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.

Born into one of England's best-known families, Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-76) was not only the foremost organist and church musician of his generation, but a vigorous campaigner for higher standards in cathedral music. He was also a troubled, difficult character, and accounts of his abrasive personality or anecdotes about his fishing exploits have tended to obscure his very real achievements as a composer.Peter Horton has drawn on a wide range of source material to produce a detailed account of Wesley's life and career as he moved from cathedral to cathedral in search of an unattainable ideal, his youthful idealism gradually giving way to the cynicism and disillusion familiar to those who encountered him late in life. He also examines his development as a composer and presents a study of his complete output (including the many non-church works) against the background of his restless career andin a wider European context. The book is illustrated by a generous selection of musical examples and plates, and includes the most detailed list of works to appear in print.