Samuel Wesley was an outstanding composer of his time and most
of his characteristic works were written for the organ. The
sincerity of his organ music is evidenced by his enlargement of
the structure of the 18th century Voluntary. He also developed
its expressiveness and transformed the weaknesses of the
instrument of those times into strengths. As the well-written
booklet inform us, by that time the organ had two main
limitations. ‘First the absence of a pedal organ, even if some
instruments had pull-down pedals, or couplers, for the lowest
notes; second, the absence of a tonally distinctive character
for the divisions other than the Great. It was essentially a
one-manual instrument, in spite of a second, and occasionally
(as in the Portuguese Embassy Chapel) a third manual.’ Wesley
was an enthusiast of Bach’s music, which he pioneered in England
and like him, he was an excellent organist. He had never been
appointed to a church post as organist. Bach’s influence is
quite strong in these works. Their range