Eugène Goossens (28 January 1867 – 31 July 1958) was a French-born conductor and violinist.

Career

Goossens was born in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

and studied in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Banfield, Stephen
Eugène Goossens (ii)
Grove Music online (subscription required); accessed 13 October 2009. and the

conservatoire A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He moved to England with his father,

Eugène Goossens, père Eugène Goossens (25 February 1845 – 30 December 1906) was a Belgians, Belgian conducting, conductor. Biography He was born in Bruges and studied music as a child at the Church of Our Lady, Bruges, then at the Bruges Conservatoire. At the ...

, in 1873,''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' obituary, 2 August 1958, p. 8. and after a period of service with the

Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiere ...

as violinist,

répétiteur A (from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. A feminine form, , also appears but is comparatively rare. Opera In opera, a is the person ...

and deputy conductor under the direction of his father he entered the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1891. After conducting other opera companies including the Moody-Manners Company he rejoined the Carl Rosa company, serving from 1889 to 1915 as principal conductor. He conducted part of

Sir Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with th ...

's opera season at His Majesty's Theatre in 1917. In 1926 he joined the

British National Opera Company The British National Opera Company presented opera in English in London and on tour in the British provinces between 1922 and 1929. It was founded in December 1921 by singers and instrumentalists from Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham's Beecham O ...

as a conductor. Goossens married a Carl Rosa singer, Annie Cook, who was the daughter of a well-known bass singer, T. Aynsley Cook. Their children were the composer and conductor Sir Eugene Goossens, the

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

ists

Marie Goossens Marie Henriette Goossens (11 August 1894 - 18 December 1991) was an English harpist, a member of the famous Goossens musical family and the older sister of Sidonie Goossens, also a harpist. Born in London, she was taught at the Royal College ...

(1894–1991) and

Sidonie Goossens Annie Sidonie Goossens OBE (19 October 1899 – 15 December 2004) was one of Britain's most enduring harpists. She made her professional debut in 1921, was a founder member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and went on to play for more than half ...

(1899–2004), the

horn player This list of horn players and pedagogues includes notable players of French horn, German horn, natural horn, Vienna horn, tenor (alto) horn, and alphorn. B *Radek Baborák, former Principal horn Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Phil. Orch ...

Adolphe Goossens (1896–1916) and the

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

Léon Goossens Léon Jean Goossens, CBE, FRCM (12 June 1897 – 13 February 1988) was an English oboist. Career Goossens was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, and studied at Liverpool College of Music and the Royal College of Music. His father was violinist and ...

(1897–1988).

References

1867 births 1958 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music British male conductors (music) British male violinists English classical violinists English conductors (music) French emigrants to England French male conductors (music) French people of Belgian descent Eugene Goossens, fils Musicians from Bordeaux People from Fulham Male classical violinists {{violinist-stub