8. A Mixed Century

Two musicians played the organ and trained the choristers in the second half of the 18th century. The first of these, Elias Isaac, had served an apprenticeship with Maurice Greene, and copies of Greene’s Forty Select Anthems in Score were chained to the choir stalls. Isaac was a conscientious musician and had as his deputy Thomas Pitt, who eventually succeeded him. Pitt made his mark by arranging Handel’s oratorio movements for choir and organ, and these arrangements became popular with King George III after being used at Windsor. Unfortunately, by the 1840s there had been a serious lapse, most notably in the choir’s performance. In retrospect, we can trace problems from the start of the century. Attendance at Holy Communion had fallen considerably, less respect was being shown for cathedral services and there were concerns about irreverence. Also, services were being rushed through, choral Matins on Sundays had ceased, and a fully choral Communion had become uncommon. None of these was directly responsible for the failing choir, but the true causes for this are examined.