John Goss,
O taste and see

Organist for many years at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, Sir John Goss (1800–1880) was one of a large body of Victorian composers who left a hefty collection of church music. For his service to the Church (and hence to English society), Goss was knighted by ueen Victoria in 1872. In his book O Sing unto the Lord: A History of English Church Music, Andrew Gant describes Goss as “a kindly fellow, intensely musical but no disciplinarian, firmly brought up in the bad old days of badly run choirs and neglected choristers.”

Goss composed many settings for Anglican chant as well as hymns and anthems. In our Hymnal, we sing his tune LAUDA ANIMA with the words to “Praise, my soul, the King of heaven.” Many other hymnals feature his tune HUMILITY with the words to the Christmas hymn “See amid the winter’s snow.”

Every Easter Sunday in our parish, we sing one of his Anglican chants in the Easter Canticle, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (Hymnal #680). His Double chant in G major is in our Hymnal (#660) and is often used when singing the canticle Cantate Domino.

Goss also composed a number of anthems, of which O taste and see is one of the best known. This verse from Psalm 34 is the Offertory for the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. The score for this work may be obtained here. It is sung here by the Clare College Chapel Choir conducted by Timothy Brown.