“Glorious John” was the epithet attached many years ago to the conductor Sir John Barbirolli. Today it seems natural to many of us to attribute the same epithet to John Cruft. For substantially more than half a century his benign, selfless influence shaped the lives of countless musicians and music organisations who were touched by his enlightened approach to music administration.

Cruft became music director at the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1965, after six years as director of the music department (and subsequently drama as well) at the British Council. He was to remain at the Arts Council until his “official” retirement in 1979. During nine of those years, Sir Angus Stirling was deputy secretary general and recalls: “He exemplified all the qualities that made the \ Council so effective in supporting the arts in its heyday. His time at 105 Piccadilly coincided with the period when the council, as a matter of principle, believed in the importance of its senior staff being experienced professionals in each of the arts disciplines receiving public funds.” That Cruft was a professional in his field was in no doubt.

John Herbert Cruft was born in 1914 into the Cruft dynasty of musicians — his grandfather, a founder member of the London Symphony Orchestra (1904); his father Eugene, the leading double bass player in Britain; his brother Adrian, a composer and chairman of the Composers’ Guild. After attending Westminster Abbey Choir School and Westminster School, Cruft entered the Royal College of Music (1931-37) on a scholarship to study conducting (with Constant Lambert and Malcolm Sargent) and the oboe (with Leon Goossens).

Before completing his studies he was appointed principal oboe in the Covent Garden Touring Company under such conductors as Beecham, Barbirolli and Albert Coates. In 1936 he joined the BBC Television Orchestra but soon became bored with it. After a year he swapped places with the cor anglais player of the London Philharmonic. In 1939, on entering the first international competition for wind players, which was held in Geneva, Ernst Ansermet offered him a job on the spot. Unfortunately, Cruft misheard Ansermet’s offer of work as an invitation to take a walk — and declined. Months later, however, with the onset of war, he was able to take up the offer and for a winter season played with the Suisse Romande.

In 1938, after four years of fortnightly asking for her hand, Cruft had married “Kiki”, eldest daughter of the Rev Pat McCormick, then Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, with whom he was to have two sons.

Cruft had a “good” war, playing and conducting wherever he was stationed, be it with the Royal Signals Corps in England or in North Africa and Italy where for the last few months of his Army life he was adjutant of a large lines of communications signals unit.

From 1946 to 1959 his life was caught up with the London Symphony Orchestra, rising within three years from humble cor anglais to secretary (nowadays, chief executive), and turning round the fortunes of this self-governing orchestra, not least by engaging three outstanding players: Barry Tuckwell, Gervase de Peyer and Neville Marriner.

With such a background, it is of no surprise that during his years at the British Council he greatly increased the scope of its work, in particular promoting music tours abroad.

Cruft was a hard-working, shy and private man with an acute sense of humour. At the Arts Council he would work in his shirtsleeves in mid-winter with the radiator turned off and the window open; it kept meetings short. He also adopted a highly effective method of making sure that when extremely busy in his office no one would talk to him: he wore a fez.

He had a long association (1936-2004) with the Royal Society of Musicians, whose founding principle (in 1738) was, and still is, “to provide assistance to those working in the profession and their dependants, when in need, because of accident, illness or old age”.

After reaching official retirement in 1979, Cruft was accepted as a Samaritan volunteer at the Central London branch and for the next 24 years was a much valued member of that team. He was also much associated with Samaritan work in prisons, walking the wings, befriending prisoners, getting on equally well with prisoners and prison officers.

His wife died in 2003 and his two sons survive him.

John Cruft, music administrator, was born on January 4, 1914. He died on May 17, 2008, aged 94