Marie Henriette Goossens OBE (11 August 1894 - 18 December 1991) was an English harpist, a member of the famous Goossens musical family. Her father was the conductor and violinist Eugène Goossens, and her younger sister Sidonie Goossens was also a harpist. Her brothers were Eugene (composer), Adolphe (horn player) and Léon (oboist).
Born in London, she was taught at the Royal College of Music by Miriam Timothy and made her professional debut as a harpist in Liverpool in 1910. After playing for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes at Covent Garden in 1919 she became principal harpist with Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra between 1920 and 1930, during which time she also played as a soloist and early recording artist.[1]
In 1926 she married Frederick Laurence, initially a composer and musical advisor to EMI who ended up as the impoverished librarian of the Proms and personnel manager for the Royal Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Orchestras. He died suddenly on 3 May, 1942.[2] In 1932 Marie joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She continued working through the war, caring for two children and two stepchildren on her own following her husband's death. She played with the London Symphony Orchestra from 1940 until 1959.[3]
As well as concert music, Goossens was happy to perform and record light music and frequently appeared on radio and television from the pre-war years. She composed and performed the original harp introduction to the long-running radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary in 1948, played for many of the Carry On series of comedy films, and for Julie Andrews and Petula Clark when they were still child stars.[4] And during the 1950s and 1960s she performed for many well-known names in light music and jazz: Stanley Black, Frank Chacksfield (solo harp on his 1953 hit Ebb Tide), Robert Farnon, Ted Heath, Geoff Love, Mantovani and Sidney Torch. She played with Tony Bennett at The Talk of the Town and Count Basie at the Odeon, Hammersmith.[3]
In 1954 Marie Goossens became Professor of Harp at the Royal College of Music, where she stayed until 1967. Among her many pupils were John Marson (1932-2007)[5] and David Snell. She acted as coach for the National Youth Orchestra of Wales between 1965 and 1990.
From 1972 she was with the London Mozart Players, but for many of her later years she continued as an active freelance player and teacher, finally giving up playing in the mid-80s due to illness. She was awarded an OBE in 1984, and her colourful autobiography, Life on a Harp String was published three years later.[6] She died in Dorking on December 18, 1991, at the age of 97.[7]
^Biography, Chandos Records
^Richard Temple Savage: A Voice From the Pit: Reminiscences of an Orchestral Musician (1998)
^ abRosen, Carole. The Goossens: A Musical Century (1993)
Marie Henriette Goossens OBE (11 August 1894 - 18 December 1991) was an English harpist, a member of the famous Goossens musical family. Her father was...
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Sydney Symphony. Her brother Léon was an eminent oboist and her sister MarieGoossens was also a distinguished harpist. In 1916, her brother Adolphe, a gifted...
Eugène Goossens, fils, Belgian musician, his singer wife, Annie Cook and their children, Sir Eugène Goossens, conductor, harpists, Sidonie Goossens and Marie...
Adolphe Anthony Goossens (29 April 1896 – 17 August 1916) was an English horn player, a member of the famous Goossens musical family. His father was the...
violinist Eugène Goossens (fils, 1867–1958) and Annie Cook, a Carl Rosa Opera Company singer. He was the grandson of the conductor Eugène Goossens (père, 1845–1906;...
instrumentalists including Anthony Pini, Frederick Riddle, Reginald Kell and MarieGoossens. Six of the LPs were conducted by Alfred Wallenstein, who concentrated...
Stratton, Anthony Pini, Gerald Jackson, Léon Goossens, Reginald Kell, James Bradshaw and MarieGoossens. The orchestra made its debut at the Queen's Hall...
also developed his orchestration through the tutelage of the harpist MarieGoossens. In the early 1950s, along with saxophonist Harry Gold, his brother...
and later taught there; her students included the sisters Sidonie and MarieGoossens. In September 1897 she appeared at a Promenade Concert at the Queen's...
118–19, with errors. ISBN 2873864346. Marie Collart, 1842-1911 : sa vie, son oeuvre (in French). J.-E. Goossens. 1900. Nichols, K. L. "Women's Art at...
footballer Randolphe Gohi (born 1969), former professional footballer Eugène Goossens (1867–1958), conductor, violinist Anna Hamilton (1864–1935), doctor, superintendent...
Bobby Lee & Beverly D'Angelo Among Top Comedic Talents Set For Nicholaus Goossen Pic 'Drugstore June' From Utopia, All Things Comedy And Shout! Studios"...
Suzanne Marie Lee (née Kelley born November 7, 1966) is an American politician from the state of Nevada. A Democrat, she has served as the United States...
son of banker Jean Baptist Ferdinand Carlier and Marie de Roy. He was married with Amelia Goossens and together they had three children. He is one of...
Monnet Collège Saint-Pierre, founded in 1905 by Cardinal Pierre-Lambert Goossens Armand Abel (1903–1973), academic and scholar of Islam Salvatore Adamo...
Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved 2020-10-03. Eugene Goossens III at music.damians78s.co.uk website. Milsom 2015a, pp. 6–7. Milsom 2015b...
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