John Goss
Encyclopedia
Sir John Goss was an English organist
, composer and teacher.
Born to a musical family, Goss was a boy chorister of the Chapel Royal, London, and later a pupil of Thomas Attwood
, organist of St Paul's Cathedral
. After a brief period as a chorus member in an opera company he was appointed organist of a chapel in south London, later moving to more prestigious organ posts at St Luke's, Chelsea
and finally St Paul's Cathedral, where he struggled to improve musical standards.
As a composer, Goss wrote little for the orchestra, but was known for his vocal music, both religious and secular. Among his best-known compositions are his hymn tune
s "Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven" and "See, Amid the Winter's Snow
". The music critic of The Times
described him as the last of the line of English composers who confined themselves almost entirely to ecclesiastical music.
From 1827 to 1874, Goss was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music
, teaching harmony. He also taught at St Paul's. Among his pupils at the academy were Arthur Sullivan
, Frederic Cowen
and Frederick Bridge
. His best-known pupil at St Paul's was John Stainer
, who succeeded him as organist there.
Goss came from a musical background. His father, Joseph Goss, was organist of Fareham
Parish Church in Hampshire
, and earlier members of the family had been celebrated singers. At the age of eight the boy was sent to a school at Ringwood
. Three years later he went to London under the care of his uncle, John Jeremiah Goss, an alto
singer who sang in the choirs of the Chapel Royal, St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
. The young Goss became one of the Children of the Chapel Royal. The master of the choir at that time was John Stafford Smith
, a musician known for composing the song To Anacreon in Heaven
, later used as the tune of the American national anthem. As an educator, Smith combined a harsh discipline with a narrow musical curriculum. He confiscated Goss's score of Handel
's organ concertos on the grounds that choristers of the Chapel Royal were there to learn to sing and not to play. Goss later recalled,
When his voice broke in 1816, Goss left the choir and went to live with his uncle. The elder Goss was well known as a teacher, and was at the time teaching James Turle
, later organist of Westminster Abbey. The young Goss, however, became a pupil of Thomas Attwood
, organist of St Paul's Cathedral
. Unlike the rigid and harsh Smith, Attwood, a former pupil of Mozart
, was a musician of wide sympathies and kind disposition. Mendelssohn
called him "dear old Mr. Attwood", and Goss became devoted to his teacher, under whom he learnt the art of composition and orchestration.
Unable, at first, to secure a post as an organist, Goss earned money by joining the chorus of an opera company. Under the direction of Henry Bishop, he took part in the first performance in England of Don Giovanni
"much tinkered under Bishop's direction" at the King's Theatre
in April 1817.
One of Goss's early compositions was a "Negro Song" (1819) for three voices, scored for a small orchestra (strings, flutes, oboes, clarinets, and two horns). Another was a romantic song, "Wert thou like me," to words by Walter Scott
, which Goss dedicated to his fiancée, Lucy Emma Nerd (1800–1895).
Goss composed a small amount of orchestral music in this period. Two overtures, in F minor and E flat major, written circa 1824, were performed and published in 1827, with considerable success.. He composed incidental music for John Banim
's melodrama The Serjeant's Wife, performed at the English Opera House
on 24 July 1827. The Observer
s sole comment on the composer's contribution was, "The music, which is by Mr. Goss, neither delights nor offends." Thereafter, Goss avoided orchestral composition, declining a request from the Philharmonic Society of London
for another orchestral piece in 1833. As a composer, Goss became known for his vocal music. His solo songs and glees
were much performed and were well reviewed in the musical press.
In 1827, while retaining his organ post at Chelsea, Goss became professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music, a position he held until 1874. Among his pupils during his 47-year tenure were Arthur Sullivan
, Frederic Cowen
and Frederick Bridge
. His biographer Judith Blezzard describes Goss as "a distinguished and painstaking teacher, and a tasteful and virtuoso performer on the organ, creating marvellous effects on the then comparatively rudimentary instrument."
In 1833 Goss entered his anthem, "Have mercy upon me, O God," in the Gresham Prize Medal competition for the best original composition in sacred vocal music. His work won the prize, beating S. S. Wesley
's, setting of "The Wilderness". Goss dedicated his anthem to his old teacher Thomas Attwood; it was performed at the Mansion House
in June 1834. Goss's other main work of 1833 was his instructional book An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough-Bass, which became a standard work and went through 14 editions.
, canon of St Paul's, who teased him by telling him that the salary was only £34 a year. Having a family to support, Goss replied that he might not be able to apply for the post, but Smith then revealed that the post of organist carried with it several additional sources of income, which enabled Goss to reconsider. He was appointed to the post, but immediately found that the organist was employed solely to play the organ, and enjoyed little influence over the other music of the cathedral. Control of the music lay with the Succentor
, Canon Beckwith, who was at odds with the Almoner
, Canon Hawes, who was responsible for rehearsing the boy choristers. The cathedral authorities were not interested in raising musical standards. Sydney Smith's view was typical: "It is enough if our music is decent … we are there to pray, and the singing is a very subordinate consideration." Some of Smith's colleagues were indifferent to both considerations, there being frequent absenteeism by the junior clergy, neglecting their duties and failing to conduct services.
Goss was noted for his piety and gentleness of character. His pupil, John Stainer
, wrote, "That Goss was a man of religious life was patent to all who came into contact with him, but an appeal to the general effect of his sacred compositions offers public proof of the fact." His mildness was a disadvantage when attempting to deal with his recalcitrant singers. He was unable to do anything about the laziness of the tenors and basses, who had lifetime security of tenure and were uninterested in learning new music. The biographer Jeremy Dibble writes, "Hostility to [Goss's] fine anthem 'Blessed is the man', composed in 1842, undermined his confidence so markedly that he did not compose any further anthems until 1852, when he was commissioned to write two anthems for the state funeral of the Duke of Wellington
".
Stainer who was a boy chorister at the time of Wellington's funeral later recalled the effect of Goss's music at rehearsal: "When the last few bars pianissimo had died away, there was a profound silence for some time, so deeply had the hearts of all been touched by its truly devotional spirit. Then there gradually arose on all sides the warmest congratulation to the composer, it could hardly be termed applause, for it was something much more genuine and respectful." Stainer was not always so reverential about his teacher. He later recalled the occasion on which he and the young Arthur Sullivan succumbed to laughter when Goss absent-mindedly walked across the pedals of the organ during a service "before he realised that he was the cause of the alarming thunderings which were frightening the congregation and putting a temporary pause in the sermon."
, the first oratorio to be performed in St Paul's. In the Victorian
style, the performance was on a large scale, with 600 performers.
In the early 1870s Goss's health began to fail. By 1872 he had decided to retire, and his swan-song at St Paul's was in February of that year at the service of thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales
from a grave illness. For this service he composed a setting of the Te Deum
and an anthem, "The Lord is my strength". In the following month he handed over his post at St Paul's to his former pupil Stainer.
Goss died at his home in Brixton
, south London at the age of 79. His funeral service was held in St Paul's, and he was buried in Kensal Green cemetery
.
in 1876.
A memorial was erected to Goss in St Paul's in 1886; beneath a bas-relief by Hamo Thornycroft
is the opening of Goss's "If we believe," the anthem sung at his funeral service in the cathedral. A century after Goss's death the Fareham Society added a blue plaque
to his former home.
, W H Husk and Bruce Carr write of Goss, "His glees enjoyed long popularity for their grateful vocal writing. As a church composer his reputation came later, through the grace and the careful word-setting of his anthems, composed mostly after 1850." They quote a contemporary as saying that Goss's music "is always melodious and beautifully written for the voices, and is remarkable for a union of solidity and grace, with a certain unaffected native charm." Judith Blezzard, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, writes:
Blezzard adds that Goss is chiefly remembered for his two most famous hymn tunes: "Praise my soul the King of Heaven" (1869) and "See amid the winter's snow" (1871).
In the Dictionary of National Biography
in 1890, J A Fuller Maitland
wrote, "The best of Goss's works are distinguished by much grace and sweetness, underlying which is a solid foundation of theoretic and contrapuntal science. It is difficult to resist the assumption that at least some part of this happy combination was inherited, through Attwood, from Mozart. Goss was the last of the illustrious line of English composers who confined themselves almost entirely to ecclesiastical music." Among Goss's works, Fuller Maitland singled out for particular praise the glee "Ossian's Hymn to the Sun", and the anthems "The Wilderness," "O taste and see," and "O Saviour of the World".
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, composer and teacher.
Born to a musical family, Goss was a boy chorister of the Chapel Royal, London, and later a pupil of Thomas Attwood
Thomas Attwood (composer)
Thomas Attwood was an English composer and organist.The son of a musician in the royal band, Attwood was born in London. At the age of nine he became a chorister in the Chapel Royal. In 1783 he was sent to study abroad at the expense of the Prince of Wales , who had been favourably impressed by...
, organist of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. After a brief period as a chorus member in an opera company he was appointed organist of a chapel in south London, later moving to more prestigious organ posts at St Luke's, Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
and finally St Paul's Cathedral, where he struggled to improve musical standards.
As a composer, Goss wrote little for the orchestra, but was known for his vocal music, both religious and secular. Among his best-known compositions are his hymn tune
Hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....
s "Praise my Soul, the King of Heaven" and "See, Amid the Winter's Snow
See, Amid The Winter's Snow
"See, Amid The Winter's Snow", also known as "Hymn For Christmas Day", is a Christmas carol. It was written by Edward Caswall , with music composed by Sir John Goss ....
". The music critic of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described him as the last of the line of English composers who confined themselves almost entirely to ecclesiastical music.
From 1827 to 1874, Goss was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, teaching harmony. He also taught at St Paul's. Among his pupils at the academy were Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, Frederic Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
and Frederick Bridge
Frederick Bridge
Sir John Frederick Bridge was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer.From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist by the age of 24, at Manchester Cathedral...
. His best-known pupil at St Paul's was John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
, who succeeded him as organist there.
Early years
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
Parish Church in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, and earlier members of the family had been celebrated singers. At the age of eight the boy was sent to a school at Ringwood
Ringwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
. Three years later he went to London under the care of his uncle, John Jeremiah Goss, an alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
singer who sang in the choirs of the Chapel Royal, St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. The young Goss became one of the Children of the Chapel Royal. The master of the choir at that time was John Stafford Smith
John Stafford Smith
John Stafford Smith was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach....
, a musician known for composing the song To Anacreon in Heaven
To Anacreon in Heaven
"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Attributed to the composer John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for...
, later used as the tune of the American national anthem. As an educator, Smith combined a harsh discipline with a narrow musical curriculum. He confiscated Goss's score of Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
's organ concertos on the grounds that choristers of the Chapel Royal were there to learn to sing and not to play. Goss later recalled,
When his voice broke in 1816, Goss left the choir and went to live with his uncle. The elder Goss was well known as a teacher, and was at the time teaching James Turle
James Turle
James Turle was an English organist and composer.Turle was born at Taunton, Somerset, and started as a choirboy at Wells Cathedral. In 1817 he became a pupil of G. E. Williams, organist at Westminster Abbey in London, and after acting as deputy for some years he succeeded to this post himself in...
, later organist of Westminster Abbey. The young Goss, however, became a pupil of Thomas Attwood
Thomas Attwood (composer)
Thomas Attwood was an English composer and organist.The son of a musician in the royal band, Attwood was born in London. At the age of nine he became a chorister in the Chapel Royal. In 1783 he was sent to study abroad at the expense of the Prince of Wales , who had been favourably impressed by...
, organist of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. Unlike the rigid and harsh Smith, Attwood, a former pupil of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
, was a musician of wide sympathies and kind disposition. Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
called him "dear old Mr. Attwood", and Goss became devoted to his teacher, under whom he learnt the art of composition and orchestration.
Unable, at first, to secure a post as an organist, Goss earned money by joining the chorus of an opera company. Under the direction of Henry Bishop, he took part in the first performance in England of Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
"much tinkered under Bishop's direction" at the King's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
in April 1817.
One of Goss's early compositions was a "Negro Song" (1819) for three voices, scored for a small orchestra (strings, flutes, oboes, clarinets, and two horns). Another was a romantic song, "Wert thou like me," to words by Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, which Goss dedicated to his fiancée, Lucy Emma Nerd (1800–1895).
Organist and teacher
In 1821 Goss married his fiancée, and secured an appointment as an organist, at Stockwell Chapel (later known as St. Andrew's Church), in south London. He held this post for four years, before winning an open competition for the much more prestigious post of organist at of St. Luke's, Chelsea, then called Chelsea New Church, in December 1824. The salary was £100 a year, equivalent to more than £80,000 in terms of 2009 incomes.Goss composed a small amount of orchestral music in this period. Two overtures, in F minor and E flat major, written circa 1824, were performed and published in 1827, with considerable success.. He composed incidental music for John Banim
John Banim
John Banim , was an Irish novelist, short story writer, dramatist, poet and essayist, sometimes called the "Scott of Ireland." He also studied art, working as a painter of minatures and portraits, and as a drawing teacher, before dedicating himself to literature.-Early life:John Banim was born in...
's melodrama The Serjeant's Wife, performed at the English Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
on 24 July 1827. The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
s sole comment on the composer's contribution was, "The music, which is by Mr. Goss, neither delights nor offends." Thereafter, Goss avoided orchestral composition, declining a request from the Philharmonic Society of London
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
for another orchestral piece in 1833. As a composer, Goss became known for his vocal music. His solo songs and glees
Glee (music)
A glee is an English type of part song spanning the late baroque, classical and early romantic periods. It is usually scored for at least three voices, and generally intended to be sung unaccompanied. Glees often consist of a number of short, musically contrasted movements and their texts can be...
were much performed and were well reviewed in the musical press.
In 1827, while retaining his organ post at Chelsea, Goss became professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music, a position he held until 1874. Among his pupils during his 47-year tenure were Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, Frederic Cowen
Frederic Hymen Cowen
Sir Frederic Hymen Cowen , was a British pianist, conductor and composer.-Early years:Cowen was born Hymen Frederick Cohen at 90 Duke Street, Kingston, Jamaica, the fifth and last child of Frederick Augustus Cohen and Emily Cohen née Davis. His siblings were Elizabeth Rose Cohen ; actress,...
and Frederick Bridge
Frederick Bridge
Sir John Frederick Bridge was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer.From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist by the age of 24, at Manchester Cathedral...
. His biographer Judith Blezzard describes Goss as "a distinguished and painstaking teacher, and a tasteful and virtuoso performer on the organ, creating marvellous effects on the then comparatively rudimentary instrument."
In 1833 Goss entered his anthem, "Have mercy upon me, O God," in the Gresham Prize Medal competition for the best original composition in sacred vocal music. His work won the prize, beating S. S. Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an English organist and composer.-Biography:Born in London, he was the eldest child in the composer Samuel Wesley's second family, which he formed with Sarah Suter having separated from his wife Charlotte. Samuel Sebastian was the grandson of Charles Wesley...
's, setting of "The Wilderness". Goss dedicated his anthem to his old teacher Thomas Attwood; it was performed at the Mansion House
Mansion House, London
Mansion House is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City of London in London, England. It is used for some of the City of London's official functions, including an annual dinner, hosted by the Lord Mayor, at which the Chancellor of the Exchequer customarily gives a speech – his...
in June 1834. Goss's other main work of 1833 was his instructional book An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough-Bass, which became a standard work and went through 14 editions.
St Paul's Cathedral
Attwood died in 1838, and Goss hoped to succeed him as organist of St Paul's. He sought the advice of the Rev Sydney SmithSydney Smith
Sydney Smith was an English writer and Anglican cleric. -Life:Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith and Maria Olier , who suffered from epilepsy...
, canon of St Paul's, who teased him by telling him that the salary was only £34 a year. Having a family to support, Goss replied that he might not be able to apply for the post, but Smith then revealed that the post of organist carried with it several additional sources of income, which enabled Goss to reconsider. He was appointed to the post, but immediately found that the organist was employed solely to play the organ, and enjoyed little influence over the other music of the cathedral. Control of the music lay with the Succentor
Succentor
The Succentor in an ancient cathedral foundation sings psalms and Preces and Responses after the Precentor. In English cathedrals today the priest responsible for liturgy and music is usually the Precentor, but some cathedrals, such as St Paul's and Durham, retain a Succentor as well. Westminster...
, Canon Beckwith, who was at odds with the Almoner
Almoner
An almoner is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing cash to the deserving poor.Historically, almoners were Christian religious functionaries whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. Monasteries were required to spend one tenth of their income in charity to...
, Canon Hawes, who was responsible for rehearsing the boy choristers. The cathedral authorities were not interested in raising musical standards. Sydney Smith's view was typical: "It is enough if our music is decent … we are there to pray, and the singing is a very subordinate consideration." Some of Smith's colleagues were indifferent to both considerations, there being frequent absenteeism by the junior clergy, neglecting their duties and failing to conduct services.
Goss was noted for his piety and gentleness of character. His pupil, John Stainer
John Stainer
Sir John Stainer was an English composer and organist whose music, though not generally much performed today , was very popular during his lifetime...
, wrote, "That Goss was a man of religious life was patent to all who came into contact with him, but an appeal to the general effect of his sacred compositions offers public proof of the fact." His mildness was a disadvantage when attempting to deal with his recalcitrant singers. He was unable to do anything about the laziness of the tenors and basses, who had lifetime security of tenure and were uninterested in learning new music. The biographer Jeremy Dibble writes, "Hostility to [Goss's] fine anthem 'Blessed is the man', composed in 1842, undermined his confidence so markedly that he did not compose any further anthems until 1852, when he was commissioned to write two anthems for the state funeral of the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
".
Stainer who was a boy chorister at the time of Wellington's funeral later recalled the effect of Goss's music at rehearsal: "When the last few bars pianissimo had died away, there was a profound silence for some time, so deeply had the hearts of all been touched by its truly devotional spirit. Then there gradually arose on all sides the warmest congratulation to the composer, it could hardly be termed applause, for it was something much more genuine and respectful." Stainer was not always so reverential about his teacher. He later recalled the occasion on which he and the young Arthur Sullivan succumbed to laughter when Goss absent-mindedly walked across the pedals of the organ during a service "before he realised that he was the cause of the alarming thunderings which were frightening the congregation and putting a temporary pause in the sermon."
Later years
In 1861, to raise funds for a new organ at St Paul's Goss set up and conducted a performance of MessiahMessiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
, the first oratorio to be performed in St Paul's. In the Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
style, the performance was on a large scale, with 600 performers.
In the early 1870s Goss's health began to fail. By 1872 he had decided to retire, and his swan-song at St Paul's was in February of that year at the service of thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
from a grave illness. For this service he composed a setting of the Te Deum
Te Deum
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered literally as "Thee, O God, we praise"....
and an anthem, "The Lord is my strength". In the following month he handed over his post at St Paul's to his former pupil Stainer.
Goss died at his home in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
, south London at the age of 79. His funeral service was held in St Paul's, and he was buried in Kensal Green cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
.
Honours and memorials
Goss was knighted on his retirement, and, together with Sullivan, he received an honorary doctorate in music at the University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in 1876.
A memorial was erected to Goss in St Paul's in 1886; beneath a bas-relief by Hamo Thornycroft
Hamo Thornycroft
Sir William "Hamo" Thornycroft, RA was a British sculptor, responsible for several London landmarks.-Biography:...
is the opening of Goss's "If we believe," the anthem sung at his funeral service in the cathedral. A century after Goss's death the Fareham Society added a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
to his former home.
Works
In the Grove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansGrove 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 Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
, W H Husk and Bruce Carr write of Goss, "His glees enjoyed long popularity for their grateful vocal writing. As a church composer his reputation came later, through the grace and the careful word-setting of his anthems, composed mostly after 1850." They quote a contemporary as saying that Goss's music "is always melodious and beautifully written for the voices, and is remarkable for a union of solidity and grace, with a certain unaffected native charm." Judith Blezzard, in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, writes:
Blezzard adds that Goss is chiefly remembered for his two most famous hymn tunes: "Praise my soul the King of Heaven" (1869) and "See amid the winter's snow" (1871).
In the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
in 1890, J A Fuller Maitland
John Alexander Fuller Maitland
John Alexander Fuller Maitland was an influential British music critic and scholar from the 1880s to the 1920s. He encouraged the rediscovery of English music of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly Henry Purcell's music and English virginal music...
wrote, "The best of Goss's works are distinguished by much grace and sweetness, underlying which is a solid foundation of theoretic and contrapuntal science. It is difficult to resist the assumption that at least some part of this happy combination was inherited, through Attwood, from Mozart. Goss was the last of the illustrious line of English composers who confined themselves almost entirely to ecclesiastical music." Among Goss's works, Fuller Maitland singled out for particular praise the glee "Ossian's Hymn to the Sun", and the anthems "The Wilderness," "O taste and see," and "O Saviour of the World".
Publications
- Parochial Psalmody (London, 1826)
- The Piano Forte Student's Catechism (London, 1830)
- An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough-Bass (London, 1833)
- The Monthly Sacred Minstrel (London, 1833–c.1835)
- Chants, Ancient and Modern (London, 1841)
- (with James Turle) Cathedral Services Ancient and Modern (two volumes, 1846)
- (with William Mercer) The Church Psalter and Hymnbook (London, 1855)
- The Organist's Companion (London, 1864)
Sheet music
- Free scores at the Mutopia ProjectMutopia projectThe Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...
Audio clips
- Recordings guildmusic.com