An Organist and Master of the Choristers is a title given to a Director of Music at a Cathedral, particularly a Church of England Cathedral. The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages. He or she is both the organist and the choirmaster.
As Organist and Master of the Choristers, he or she is primarily occupied with the training and conducting of the cathedral choir. The Sub-Organist or Assistant Organist usually plays at cathedral services, although he or she will also be expected to take over the choral duties if the organist is unavailable.
The longest serving Organist and Master of the Choristers was Andrew Goodwin, who retired from Bangor Cathedral on 31 October 2009. He had served there for 37 years. He was the master of the choristers when Aled Jones was in the choir.
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“There appears to be but two grand master passions or movers in the human mind, namely, love and pride. And what constitutes the beauty or deformity of a man’s character is the choice he makes under which banner he determines to enlist himself. But there is a strong distinction between different degress in the same thing and a mixture of two contraries.”
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