Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 60.djvu/327

 sub-chanter of Exeter Cathedral. This post he held for six years, during which period his fame as a composer of church music and as an organist became established. On 21 June 1839 he accumulated, by special dispensation of the congregation, the degrees of bachelor and doctor in music at the university of Oxford. His ‘exercise’—the fine eight-part anthem, ‘O Lord, Thou art my God’—was performed in Magdalen College chapel (20 June), on which occasion the composer presided at the organ. He sought the degree of ‘doctor’ solely because he thought it would be useful to him in any candidature for a university professorship of music. Three opportunities of this nature presented themselves to Wesley, in all of which, however, he was either unsuccessful or he withdrew his candidature—at Edinburgh in 1841 and 1844, and Oxford in 1848, on the death of [q. v.]

Early in 1842, attracted by a liberal offer made to him by Walter Farquhar Hook, afterwards dean of Chichester, but then vicar of Leeds, Wesley became organist of Leeds parish church. During this period (1842–9) he gave a course of illustrated lectures on church music at the Liverpool Collegiate Institution, March to May 1844, and again in 1846. At Leeds he wrote his fine service in E, the copyright of which he sold on 5 Feb. 1845 to Martin Cawood, an ironmaster, for fifty guineas. The musical heterodoxy of this service was assailed by the critics, who at all times roused Wesley's susceptibilities and became his deadly enemies. He opened Walker's new organ at Tavistock parish church on 25 June 1846, and it was stated that he had accepted the appointment of organist; but in any case it must have been only of a temporary nature, as he did not quit Leeds until 1849 (cf. Plymouth Weekly Journal, 2 April, 25 June, 2 July 1846; Plymouth Herald, 11 April 1846; and Times (London), report of action Burton v. Wesley, 16 July 1852). In order to secure special educational advantages for his sons, Wesley accepted the organistship of Winchester Cathedral in the latter part of 1849, and remained there for the next fourteen years. Previous to his departure from Leeds the gentlemen of the choir presented him with his portrait painted in oils by W. K. Briggs, which is now in possession of his eldest son, F. G. Wesley, vicar of Hamsteels, Durham. On 10 Aug. 1850 he was appointed a professor of the organ at the Royal Academy of Music.

In 1865 Wesley was consulted by the dean and chapter of Gloucester in regard to filling up the appointment of organist at that cathedral, with the result that he offered himself for the post. His offer was accepted, and he retained this appointment until his death. After an interval of thirty-one years he again, in his official capacity as organist, conducted the festival of the three choirs in 1865, and subsequently in 1868, 1871, and 1874, all at Gloucester. On the recommendation of Mr. Gladstone a civil list pension of 100l. per annum was conferred upon him on 14 Jan. 1873, ‘in recognition of his musical talents.’ He accompanied a service for the last time in the cathedral on Christmas day, 1875. At its conclusion he played Handel's ‘Hallelujah’ chorus. He died at his residence, Palace Yard, Gloucester, on 19 April 1876, his last words, addressed to his sister, Miss Eliza Wesley, being, ‘Let me see the sky.’ He was buried at his own request in the old cemetery, Exeter, beside his only daughter. On 4 May 1835 at Ewyas Harold church, near Hereford, he was married to Mary Anne, sister of [q. v.], dean of Hereford. By her he had four sons and one daughter. Wesley's civil list pension was continued to his widow until her death in London on 28 Feb. 1888.

Wesley had a very remarkable personality, and many extraordinary tales are related of his eccentricity. All his life long he waged war with cathedral dignitaries and music publishers. The cathedral precentor was perhaps his pet aversion. His views on the subject of cathedral music and deans and chapters may be found in his pamphlets, ‘A Few Words on Cathedral Music and the Musical System of the Church, with a Plan of Reform’ (London, 1849); ‘Reply to the Inquiries of the Cathedral Commissioners relative to Improvement in the Music of Divine Worship in Cathedrals’ (London, 1854); the caustic preface to his service in E (original edition), 1845; and the ‘Lute’ (May 1885, p. 97).

He showed his antipathy to music publishers by publishing most of his compositions on his own account. In 1868, however, he sold the copyrights of his anthems, organ and pianoforte pieces, &c., to the firm of Novello & Co. for the sum of 750l.

As a composer of English church music, Wesley stands in the front rank. His daring modulations and unconventionalities staggered the dryasdusts of his time, who, blinded by their own contrapuntal orthodoxy, could not discern the deep poetic feeling, the devotional utterance, united to the highest musicianship, which eminently characterise Wesley's compositions for the church. He was an excellent performer on the organ; his extempore playing was in the highest degree masterly. Although so pronounced an innovator in regard to compositions for the