GoSS, Sir John

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GoSS, Sir John

GoSS, Sir John, English organist and composer; b. Fareham, Hampshire, Dec. 27, 1800; d. London, May 10, 1880. A son of Joseph Goss, the Fareham organist, he became a child chorister of the Chapel Royal; then studied under Attwood. He was successively organist of Stockwell Chapel (1821), St. Luke’s, Chelsea (1824), and St. Paul’s Cathedral (1838-72). In 1856 he was appointed a composer to the Chapel Royal. He was knighted in 1872 and received the degree of Mus.Doc. from Cambridge Univ. in 1876. His music includes church ser-vices, anthems, chants, Psalms, etc.; some orch. pieces; songs and glees. He ed. a collection of hymns, Parochial Psalmody (1826-27), Chants, Ancient and Modern (1841), and, with W. Mercer, Church Psalter and Hymnbook (1855). He publ. The Organist’s Companion, 4 vols. of voluntaries and interludes and An Introduction to Harmony and Thorough- bass (1833).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire