Constant Lambert, Patrick Hadley, Spike Hughes, Alan Rawsthorne and William Walton. He died of alcohol-related problems, one day after his 41st birthday. With her second husband, Norman Millar, she moved to Reigate in Surrey, where they raised pigs and poultry at the 400-year-old Woodstock Farm, Gadbrook Road, Betchworth. She was a close personal friend of Sir Adrian Boult and Pierre Boulez, who wrote of her: 'Always her presence was reassuring, her professional conscience irreproachable, her attitude faultless. She loved her metier, her instrument. All this, really, was the reflection of her personality for which I have had from the first instant, not only the greatest admiration, but also an immense affection.' Final years She was honoured with a MBE in 1974, and later an OBE in 1980. She was recommended for a Damehood, but this was allegedly vetoed by Margaret Thatcher, who said: 'We can't give a DBE to an orchestral musician'. She retired officially from the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1980, the year of the orchestra's Golden Jubilee. Her final performance was in 1991 during the Last Night of the Proms when she accompanied Dame Gwyneth Jones in her own arrangement of "The Last Rose of Summer". There were celebratory concerts for her 100th birthday at London's Wigmore and Royal Festival Halls. She died in Reigate, Surrey, on 15 December 2004 aged 105. References External links telegraph.co.uk GOOSSENS, Sidonie International Who's Who. accessed 8 September 2006. 1899 births 2004 deaths People from Fulham BBC Symphony Orchestra British people of Belgian descent English centenarians British harpists English classical harpists Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Wallasey Sidonie Goossens London Symphony Orchestra players Women centenarians Women harpists