Sidonie Goossens

Sidonie Goossens OBE (born October 19, 1899 in Liscard , Cheshire , † December 15, 2004 in Reigate , Surrey ) was a British harpist who was one of the founders of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and was a member of it for more than 50 years.

Life

Sidonie Goossens came from an important family of musicians in London: her grandfather Eugène Goossens was of Belgian origin and worked as an opera conductor in London from 1873, her father Eugène Goossens (1867-1958) was also an opera conductor in London. Her brother Sir Eugène Aynsley Goossens (1893–1962) was also a well-known conductor and a successful composer, her brother Léon Goossens (1897–1988) one of the most famous oboists in the world and her sister Marie Goossens (1894–1991) as a harpist.

She appeared in public at the age of 16. In 1921 she became the first woman to join the London Symphony Orchestra . In 1924 she was the first harpist whose solo appearance was broadcast on the radio, and in 1936 she was the first harpist to appear on television.

Sidonie Goossens was one of the co-founders of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1930 ; she was appointed first harpist by Adrian Boult and was a member of the orchestra for 50 years (1930–1980). She married the orchestra director and composer Hyam Greenbaum .

In 1980, the year the orchestra celebrated its 50th anniversary, Goossens ended her musical career. Her last public appearance was in September 1991 at the age of 91 at the Last Night of the Proms , where she accompanied opera singer Dame Gwyneth Jones in her own arrangement of the song "The Last Rose of Summer". Back then, Goossens was the oldest person to ever appear at the Proms .

Sidonie Goossens died on December 15, 2004 at the age of 105; Obituaries appeared in major newspapers around the world.

Awards and honors

In 1974 Goossens was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by being accepted into the British Order of the British Empire . The next level of honor, Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), was bestowed on her in 1980. On the occasion of her 100th birthday in 1999, she was given several concerts in London in her honor, including at Wigmore Hall .

literature

• Robert Ponsonby: Musical Heroes, A Personal View of Music and the Musical World over Sixty Years . Giles de la Mare Publishers Ltd, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-900357-29-6 , pp. 93-96 (English).
• John Marson: Obituary: Sidonie Goossens . Ed .: The Guardian . December 16, 2004 (English, online obituary).
• The New York Times (Ed.): Sidonie Goossens harpist for the BBC dies at 105 . December 17, 2004 (English, online obituary).
• Sydney Morning Herald (Ed.): Final curtain for Goossens family . December 17, 2004 (English, online obituary).

Web links

• Proms Music fan: Gwyneth Jones & Sidonie Goossens: The Last Rose of Summer 1991 on YouTube , April 7, 2019, accessed on June 14, 2019 (Sidonie Goossens with opera singer Gwyneth Jones at her last public appearance on September 14, 1991 as part of the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London).