Strauss, de Lancie and the Oboe Concerto

Composers Datebook

Synopsis

On today’s date in 1946, the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra gave the premiere of a new oboe concerto by German composer Richard Strauss, then in his 80s. The soloist was Swiss oboist Marcel Saillet, to whom the work is dedicated.

The concerto owes its existence, however, to John de Lancie, a 20-something American oboist and GI who was then stationed in Germany and visited Strauss at his Bavarian home shortly after the end of World War II.

“I asked him, in view of the numerous beautiful, lyric solos for oboe in almost all his works, if he had ever considered writing a concerto for oboe. He answered ‘No,’ and there was no more conversation on the subject,” recalled de Lancie.

But de Lancie’s question did plant a seed, and after returning to civilian life in the states in 1946, de Lancie got a letter from Strauss’ publisher offering him the work’s American premiere.

As it turned out, the American premiere of the Strauss concerto was given by another oboist named Mitchell Miller — a musician who some of us of a certain age remember as an energetic choral conductor of the sing-along TV show, Sing Along with Mitch.

Music Played in Today's Program

Richard Strauss (1864-1949): Oboe Concerto; John de Lancie, oboe; Chamber Orchestra; Max Wilcox, conductor; RCA/BMG 7989