Robert Goble (1903–1991) was an English harpsichord builder. The son of Harriet and John Goble, a wheelwright, he grew up in

Thursley Thursley is a village and civil parish in southwest Surrey, west of the A3 between Milford and Hindhead. An associated hamlet is Bowlhead Green. To the east is Brook. In the south of the parish rises the Greensand Ridge, in this section reach ...

, Surrey. He first encountered pioneering early-instrument-maker Arnold Dolmetsch and his family in the autumn of 1917, when they took refuge from London air raids by renting a small house in Thursley before settling in nearby Jesses, Haslemere. He was later taken on by Dolmetsch as an assistant. In 1928, a music scholarship from Dolmetsch went to Elizabeth Brown, of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, who was to become Goble's wife in 1930; he survived her by 10 years. She was primarily a keyboard player; she later became a player of the

bass viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

. In the late 1930s he set up independently, making recorders and furniture. He also made a harpsichord for his wife, using a plucking mechanism that he had invented and was to patent; though it was not practical in the long run and he did not take it further. He had two sons: Andrea, born in 1931, followed his father into the business, and Paul, born in 1933, became a painter. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he went to work in a Gosport boatyard, making motor

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s, and then at the branch of the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

that was based at Haslemere, where he made apparatus for

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

research. In 1947, he moved to

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

, on the outskirts of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, to a house with space for a large workshop. After his son Andrea left school to work with him, the firm of Robert Goble & Son came into being, making recorders (for the first five years),

spinet A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ. Harpsichords When the term ''spinet'' is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the ''bentside spinet'', described in this ...

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to compositi ...

s and harpsichords. His wife often decorated the soundboards. At this period of the

early instrument In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

revival, harpsichord builders were interested in updating the instrument, not only adding more features such as a low 16' set of strings and pedals to change the registers. They were also keen to find new materials to build with, such as metal and plastic, and new methods of manufacture like those used in piano construction, so the instrument could be made to stand up to the demands of concert touring with a robustness not found in

historical instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authenti ...

. Goble produced his first concert model in 1952, which was a success. Further improvements were made and his harpsichords were played by noted musicians, such as

Millicent Silver Millicent Irene Silver (17 November 19051 May 1986) was an English harpsichordist, who began her career as a pianist and violinist. Early life Born in South London, her father, James Brand Silver, was a violinist and oboist, and had been a b ...

; they were exported to Australia, the

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and the United States. The workforce remained small; seven at its highest. In the 25 years the workshop sent off about 700 keyboard instruments. In about 1970, the historically informed performance movement caught up with him. Authenticity of sound was demanded, and this meant abandoning the search for improvement of previous decades and returning to the baroque models. But this was to be his son's task. The continuity of the firm was assured by the addition of his grandsons. The harpsichord played by American singer-songwriter

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

on her 1996 album Boys For Pele and the subsequent Dew Drop Inn Tour was made by Robert Goble & Son. The model she used is the

Christian Zell Christian Zell (or Zelle) (c. 1683An entry in the register of deaths and burials at the Jacobikirche in Hamburg states he was 79½ when he died, though there is no record of his exact birth date. – 13 April 1763) was a German harpsichord mak ...

double manual,

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1728.

External links

*http://www.gobleharpsichords.co.uk/
Detailed biography of Robert Goble
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goble, Robert Harpsichord makers 1903 births 1991 deaths

See also

External links