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Copland and Goossens
Posted by David on August 4, 2021, 9:31 pm
Whilst doing some research on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, I found the following - a direct quote from Copland's autobiography - on the Wikipedia page for the work.
"Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942–43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
I was intrigued by the reference to the set of British WW1 fanfares, and tried to find some information on them, but could not. I then realised that during WW1, Goossens was an young orchestral player, not a conductor, and hence it would have been unlikely that he would have done this. Further, there is no mention of it in his autobiography.
So I am wondering whether Copland misremembered events in his autobiography, and his statement has become the accepted truth (it is quoted in many places).
Re: Copland and Goossens
Posted by Stephen Lloyd on November 26, 2021, 11:10 am, in reply to "Copland and Goossens"
Eugene Goossens wrote two fanfares, one in 1921 'Fanfare for a Ceremony' and another in 1930 'Fanfare for Artists'.
In 1921 in the Queen's Hall he gave four now famous concerts of modern music and he introduced the first and the last concert with a set of fanfares: 27.10.21 Falla, Satie, Prokofiev, Harty, Goossens, Milhaud, Roussel, Felix White; and 12.12.21 Bax, Julius Harrison, Milhaud, Malipiero, Poulenc and Wellesz.
In March 1979 with his Kensington Symphony Orchestra at St John's Smith Square that enterprising conductor Leslie Head introduced each half of his concert with a group of fanfares: 1:Satie, Falla, Roussel, Coppola, Milhaud and 2: Goossens, Harty, Wellesz, Holbrooke, Brian, Bax. I quote from Lewis Foreman's excellent notes for that concert: 'In 1921 the music critic Leigh Henry launched 'Fanfare', a lively and idiosyncratic musical periodical, under the auspices of Goodwin and Tabb the music publishers. It was edited by Leigh Henry and Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) and lasted just six issues. One of its particular features was a double page spread in each issue of specially commissioned fanfares by leading composers of the day. Groups of these fanfares were performed by Eugene Goossens . . . in his Queen's Hall concerts. Not all the fanfares were played . . .' and Leslie Head gave the first performance of the Coppola fanfare.
I hope this information is helpful.
Previous Message
Whilst doing some research on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, I found the following - a direct quote from Copland's autobiography - on the Wikipedia page for the work.
"Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942–43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
I was intrigued by the reference to the set of British WW1 fanfares, and tried to find some information on them, but could not. I then realised that during WW1, Goossens was an young orchestral player, not a conductor, and hence it would have been unlikely that he would have done this. Further, there is no mention of it in his autobiography.
So I am wondering whether Copland misremembered events in his autobiography, and his statement has become the accepted truth (it is quoted in many places).
I wonder if these fanfares have been published anywhere? A quick glance at Wikipedia's list of Prokofiev compositions shows nothing called "Fanfare" and nothing from 1921 that might be relevant.
Previous Message
Eugene Goossens wrote two fanfares, one in 1921 'Fanfare for a Ceremony' and another in 1930 'Fanfare for Artists'.
In 1921 in the Queen's Hall he gave four now famous concerts of modern music and he introduced the first and the last concert with a set of fanfares: 27.10.21 Falla, Satie, Prokofiev, Harty, Goossens, Milhaud, Roussel, Felix White; and 12.12.21 Bax, Julius Harrison, Milhaud, Malipiero, Poulenc and Wellesz.
In March 1979 with his Kensington Symphony Orchestra at St John's Smith Square that enterprising conductor Leslie Head introduced each half of his concert with a group of fanfares: 1:Satie, Falla, Roussel, Coppola, Milhaud and 2: Goossens, Harty, Wellesz, Holbrooke, Brian, Bax. I quote from Lewis Foreman's excellent notes for that concert: 'In 1921 the music critic Leigh Henry launched 'Fanfare', a lively and idiosyncratic musical periodical, under the auspices of Goodwin and Tabb the music publishers. It was edited by Leigh Henry and Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) and lasted just six issues. One of its particular features was a double page spread in each issue of specially commissioned fanfares by leading composers of the day. Groups of these fanfares were performed by Eugene Goossens . . . in his Queen's Hall concerts. Not all the fanfares were played . . .' and Leslie Head gave the first performance of the Coppola fanfare.
I hope this information is helpful.
Previous Message
Whilst doing some research on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, I found the following - a direct quote from Copland's autobiography - on the Wikipedia page for the work.
"Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942–43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
I was intrigued by the reference to the set of British WW1 fanfares, and tried to find some information on them, but could not. I then realised that during WW1, Goossens was an young orchestral player, not a conductor, and hence it would have been unlikely that he would have done this. Further, there is no mention of it in his autobiography.
So I am wondering whether Copland misremembered events in his autobiography, and his statement has become the accepted truth (it is quoted in many places).
Scans of the 1921 fanfares published in Leigh Henry's magazine "Fanfare" (see Stephen Lloyd's post above) have been uploaded to various websites (e.g., here: http://jsnfmn.net/media/music/archives/).
The Prokofiev fanfare was simply a short extract from his Love for Three Oranges, and therefore doesn't appear separately in short catalogues of his works.
Stephen Thanks for this, which is interesting, but doesn't solve the WWI or British composer aspects. I am convinced that it is an error in Copland's autobiography.
Previous Message
Eugene Goossens wrote two fanfares, one in 1921 'Fanfare for a Ceremony' and another in 1930 'Fanfare for Artists'.
In 1921 in the Queen's Hall he gave four now famous concerts of modern music and he introduced the first and the last concert with a set of fanfares: 27.10.21 Falla, Satie, Prokofiev, Harty, Goossens, Milhaud, Roussel, Felix White; and 12.12.21 Bax, Julius Harrison, Milhaud, Malipiero, Poulenc and Wellesz.
In March 1979 with his Kensington Symphony Orchestra at St John's Smith Square that enterprising conductor Leslie Head introduced each half of his concert with a group of fanfares: 1:Satie, Falla, Roussel, Coppola, Milhaud and 2: Goossens, Harty, Wellesz, Holbrooke, Brian, Bax. I quote from Lewis Foreman's excellent notes for that concert: 'In 1921 the music critic Leigh Henry launched 'Fanfare', a lively and idiosyncratic musical periodical, under the auspices of Goodwin and Tabb the music publishers. It was edited by Leigh Henry and Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) and lasted just six issues. One of its particular features was a double page spread in each issue of specially commissioned fanfares by leading composers of the day. Groups of these fanfares were performed by Eugene Goossens . . . in his Queen's Hall concerts. Not all the fanfares were played . . .' and Leslie Head gave the first performance of the Coppola fanfare.
I hope this information is helpful.
Previous Message
Whilst doing some research on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, I found the following - a direct quote from Copland's autobiography - on the Wikipedia page for the work.
"Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942–43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
I was intrigued by the reference to the set of British WW1 fanfares, and tried to find some information on them, but could not. I then realised that during WW1, Goossens was an young orchestral player, not a conductor, and hence it would have been unlikely that he would have done this. Further, there is no mention of it in his autobiography.
So I am wondering whether Copland misremembered events in his autobiography, and his statement has become the accepted truth (it is quoted in many places).
I think you are almost certainly right. Copland must have incorrectly remembered or misread Goossens' letter and got the dates wrong. The fanfares 'during World War 1' were more than likely the 1921 fanfares, something that happened 20 years ago in another country!
Previous Message
Stephen Thanks for this, which is interesting, but doesn't solve the WWI or British composer aspects. I am convinced that it is an error in Copland's autobiography.
Previous Message
Eugene Goossens wrote two fanfares, one in 1921 'Fanfare for a Ceremony' and another in 1930 'Fanfare for Artists'.
In 1921 in the Queen's Hall he gave four now famous concerts of modern music and he introduced the first and the last concert with a set of fanfares: 27.10.21 Falla, Satie, Prokofiev, Harty, Goossens, Milhaud, Roussel, Felix White; and 12.12.21 Bax, Julius Harrison, Milhaud, Malipiero, Poulenc and Wellesz.
In March 1979 with his Kensington Symphony Orchestra at St John's Smith Square that enterprising conductor Leslie Head introduced each half of his concert with a group of fanfares: 1:Satie, Falla, Roussel, Coppola, Milhaud and 2: Goossens, Harty, Wellesz, Holbrooke, Brian, Bax. I quote from Lewis Foreman's excellent notes for that concert: 'In 1921 the music critic Leigh Henry launched 'Fanfare', a lively and idiosyncratic musical periodical, under the auspices of Goodwin and Tabb the music publishers. It was edited by Leigh Henry and Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock) and lasted just six issues. One of its particular features was a double page spread in each issue of specially commissioned fanfares by leading composers of the day. Groups of these fanfares were performed by Eugene Goossens . . . in his Queen's Hall concerts. Not all the fanfares were played . . .' and Leslie Head gave the first performance of the Coppola fanfare.
I hope this information is helpful.
Previous Message
Whilst doing some research on Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man, I found the following - a direct quote from Copland's autobiography - on the Wikipedia page for the work.
"Eugene Goossens, conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, had written to me at the end of August about an idea he wanted to put into action for the 1942–43 concert season. During World War I he had asked British composers for a fanfare to begin each orchestral concert. It had been so successful that he thought to repeat the procedure in World War II with American composers."
I was intrigued by the reference to the set of British WW1 fanfares, and tried to find some information on them, but could not. I then realised that during WW1, Goossens was an young orchestral player, not a conductor, and hence it would have been unlikely that he would have done this. Further, there is no mention of it in his autobiography.
So I am wondering whether Copland misremembered events in his autobiography, and his statement has become the accepted truth (it is quoted in many places).