SIR JOHN GOSS AND THE ORGAN IN
ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

BETTY MATTHEWS
On 27 March 1840 John Goss, organist of St. Paul's wrote to John Watts, Secretary of the Royal Society of Musicians, of which he was a member, from his home in Chelsea. The Festival he refers to is probably the one known as 'Sons of the Clergy' which took place annually and for which the Society provided the orchestra in return for £50 to be donated to the Society's funds:

Dear Sir,
In reply to your enquiry sent (?) by desire of the Committee of the R.S.M. whether it wd be objectionable to have the Organ Part of the performance at the Festival at St. Paul's transferred a semitone higher, I beg to say it wd in my opinion be very much so. Independently of the inconvenience to the Organist, & the trouble & expense of preparing copies written out in the attend (sic) keys (for such copies I wd not "undertake the responsibility) the effect of the alteration arising from the peculiar temperament of the Organ would be very bad. I shall en- deavour to get the Organ tuned higher before the Festival. I shd not so long have delayed replying but I forgot when at S Paul's to try the pitch which I find even now less than a semitone too flat, & shd the weather be warmer it will be still less flat.
I am Dr Sir
Yrs truly
J. Goss
The second letter is dated 'Chelsea April 4 / 40 :

Dear Sir,
Will you have the kindness to inform the Committee that I have enquired of Mr. Bishop, who has the care of the Organ at St. Paul's, & find that the expense of altering the pitch wd be at least £15 - (?) It wd be considerably more if done in the way least likely to injure the Instrument.

I fear therefore that altering the pitch is out of the question, at any rate at the expense of the Dean & Chapter, whom we could not, I submit, reasonably expect to bear the expense, as this alteration is not required for the purposes of the Cathedral Service. I hope the warm weather will raise the pitch considerably.

I am Dear Sir

Yrs very truly
John Goss

It is an interesting point that whereas strings tend to flatten in pitch in the warmth, organs tend to rise, and the whole system of tuning at St. Paul's seems to have been rather slap-happy. I have not been able to find out what is meant by the 'peculiar temperament' of the instrument*. Perhaps Goss is referring to its character, rather than its tuning !

These letters are reproduced by kind permission of the Governors and Court of Assistants of the Royal Society of Musicians and were copied from the originals by Betty Matthews, Hon. Archivist to the Society.

* Would any of our experts on English temperaments like to comment on this phrase ? - Ed.

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