From the Organist & Choirmaster

A name that often appears in our bulletin inserts is John Goss, an English organist, teacher, and composer of the Victorian era. Sir John Goss was born in 1800 in Hampshire, his musical background came from his father, Joseph, who was organist of Fareham Parish Church in Hampshire. When Goss was eight he was sent to school at Ringwood, three years later he went to live under the care of his uncle who was an alto singer in various choirs including the Chapel Royal, Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey. John Goss became a chorister at the Chapel Royal, where the master of the choir at the time was John Stafford Smith. John Stafford Smith composed To Anacreon in Heaven which became the tune of our National Anthem The Star Spangled Banner. It seems we could never truly escape England’s influence! Smith was known as a harsh teacher with a narrow musical curriculum, Goss claimed that Smith confiscated his score of Handel’s organ concertos on the grounds that “choristers of the Chapel Royal are to learn to sing and not to play.”

When Goss’ voice broke in 1816, Goss left the Chapel Royal and became a pupil of Thomas Attwood, organist of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and former pupil of Mozart. Goss had a hard time finding a position as organist, he earned money by joining the chorus of an opera company. He took part of England’s first performance of Don Giovanni at the King’s Theatre in 1817. In 1821 he married his fiancee Lucy New, and secured an appointment as an organist at Stockwell Chapel in south London. His longest post was at Saint Luke’s Chelsea where his salary was 100 pounds a year, around 100,000 pounds in today’s money. For a brief period in his later years, Goss became the organist of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, something he had always dreamt of. Goss, as it turns out, hated the job since the organist of Saint Paul’s is employed solely to play the organ and did not have influence in the Cathedral’s music program. While at Saint Paul’s, despite not enjoying his time, he conducted the first oratorio to be performed in the Cathedral, Handel’s Messiah. An impressive 600 performers were involved, and the proceeds of the performance was able to purchase the new organ at Saint Paul’s which still plays today!

The Parish Choir at Saint Andrew’s uses his Anglican chants often. Some notable anthems include liturgical texts like “God so loved the world,” “Fear not, O land, be glad and rejoice,” O taste and see,” and “The souls of the righteous.” His most famous hymn is “Praise my soul, the king of heaven.”