Michael Wise
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Michael Wise (1648 – 1687) was an English organist and composer. He sang as a child in the choir of the Chapel Royal and served as a countertenor in St George's Chapel, Windsor from 1666 until, in 1668, he was appointed Organist and Choirmaster at Salisbury Cathedral. In 1676, he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and in the last year of his life held the post of Master of the Children at St Paul's Cathedral.
Little more is known of Michael Wise except that he met with an untimely end. During a violent struggle with the Salisbury night watch, following a domestic dispute, he sustained a blow to the head, "which broke his skull, of the consequence whereof he died."
As well as Service Settings, his compositions include anthems such as:
- "How are the mighty fallen"
- "Awake up my Glory"
- "The ways of Zion do mourn"
- "Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy"
- "Prepare ye the way of the Lord"
- "Awake, put on thy strength"
(ref. The New Church Anthem Book' (OUP, 1992), p. 77
A number of movements within the jubilant "Prepare ye the way of the Lord" were parodied by George Frederic Handel in the oratorio Messiah
Wise also composed some catches and at least one once famous drinking song, 'Old Chiron'.
He often composed for the unusual combination of a duet of bass and treble voices – for instance, in 'Old Chiron' and 'The Ways of Zion do mourn'
