Natalie Caine

Who was Natalie Caine?

Natalie Caine was one of the first female woodwind players to establish themselves in leading British orchestras. She is frequently referred to by her married name Natalie James.

She was born Evelyn Natalie Caine in Hoylake in Cheshire and was educated at St Felix School, in Southwold, Suffolk. She enrolled in the Royal College of Music in 1928, initially to study piano and composition, but was captivated by the oboe playing of Sylvia Spencer, a student of Leon Goossens, who promptly took her on as a student. In 1931 she won a scholarship and was soon playing solo part in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, conducted by Adrian Boult. Another soloist on that stage was her future husband, the bassoonist Cecil James.

Other fellow students who were to make a name for themselves were Benjamin Britten, Joy Boughton, Sidney Sutcliffe, Marjorie Trevelyan, Margaret Eliot and Evelyn Rothwell. It was to avoid confusion of names with Evelyn Rothwell that she dropped her own first name.

In 1934 she and Evelyn Rothwell were engaged to play for Fritz Busch at the Glyndebourne Festival. Engagements for the two with the London Symphony Orchestra followed soon after.