Talk:Oboe Concerto (Strauss)

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How the commission came about

We currently say:

Strauss had been requested to compose the concerto by John de Lancie, an American GI who in civilian life had been the principal oboist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and visited Strauss' home while stationed in Germany after World War II.

I've just read a slightly different take on this. Michael Shmith (yes, Shmith, not Smith), writing a travel piece in The Age on 18 February 2006, says:

... Garmisch-Partenkirchen ... where, after the war, occupying American soldiers encountered a tall, imperious figure in the driveway of his villa, who announced "I am Richard Strauss, the composer of Der Rosenkavalier. The Americans left him alone, apart from one soldier, an orchestral musician in civilian life, who commissioned ... the Oboe Concerto.

So, it looks like de Lancie didn't actively seek Strauss out in order to commission the work, but just happened to stumble across him while a GI. He would obviously have known Strauss by reputation, but do we know whether he'd long harboured a wish to commission this work, or did the idea come to him purely because their paths happened to cross? I guess it doesn't really matter - he did commision it and the concerto was written. But saying "he visited Strauss' home while stationed in Germany" doesn't seem to give quite the right flavour to the story. Any ideas? -- JackofOz 03:56, 25 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]