Trevor Noël Goodwin (25 December 1927 – 27 March 2013) was an English
music critic,
dance critic and author who specialized in
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
and
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
.
Described as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distinction",
for 22 years Goodwin was
Chief music and dance critic for the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''. He held criticism posts at many English newspapers, including the ''
News Chronicle'', ''Truth'' and ''
The Manchester Guardian'' among others; from 1978 to 1998 he also reviewed performances for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''. Goodwin wrote an early history of the
Scottish Ballet and was coauthor for two books: ''London Symphony: Portrait of an Orchestra'' with
Hubert J. Foss and a ''Knight at the Opera'' with
Geraint Evans.
Life and career
Trevor Noël Goodwin was born on 25 December 1927 in
Fowey,
Cornwall
Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England, UK.
[ Published in print on 8 April 2013, p. 49] Born to a seafaring family, Goodwin was sent to the Royal Merchant Navy School (now the
Bearwood House) in
Wokingham
Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...
, following his father's death.
He earned a
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
.
In 1952, Goodwin received two posts in arts criticism: he was the assistant music critic of the ''
News Chronicle'' until 1954 and Music Critic for ''Truth'' until 1956. From 1954 to 1955, Goodwin was also a critic for ''
The Manchester Guardian''. In 1956, Goodwin became
chief music critic and chief dance critic for the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first ...
''; he stayed there for 22 years, leaving the post in 1978.
From then to 1998, Goodwin reviewed performances for ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''.
Other publications Goodwin wrote for include: the ''
New York Herald-Tribune'' (London dance critic), the ''
Musical Courier'', ''
Opera News'', ''
Dancing Times'', ''
Dance and Dancers'' (music editor in 1964, associate editor in 1972), ''
Music and Musicians'' (executive editor from 1963 to 1971).
''The Times'' described Goodwin as having a "rare ability to write about music and dance with equal distinction".
Reflecting on his role as a music critic, Goodwin said:
As an author, Goodwin co-wrote the ''London Symphony: Portrait of an Orchestra'' (1954) with
Hubert J. Foss, and cowrote with
Geraint Evans the latter's memoirs, ''A Knight at the Opera'' (1984).
As sole author Goodwin wrote a history of the
Scottish Ballet's first ten years, and wrote the libretto for
Peter Darrell's ballet ''Mary Queen of Scots''.
Goodwin also wrote many articles for ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'' and contributed an article on
Theatre music for the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''.
Goodwin was a member of the Gulbenkian Foundation's Dance Advisory Panel from 1972 to 1976, helping found the International Course for Professional Choreographers and Composers.
Goodwin died on 27 March 2013.
Selected writings
Books
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Articles
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References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Articles by Noël Goodwinin ''
History Today''
Articles by Noël Goodwinin ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''
Articles by Noël Goodwinon
JSTOR
JSTOR ( ; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources founded in 1994. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary source ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Noël
1927 births
2013 deaths
People from Fowey
English music critics
British music critics
Classical music critics