Samuel Sebastian Wesley
Samuel Sebastian Wesley | |
---|---|
Born | 14 August 1810 London England |
Died | 19 April 1876 (aged 66) |
Other names | S.S. Wesley |
Occupation(s) | organist and composer |
Spouse | Mary Anne Merewether |
Children | 6 |
Parent(s) | Samuel Wesley and Sarah Suter |
Samuel Sebastian Wesley (14 August 1810 – 19 April 1876) was an English organist and composer. Wesley married Mary Anne Merewether and had 6 children.[1] He is often referred to as S.S. Wesley to avoid confusion with his father Samuel Wesley.
Biography
Born in London, he was the eldest child in the composer
After singing in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy, Samuel Sebastian embarked on a career as a musician, and was appointed organist at Hereford Cathedral in 1832. While there he married the sister of the Dean, John Merewether. S.S. Wesley was, like his father Samuel Wesley, a Freemason. He was initiated in Palladian Lodge No.120 in Hereford on 17 September 1833. He moved to Exeter Cathedral three years later, and joined St George's Lodge No.129 Exeter on 10 December 1835. He subsequently held appointments at Leeds Parish Church (now Leeds Minster) (from 1842), Winchester Cathedral (from 1849), Winchester College and Gloucester Cathedral (1865–1876).[3][4] In 1839 he received both his Bachelor of Music degree and a Doctor of Music degree from Oxford. He became a Professor of Organ at the Royal Academy of Music in 1850. He died at his home in Gloucester on 19 April 1876 aged 65. He is buried next to his daughter in St. Bartholomew's Cemetery in Exeter by the old City Wall.[5] There are memorial tablets to him in Exeter Cathedral and Winchester Cathedral, and his memorial at Gloucester Cathedral is in stained glass.
Famous in his lifetime as one of his country's leading organists and choirmasters, he composed almost exclusively for the Church of England, which continues to cherish his memory. His better-known anthems include Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace and Wash me throughly. He also wrote several rather late examples of verse anthems, which contrast unison and contrapuntal sections with smaller, more intimate passages for solo voice or voices. Blessed be the God and Father, The Wilderness and Ascribe unto the Lord are of considerable length, as is his Service in E.
The popular short anthem Lead me, Lord is an extract from Praise the Lord, O my soul. Several of his pieces for solo organ have enduring value and continue to be played in recitals now and then.
Of his hymn tunes the best-known are "Aurelia" and "Hereford." "Aurelia" has been widely adopted in the United States, and is regularly heard there. Usually now sung to the words "The Church's One Foundation", Wesley composed the tune for the hymn "Jerusalem the Golden", hence the name "Aurelia".[6]
One notable feature of his career is his aversion to equal temperament, an aversion which he kept for decades after this tuning method had been accepted on the Continent and even in most of England. Such distaste did not stop him from substantial use of chromaticism in several of his published compositions.
While at
Wesley, with
Musical works
Selected works include the following:[8][9]
Anthems
- The Wilderness (1832)
- Blessed be the God and Father (1833/34)
- Let us lift up our heart (c. 1836)
- O Lord, thou art my God (c. 1836)
- To my request and earnest cry (c. 1836)
- Wash me throughly (c. 1840)
- Cast me not away (1848)
- The face of the Lord (1848)
- Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace (c. 1850)
- Ascribe unto the Lord (1851)
- I am thine, O save me (1857)
- Praise the Lord, O my soul (1861), includes:
- Lead me, Lord
Services
- Morning and Evening Service in E (1845)
- Short Full Service in F (c. 1865)
Hymn tunes
- "Alleluia"
- "Aurelia"
- "Bude"
- "Colchester"
- "Cornwall"
- "Doncaster"
- "Gweedore"
- "Hampton"
- "Harewood"
- "Hereford"
- "Hornsey"
- "Wetherby"
- "Wigan"
- "Winscott"
- "Wrestling Jacob"
- "Bowden" (arranged by Wesley, original composer not known)
Other hymn tunes composed or arranged by Wesley are listed on
Organ
- "Air on Holsworthy Church Bells"
- Variations and Fugue on "God Save the King" (1831) [in addition to this set of 7 variations in G,[10] he also composed 8 variations in B Flat and 3 variations in D on the same theme][11]
- Introduction and Fugue in C sharp minor (?1835)
- Larghetto in F minor (c. 1835)
- Three Pieces for a Chamber Organ, book 1 (1842), includes:
- Choral Song and Fugue
- Three Pieces for a Chamber Organ, book 2 (1843), includes:
- Larghetto in F sharp minor
Literary works
- A Few Words on Cathedral Music and the Musical System of the Church, with a Plan of Reform (1849)
Bicentenary celebrations
Celebrations in
References
- ^ "Samuel Sebastian Wesley 1810–1876 – Ancestry®". Ancestry.com.
- ISBN 1-85411-036-5.
- ^ Scholes, Percy (1970) The Oxford Companion to Music; 10th edition. Oxford University Press; p. 1115
- ^ "Samuel Sebastian Wesley | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ Gilberthorpe, H. T. (1922) Samuel Sebastian Wesley's Tomb; The Musical Times; Vol. 63, No. 950, April 1922
- ^ ISBN 9780855971984)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-35604-162-9
- ISBN 0-333-60800-3.
- ISBN 1-85411-036-5.
- ^ "Variations on 'God Save the King' (Wesley, Samuel Sebastian)". imslp.org. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
- ^ "Classical Artists Worldwide – Jennifer Bate, Organ". www.classical-artists.com. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
Bibliography
- "Samuel Sebastian Wesley". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 1 October 2004.
- Horton, Peter (2004). Samuel Sebastian Wesley: A Life. OCLC 52696622. Archived from the originalon 29 September 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
- New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 530.
- Works by or about Samuel Sebastian Wesley at Internet Archive
- Free scores by Samuel Sebastian Wesley in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by Samuel Sebastian Wesley at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- "The Wilderness" on YouTube: a "live" 1970 performance by Guildford Cathedral Choir, directed by Barry Rose
- Audio recording of Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace from Coro Nostro, a mixed chamber choir based in Leicester, UK.
- Video recording of Lead me, Lord on Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
- Video recording of O Lord my God on YouTubesung by the Choir of Somerville College, Oxford