Michael Wise (musician)

Michael Wise (born c.1647 in Salisbury, died there 24 August 1687) was an English organist and composer. He sang as a child in the choir of the Chapel Royal as one of the earliest groups of choristers there after the Restoration of King Charles II. He left as his voice changed in September 1663. From 1665 to 1668, he served as a lay clerk in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, and Eton College until he was appointed organist, lay vicar and choirmaster at Salisbury Cathedral on 29 April 1668. During his time there, he claimed the dean and chapter ‘wrongly deflected cathedral monies’, a claim he could not back up. Wise had been fairly commonly accused of neglecting his duty at Salisbury; a deputy organist and substitute instructor were paid for while Wise retained all of his stipend due to his skill and compositions. In 1683 he was accused of negligence, profanity, drunkenness ‘and other excesses in his life and conversation’ at the episcopal visitation. In 1676 he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, while retaining his commitments in Salisbury. ): “He had quarrelled with his wife on some trivial matter, and rushed out of his house. The watchman met him while he was yet boiling with rag