fruit, but De Lancie was not the first to play it; the first performance was given by Marcel Saillet on Feb. 26, 1946, in Zürich. De Lancie did, however, commission and give first performances of a number of WORKS, including Jean Francaix’s L’Horloge de Flore and Benjamin Lee’s Oboe Concerto.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire