Alfred Pettet (1788–1837): Born in Norwich, he was organist at Peter Mancroft church in the city from 1810 until his death. When Southey visited Norwich in 1824 he met Pettet, who successfully solicited a contribution from Southey to Pettet’s Original Sacred Music, the product of his conviction that Britain lacked good sacred music. Published by subscription and dedicated to George IV, the volume contained settings, by Pettet and others, of a number of older and contemporary devotional poems. These included Southey’s ‘Thanksgiving for Victory’, first composed as his New Year’s Ode for 1 January 1816. Other poets included in the volume were James Montgomery, Bernard Barton, Amelia Opie, Caroline Bowles, Joanna Baillie and Henry Hart Milman. The volume was published by 1827 when Pettet wrote to Southey sending copies and expressing the hope that Southey would use his influence to get it reviewed. Southey replied that the Quarterly Review never noticed musical publications.

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