John Goss

27 December 1800—10 May 1880

SIR JOHN GOSS, son of Joseph Goss, organist of Fareham, Hants, where he was born Dec. 27, 1800. In 1811, he became one of the children of the Chapel Royal under John Stafford Smith, and on leaving the choir became a pupil of Thomas Attwood, under whom he completed his musical education. He became organist of Stockwell Chapel in 1821; in 1824 he was appointed organist of the new church of St. Luke, Chelsea, and in 1838 succeeded Attwood as organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral. On the death of William Knyvett in 1856 Goss was appointed one of the composers to the Chapel Royal. He was knighted in 1872, and shortly afterwards resigned his appointment at St. Paul’s. He graduated as [honorary] Doctor of Music at Cambridge in 1876.

Goss’s compositions consist of services and anthems, chants, psalm-tunes, glees, songs, orchestral pieces, etc. Of his anthems—a list of twenty seven is given in Brown and Stratton’s British Musical Biography—the best known are “If we believe,” written for the funeral of the Duke of Wellington; “Praise the Lord, O my soul,” composed for the bicentenary festival of the Sons of the Clergy; “The wilderness,” “O Saviour of the world,” and “The Lord is my strength,” composed, together with a Te Deum for the Thanksgiving for the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Feb. 27, 1872). Of his glees, published 1826 and 1852, “There is beauty on the mountain” is a charming specimen of truly graceful composition.

In 1826, he edited a collection of hymn tunes under the title Parochial Psalmody. In 1833, he published An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough-bass, a second edition appeared in 1847, and which reached a 13th edition. In 1841, he edited a collection of Chants, Ancient and Modern, and in 1856 the Church Psalter and Hymnbook, in conjunction with the Rev. W. Mercer. He also published The Organist’s Companion, a series of voluntaries and interludes, besides other works.

His 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 which ought to ensure it a long life. He died at Brixton, May 10, 1880.

by William Henry Husk, rev. J.A. Fuller-Maitland
Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1906)

Featured Tunes:

PRAISE MY SOUL (LAUDA ANIMA)

Collections of Tunes:

Parochial Psalmody (1826; new ed., 1858): WorldCat

Church Psalter and Hymn Book (1856): Archive.org

see also:

The Supplemental Hymn and Tune Book, 3rd ed. with Appendix (1869): WorldCat

Christmas Carols New and Old, 2nd series (Nos. 21–42, 1870): WorldCat

Tunes New and Old, Enlarged Ed. (1876)

Related Resources:

John Stainer, “Sir John Goss,” The Musical Times, vol. 21, no. 448 (1 June 1880), pp. 269–271: PDF

James D. Brown & Stephen S. Stratton, “Sir John Goss,” British Musical Biography (Birmingham: S.S. Stratton, 1897): Archive.org

F.G. Edwards, “Sir John Goss, 1800–1880,” The Musical Times, vol. 42, nos. 698 & 700 (April & June 1901), pp. 225–231, 375–383: PDF 1 | PDF 2

William Henry Husk, rev. J.A. Fuller-Maitland, “Sir John Goss,” Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 2 (1906), p. 203: Archive.org

David Gedge, “John Goss, 1800–1880,” The Musical Times, vol. 121, nos. 1647 & 1649 (May & July, 1980), pp. 338–339, 461–463: JSTOR

Richard Fenwick, “An early Victorian organist at work: John Goss in Quire at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 1838–1860,” The Organ, vol. 62, no. 245 (1983).

Richard Fenwick, “An early Victorian organist at work, II: The latter years of John Goss at St Paul’s Cathedral, 1860–1872,” The Organ, vol. 64 (1985), pp. 146–165.

Watkins Shaw, The Succession of Organists (Oxford: University Press, 1991), pp. 20, 178–179.

Patrick Little, “Two hymn tunes by Sir John Goss,” HSGBI Bulletin, vol. 17, no. 2 (April 2003), pp. 48–51, including additional commentary by Bernard S. Massey, “Fresh Airs (An Editorial Postscript).”

Nicholas Temperley, “John Goss,” Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology:
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/j/john-goss

William Henry Husk, rev. Bruce Carr, “Sir John Goss,” Grove Music Online (20 January 2001):
https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.11505

Judith Blezzard, “Sir John Goss,” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:
https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/11112