He met Richard Strauss during his tour of duty as a soldier in Europe at the end of World War II. De Lancie knew Strauss's orchestral writing for oboe thoroughly and asked the composer if he had ever considered writing an oboe concerto.
He met Richard Strauss during his tour of duty as a soldier in Europe at the end of World War II. In April 1945, at the war's end, Strauss was apprehended by American soldiers at his Garmisch estate. He knew Strauss's orchestral writing for oboe thoroughly and asked the composer if he had ever considered writing an oboe concerto.