Programmes relating to the career of British oboist Léon Goossens (1897-1988). Includes concerts with Goossens as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player, and covers London, Great Britain and concerts world-wide.

The collection consists of: London (2 boxes, including South Bank centre collection); Royal Albert hall (1 box); Provincial (9 boxes); Foreign (2 boxes; the 2nd also includes Wigmore hall and Queen's hall (London) collections); Miscellaneous (1 box).

Most of the material falls into one of the following categories, each facet being approximately a third of the contents of the collection: oboe/piano recitals, chamber music recitals and soloist with orchestral accompaniment. In addition, the boxes show evidence of mixed programming concerts: there are concert programmes for combinations such as choral concert with section of oboe/piano music, orchestral concerts with section of oboe/piano music and mixed piano/oboe plus other chamber music programmes. In addition to the oboe, Goossens also exposed audiences to both the oboe d’Amore and the cor anglais as solo instruments.

Orchestral concerts:
Goossens’ orchestral repertoire included concerti by Marcello, Mozart, Cimarosa, Pergolesi, Albinoni and Bach. He also championed the work of British composers such as Rutland Boughton, Gordon Jacob and Malcolm Arnold, as well as the flugal concerto by Gustav Holst. Goossens gave early British performances of the Strauss oboe concerto. Goossens played with various orchestra and conductors, including a significant number of string orchestras. Common collaborators included the Boyd Neel Orchestra (particularly in provinces) and the Jacques Orchestra (in London)

Chamber Concerts:
The Mozart oboe quartet formed the staple of Goossen’s chamber repertory, but his performances also included works by Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Other than this older repertory, Goossens almost exclusively performed British chamber works. The most significant of these include the Phantasy Quartets by Britten and E.J. Moeran. Goossens played with various string ensembles, usually pre-existing groups. This often was a string trio, but also included string quartets and other combinations of instruments. The most common collaborator for chamber music was the Carter String Trio; some concerts featured the Griller and Hirsch string quartets.

Piano/oboe recitals:
Goossen’s repertoire can be loosely divided into 3 groups: older music (most commonly Loeiller, Fiocco, William Babell, Sammartini, Bach, Handel, Rameau, Senaille and Purcell), contemporary British/Irish music (most commonly Michael Head, T.S. Kelly, Reizenstein, Dunhill, Gordon Jacob, Malcolm Arnold and Alan Richardson) and 19th and early 20th century French music (most commonly Ravel, Faure, Franck, Barthe, Hüe and Pierne). Works by Kronke, Alec Templeton, Morgan Nicholas and Sigtenhorst Meyer also featured heavily in his repertoire. Goossen’s repertoire included works arranged for oboe; either works which carried the arranger’s name (e.g. Scarlatti-Bryan) or unnamed adaptations (e.g. excerpts from Bach’s Easter Oratorio). Goossen’s recitals often contained series of 4-6 short works, mixing and matching short works from all 3 types of repertory. This often made a combination of 10 or more composers per recital. Though Goossens performed the “big” French sonatas of Saint-Saens and Poulenc, they are only represented in isolated concerts in this series of provincial programmes. Goossens played with many different pianists, but common collaborators were the pianists Mabel Lovering as well as Ivor Newton and Iris Loveridge.

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Not Specific

• Goossens, Léon -

• 20th century - late 1971-1999
• World War II 1939-45
• 20th century - mid 1931-1970
• World War I 1914-18
• 20th century - early 1900-1930

Centre for Performance History Prince Consort Road London London SW7 2BS United Kingdom

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020 7 589 4340

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Mon-Fri by appointment

During the course of 2008 a new facility providing collection storage space, reader facilities and office space will created for the Centre for Performance History at College Hall, the site of the RCM's Hall of Residence in London W12. This will eventually offer improved access to researchers, and provide the collection with a secure and stable environment, all in one place. In order that the relevant parts of the collection can be packed and prepared for the move, and then re-shelved at the new facility as expeditiously as possible, all facilities and services (including photographic services and access to the programmes collection) of the Centre for Performance History are suspended until 12 January 2009. The Museum of Instruments will continue to operate a full service (including public opening during the summer vacation) throughout this period. We apologize for the inevitable inconvenience that this closure will cause to colleagues, students, researchers and members of the public, but believe that the improvements that will result will benefit the long-term preservation of the collections and will provide enhanced access to them for all users.

• Sub Collection: Léon Goossens: London R-Z + South Bank Centre