Book Description

This edition of the anthems of John Goss (1800–1880) includes a large number of works that have been unavailable beyond their initial nineteenth-century printing. The anthems range from short works in hymnbook format to expansive anthems in choral score frequently employing verse and solo sections. Goss’s music entered British consciousness on a national level with the inclusion of two choral works at Wellington’s funeral (one of which was fully orchestrated and is included in this edition), and after this point his music was featured on numerous occasions of national importance. There is a lyrical elegance to Goss’s writing, coupled with a compositional integrity that few mastered so consistently, that places his output in a special category within the lineage of English cathedral music. Whether the works are one-page miniatures, or substantial pieces of multiple pages, the understanding of prosody, especially in relation to sacred texts, is notably accomplished. Today his works afford performers fine setting of texts that are easily applicable to liturgies of our own time, whether large or small, across multiple denominations.