Samuel Sebastian Wesley -- not to be confused with his father, great-grandfather, or uncle, all of whom were also "Samuel Wesley" -- was dubbed by one contemporary critic as "the greatest organist now living," and that was while Felix Mendelssohn was still among the quick. As a composer, this particular Wesley is recognized by Grove's as the "greatest composer in the English cathedral tradition between Purcell and Stanford"; which for all of the mountains of pages of music his father produced was not a distinction accorded ...
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Samuel Sebastian Wesley -- not to be confused with his father, great-grandfather, or uncle, all of whom were also "Samuel Wesley" -- was dubbed by one contemporary critic as "the greatest organist now living," and that was while Felix Mendelssohn was still among the quick. As a composer, this particular Wesley is recognized by Grove's as the "greatest composer in the English cathedral tradition between Purcell and Stanford"; which for all of the mountains of pages of music his father produced was not a distinction accorded to the elder Wesley. Despite the high regard held for Samuel Sebastian Wesley as an organist, his output for organ is disappointingly small, especially when compared to his more substantial production in anthems, service music, and even -- God forbid! -- secular music. Naxos' Samuel Sebastian Wesley: Organ Works, as performed by James McVinney on an 1873 Henry Willis organ at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Tenbury, contains roughly half of all the organ music Wesley...
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