Samuel Wesley (24 February 1766 – 11 October 1837) was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart (1756–1791) and was called by some "the English Mozart".[1]
His early musical education mostly took place in the family home in Bristol, where Sarah Wesley, his mother, sang and played the harpsichord. Hymn tunes and the works of Handel were the family's favourite pieces. Samuel also had lessons from David Williams, the organist of All Saints' Church, Bristol. In 1771 his father acquired a second house, in Chesterfield Street, Marylebone, London. Samuel left Bristol for the house in London by 1778.[2]
Samuel informed his mother of his philosophical conviction that his marriage had been constituted by sexual intercourse, precluding any civil or religious ceremony, but after a scandalous delay he married Charlotte Louise Martin in 1793, and they had three children. This marriage broke up with Charlotte's discovery of Samuel's affair with the teenaged domestic servant Sarah Suter.[1] Samuel and Sarah never married but had four children together, among them Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876) who was a cathedral organist and notable composer.
Missa de Spiritu Sancto, in Wesley's hand
In 1784, Wesley privately converted to Roman Catholicism, to the dismay of his uncle John Wesley.[3] His hymnodist father expressed his opinion in the following words:
While ready and resolved is he to plunge into the dark abyss And cast his soul away That poison of the Romish sect O let not his soul infect[4]
To celebrate his conversion, Samuel composed an elaborate Mass, the Missa de Spiritu Sancto, dedicating it to Pope Pius VI.[3] According to his obituary, he may subsequently have denied any conversion.[5]
In 1788 Wesley was initiated into Freemasonry in the Lodge of Antiquity, London. The Duke of Sussex appointed him Grand Organist of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1812, and he continued in office through the process of Masonic unification in 1813, serving as the first Grand Organist of the United Grand Lodge of England. He served as Grand Organist for five years, standing down in 1818.[6]
Samuel showed his musical talent early in life. As a boy, he was recognised as a child prodigy by the British musical establishment, along with his elder brother, Charles. He quickly mastered the violin, harpsichord and organ. By the age of eight, he was becoming known for his composing and improvisational skills. His father, Charles, wrote:
He was full eight years old when Dr Boyce came to see us and accosted me with, 'Sir, I hear you have an English Mozart in your house'. I called Sam to answer for himself. He had by this time scrawled down his Oratorio of Ruth. The Doctor looked it over very carefully and seemed highly pleased with the performance. Some of his words were, 'These airs are some of the prettiest I have seen. This boy writes by nature as true a bass as I can do by rule and study'.[7]
Wesley worked as a conductor as well as a music teacher and lecturer. He seems to have been one of the pioneers of the British organ recital: prior to his time, entertainment was not considered appropriate for a church building. Despite a reputation as the best improvisor on the organ in England, he never succeeded in obtaining an organist's post though he applied to the Foundling Hospital both in 1798 and 1813 and to St George's, Hanover Square in 1824. Generally he appeared to be mistrusted by the British establishment, perhaps due to a forthright manner, his marriage arrangements and it is possible to speculate that he was unreliable. From 1815 onwards, he was beset by lack of money and depression. At one stage, he was reduced to asking Vincent Novello for copying work.
His ability on the organ was so highly regarded that he was introduced to, and played for Felix Mendelssohn in September 1837, a month before Wesley's death. Mendelssohn gave a recital at Christ Church Newgate, during which Wesley said to his daughter Eliza, "This is transcendent playing! Do you think I dare venture after this?" It seems that Mendelssohn persuaded the old man, who was by now very frail, to play. Mendelssohn stood by his side while he was playing and complimented him, but Wesley replied "Ah, Sir! you have not heard me play; you should have heard me forty years ago".[8]
Title page of first English edition of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, published by Wesley and Horn in 1810
Wesley seems to have become acquainted with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1796 and 1808. In 1810, he and Charles Frederick Horn collaborated in publishing the first English edition of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.[9] Their joint publication and popularisation of Bach's work have been described as an "English Bach awakening".[10] No time was lost in converting others to the Bach cause; Wesley's principal converts were William Crotch and Charles Burney. In a series of letters to his friend, Benjamin Jacob, Wesley documented how he made Bach better appreciated.
Compositions
Francis Routh[11] has compiled a list of all Wesley's keyboard works and hymn tunes, although some further organ pieces have subsequently been discovered. A complete list of Wesley's musical output would include:
over 120 organ pieces
41 Latin motets and the cantataConfiteor tibi Domine
at least two Masses, the Missa Solemnis and the previously mentioned Missa de Spiritu Sancto, his largest work, scored for solo voices and chorus, with strings, oboes, horns, trumpets and drums.
6 symphonies and 4 orchestral overture-type works
5 organ concertos; 4 violin concertos; 2 harpsichord concertos; 2 string quartets; the Sinfonia Obligatto in D for organ, violin and 'cello; a quintet for strings, organ and two horns.
at least 65 piano (probably fortepiano) pieces (including many arrangements of popular tunes "as a rondo", e.g. Jacky Horner,[12][13] (Poor) Will Putty, Widow Waddle, The deserter's meditations, Moll Pately, Kitty alone and I)[14] and over 100 hymn tunes. His rondo arrangement of The Christmas Carol (God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen) was apparently the first version of the tune to appear in print, before 1815.[15]
anthems described by Wesley himself in a letter "too numerous to particularize".
a number of arrangements of work by other composers, including adapting many of Bach's organ works to be played on the less flexible English organ of the day. Many of these were transcribed as organ duets.
Many of his best-known compositions were written for the church; they include the motet In exitu Israel. His secular compositions include the five-part madrigal 'O singe unto mie roundelaie', entered for the Prize Cup, offered by the Madrigal Society in 1813 and set to the well-known poem by Thomas Chatterton.
However, much of his work was published at the time of composition and then forgotten, and so copies of these works are rare and mostly unavailable in modern performing editions. A considerable body of work exists in manuscript only.
Wesley's compositional style was eclectic, with influences from the late Baroque era, Classicism and, later, early Romanticism.
References
^ abKassler, Michael & Olleson, Philip (2001). Samuel Wesley (1766–1837): A Source Book. Ashgate.
^Barry, Joseph (2010). Temperley, Nicholas; Banfield, Stephen (eds.). Music and the Wesleys. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. pp. 141–146. ISBN978-0-252-07767-8.
^ abOlleson, Philip (2003). Samuel Wesley : the man and his music (1. publ. ed.). Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press. p. 29. ISBN1843830310.
^Cited by Carroll WP (1989) PhD Thesis: The Latin Choral Music of Samuel Wesley, University of Cincinnati, USA
^Routh, Francis (1973). Early English Organ Music from the Middle Ages to 1837. London: Barrie & Jenkins.
^Wesley, Samuel; Graeff, Johann Georg (1815). "Jacky Horner: a favorite air arranged as rondo, for the piano forte, with an accompaniment for the flute (ad lib.)". Printed by Clementi & Co. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^Kassler, Michael (4 May 2016). Music Entries at Stationers' Hall, 1710–1818: from lists prepared for William Hawes, D.W. Krummel and Alan Tyson and from other sources. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315596761. ISBN978-1-315-59676-1. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^Temperley, Nicholas; Wesley, Samuel. Samuel Wesley and contemporaries : works for pianoforte solo by late Georgian composers : published from 1766 to 1830 - Colby College Libraries. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
^"History of Hymns: 'God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen'". Discipleship Ministries.
Philip Olleson, ed. (2001), "Biographical introduction" (PDF), The Letters of Samuel Wesley: Professional and Social Correspondence, 1797–1837, Oxford University Press, ISBN9780198164234
Michael Kassler, "Samuel Wesley's 'madness' of 1817–18", History of Psychiatry, v. part 4 (2003), pp. 459–74.
Kassler, Michael (2004), The English Bach awakening: knowledge of J.S. Bach and his music in England, 1750–1830, Ashgate, ISBN1-84014-666-4
J T Lightwood, "Samuel Wesley, Musician", London, Epworth (1937)
BBC Composer of the Week: Samuel Wesley, 3–7 February, 2020
January 26, 2023
samuel, wesley, other, people, same, name, disambiguation, february, 1766, october, 1837, english, organist, composer, late, georgian, period, wesley, contemporary, mozart, 1756, 1791, called, some, english, mozart, born24, february, 1766bristol, south, west, . For other people of the same name see Samuel Wesley disambiguation Samuel Wesley 24 February 1766 11 October 1837 was an English organist and composer in the late Georgian period Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart 1756 1791 and was called by some the English Mozart 1 Samuel WesleyBorn24 February 1766Bristol South West EnglandDied11 October 1837 aged 71 Occupation s organist and composerChildren7 including Samuel Sebastian Wesley Parent s Charles Wesley and Sarah Wesley Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Compositions 4 References 5 External linksPersonal life EditBorn in Bristol he was the son of noted Methodist and hymnodist Charles Wesley the grandson of Samuel Wesley a poet of the late Stuart period and the nephew of John Wesley the founder of the Methodist Church His early musical education mostly took place in the family home in Bristol where Sarah Wesley his mother sang and played the harpsichord Hymn tunes and the works of Handel were the family s favourite pieces Samuel also had lessons from David Williams the organist of All Saints Church Bristol In 1771 his father acquired a second house in Chesterfield Street Marylebone London Samuel left Bristol for the house in London by 1778 2 Samuel informed his mother of his philosophical conviction that his marriage had been constituted by sexual intercourse precluding any civil or religious ceremony but after a scandalous delay he married Charlotte Louise Martin in 1793 and they had three children This marriage broke up with Charlotte s discovery of Samuel s affair with the teenaged domestic servant Sarah Suter 1 Samuel and Sarah never married but had four children together among them Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1810 1876 who was a cathedral organist and notable composer Missa de Spiritu Sancto in Wesley s hand In 1784 Wesley privately converted to Roman Catholicism to the dismay of his uncle John Wesley 3 His hymnodist father expressed his opinion in the following words While ready and resolved is he to plunge into the dark abyss And cast his soul away That poison of the Romish sect O let not his soul infect 4 To celebrate his conversion Samuel composed an elaborate Mass the Missa de Spiritu Sancto dedicating it to Pope Pius VI 3 According to his obituary he may subsequently have denied any conversion 5 In 1788 Wesley was initiated into Freemasonry in the Lodge of Antiquity London The Duke of Sussex appointed him Grand Organist of the Premier Grand Lodge of England in 1812 and he continued in office through the process of Masonic unification in 1813 serving as the first Grand Organist of the United Grand Lodge of England He served as Grand Organist for five years standing down in 1818 6 Wesley died in 1837 aged 71 and was buried in St Marylebone Parish Church London Career EditSamuel showed his musical talent early in life As a boy he was recognised as a child prodigy by the British musical establishment along with his elder brother Charles He quickly mastered the violin harpsichord and organ By the age of eight he was becoming known for his composing and improvisational skills His father Charles wrote He was full eight years old when Dr Boyce came to see us and accosted me with Sir I hear you have an English Mozart in your house I called Sam to answer for himself He had by this time scrawled down his Oratorio of Ruth The Doctor looked it over very carefully and seemed highly pleased with the performance Some of his words were These airs are some of the prettiest I have seen This boy writes by nature as true a bass as I can do by rule and study 7 Wesley worked as a conductor as well as a music teacher and lecturer He seems to have been one of the pioneers of the British organ recital prior to his time entertainment was not considered appropriate for a church building Despite a reputation as the best improvisor on the organ in England he never succeeded in obtaining an organist s post though he applied to the Foundling Hospital both in 1798 and 1813 and to St George s Hanover Square in 1824 Generally he appeared to be mistrusted by the British establishment perhaps due to a forthright manner his marriage arrangements and it is possible to speculate that he was unreliable From 1815 onwards he was beset by lack of money and depression At one stage he was reduced to asking Vincent Novello for copying work His ability on the organ was so highly regarded that he was introduced to and played for Felix Mendelssohn in September 1837 a month before Wesley s death Mendelssohn gave a recital at Christ Church Newgate during which Wesley said to his daughter Eliza This is transcendent playing Do you think I dare venture after this It seems that Mendelssohn persuaded the old man who was by now very frail to play Mendelssohn stood by his side while he was playing and complimented him but Wesley replied Ah Sir you have not heard me play you should have heard me forty years ago 8 Title page of first English edition of J S Bach s Well Tempered Clavier published by Wesley and Horn in 1810 Wesley seems to have become acquainted with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach sometime between 1796 and 1808 In 1810 he and Charles Frederick Horn collaborated in publishing the first English edition of J S Bach s Well Tempered Clavier 9 Their joint publication and popularisation of Bach s work have been described as an English Bach awakening 10 No time was lost in converting others to the Bach cause Wesley s principal converts were William Crotch and Charles Burney In a series of letters to his friend Benjamin Jacob Wesley documented how he made Bach better appreciated Compositions EditFrancis Routh 11 has compiled a list of all Wesley s keyboard works and hymn tunes although some further organ pieces have subsequently been discovered A complete list of Wesley s musical output would include over 120 organ pieces 41 Latin motets and the cantata Confiteor tibi Domine at least two Masses the Missa Solemnis and the previously mentioned Missa de Spiritu Sancto his largest work scored for solo voices and chorus with strings oboes horns trumpets and drums 6 symphonies and 4 orchestral overture type works 5 organ concertos 4 violin concertos 2 harpsichord concertos 2 string quartets the Sinfonia Obligatto in D for organ violin and cello a quintet for strings organ and two horns at least 65 piano probably fortepiano pieces including many arrangements of popular tunes as a rondo e g Jacky Horner 12 13 Poor Will Putty Widow Waddle The deserter s meditations Moll Pately Kitty alone and I 14 and over 100 hymn tunes His rondo arrangement of The Christmas Carol God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen was apparently the first version of the tune to appear in print before 1815 15 anthems described by Wesley himself in a letter too numerous to particularize a number of arrangements of work by other composers including adapting many of Bach s organ works to be played on the less flexible English organ of the day Many of these were transcribed as organ duets Many of his best known compositions were written for the church they include the motet In exitu Israel His secular compositions include the five part madrigal O singe unto mie roundelaie entered for the Prize Cup offered by the Madrigal Society in 1813 and set to the well known poem by Thomas Chatterton However much of his work was published at the time of composition and then forgotten and so copies of these works are rare and mostly unavailable in modern performing editions A considerable body of work exists in manuscript only Wesley s compositional style was eclectic with influences from the late Baroque era Classicism and later early Romanticism References Edit a b Kassler Michael amp Olleson Philip 2001 Samuel Wesley 1766 1837 A Source Book Ashgate Barry Joseph 2010 Temperley Nicholas Banfield Stephen eds Music and the Wesleys Urbana University of Illinois Press pp 141 146 ISBN 978 0 252 07767 8 a b Olleson Philip 2003 Samuel Wesley the man and his music 1 publ ed Woodbridge Suffolk UK Boydell Press p 29 ISBN 1843830310 Cited by Carroll WP 1989 PhD Thesis The Latin Choral Music of Samuel Wesley University of Cincinnati USA Obituary The Times 12 October 1837 Famous Freemasons United Grand Lodge of England Retrieved 10 May 2019 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Routley E 1968 The Musical Wesleys London Herbert Jenkins Hinrichsen M 1962 Wesley and Mendelssohn in England in Samuel Wesley and Dr Mendelssohn Three Organ Fugues London Hinrichsen pp 2 8 Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Wesley Samuel Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 28 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 530 Kassler 2004 Routh Francis 1973 Early English Organ Music from the Middle Ages to 1837 London Barrie amp Jenkins Wesley Samuel Graeff Johann Georg 1815 Jacky Horner a favorite air arranged as rondo for the piano forte with an accompaniment for the flute ad lib Printed by Clementi amp Co Retrieved 29 December 2021 Kassler Michael 4 May 2016 Music Entries at Stationers Hall 1710 1818 from lists prepared for William Hawes D W Krummel and Alan Tyson and from other sources Routledge doi 10 4324 9781315596761 ISBN 978 1 315 59676 1 Retrieved 29 December 2021 Temperley Nicholas Wesley Samuel Samuel Wesley and contemporaries works for pianoforte solo by late Georgian composers published from 1766 to 1830 Colby College Libraries Retrieved 29 December 2021 History of Hymns God Rest You Merry Gentlemen Discipleship Ministries Philip Olleson ed 2001 Biographical introduction PDF The Letters of Samuel Wesley Professional and Social Correspondence 1797 1837 Oxford University Press ISBN 9780198164234 Michael Kassler Samuel Wesley s madness of 1817 18 History of Psychiatry v part 4 2003 pp 459 74 Kassler Michael 2004 The English Bach awakening knowledge of J S Bach and his music in England 1750 1830 Ashgate ISBN 1 84014 666 4 J T Lightwood Samuel Wesley Musician London Epworth 1937 External links EditFree scores by Samuel Wesley in the Choral Public Domain Library ChoralWiki Works by Samuel Wesley 1766 1837 Family tree ofMethodist founder John Wesley link starts with Samuel Wesley Free scores by Samuel Wesley at the International Music Score Library Project IMSLP BBC Composer of the Week Samuel Wesley 3 7 February 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samuel Wesley amp oldid 1129145342, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
