A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Cooper, George

COOPER, George, son of the assistant organist to St. Paul's; born in Lambeth July 7, 1820. His quickness of ear, readiness of execution, and taste for good music, developed themselves very early, and his road to the organ was smoothed by an old harpsichord with pedals and two rows of keys, on which the lad practised at all available times. When 11 years old he often took the service at St. Paul's for his father, and at the Festivals of the Sons of the Clergy it was Attwood's delight (then chief organist) to make him extemporise. On one such occasion Mendelssohn is said to have remarked and praised him. At 13½ he was made organist of St. Benet, Paul's Wharf. On Attwood's death he became assistant organist of St. Paul's, vice his father resigned; in 1836 organist of St. Ann and St. Agnes; and on the death of his father, in 1843, succeeded him at St. Sepulchre's, and became singing-master and organist to Christ's Hospital as well. On the death of Sir George Smart [App. p.597 "J. B. Sale (1856)"] he was appointed organist of the Chapel Royal. He died Oct. 2, 1876, much regretted.

Cooper did much to familiarise his hearers with the works of Bach and other great composers, which he played in a noble style. His 'Organ Arrangements,' 'Organist's Manual,' and 'Organist's Assistant,' are well known, and so is his 'Introduction to the Organ,' long the only work of its kind in England. These were his only publications of any moment. He had a strong taste for natural science, and divided his time between the organ, his ferns, and photography.