John Gostling

John Gostling (1644–1733) was a 17th-century Church of England clergyman and bass singer famed for his range and power. He was a favourite singer of Charles II and is particularly associated with the music of Henry Purcell.

Background

John Gostling was the son of Isaac Gossling, a Canterbury mercer, He was educated in Rochester and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he sang in the choir. He was a Gentleman and later Priest of the Chapel Royal and was subsequently a Minor Canon of Canterbury, Vicar of Littlebourne in Kent, Subdean of St Paul's and Prebendary of Lincoln. He is buried in Canterbury Cathedral cloisters.

Gostling Manuscript

One of the important sources for Purcell's music is the Gostling Manuscript, a collection made by Gostling in 1706, which contains sixty-four anthems: seventeen by Purcell, twenty-three by John Blow, three by Matthew Locke, four by Pelham Humfrey, four by William Turner, and one by William Child, one by Henry Aldrich, three by Thomas Tudway, four by Jeremiah Clarke, Isaac Blackwell and a few others.