What is Samuel Sebastian Wesley?
'''Samuel Sebastian Wesley''' (born [[London]], 14 August 1810; died 19 April 1876) was an [[England|English]] [[organ (music)|organist]] and [[composer]]. He was the greatest English composer of [[church music]] of his day. He lived at a time when the standard of music in England had become very bad. He did a lot to improve it, especially [[church music]]. He had a hard life earning enough money. This was largely his own fault: he was a difficult man with a bad temper and often argued with his [[employer]]s. ==Life== ===Early years=== He was born in [[London]], the [[illegitimate]] son of the composer [[Samuel Wesley]] and his [[partner]] Sarah Suter. He was given the name of his father (Samuel) and the name Sebastian after the composer [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]. As a boy he sang in the choir of the [[Chapel Royal]]. The Chapel Royal was not nearly as good as it had been in the [[16th century|16th]] and [[17th century|17th centuries]] when it had been associated with many famous composers. When choirboys made mistakes the music teacher William Hawes would hit them with a riding [[whip]]. Samuel Sebastian was an excellent choirboy, and he and another boy were sent to [[Brighton]] to sing to [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]] who had gone there for his holiday. He also sang at [[St. Paul's Cathedral]]. ==Career== ===Hereford=== When he was a young man he played the organ in several churches in London and started to compose. He wrote some music for [[melodrama]]s in [[theatre]]s. When he was 22 he became organist of [[Hereford Cathedral]]. This changed his life, because his career now focussed on church music. The choir at Hereford was not very good. The organ was broken, and his [[lodging]]s were not nice. However, he was able to perform in the [[Three Choirs Festival]] and he composed some church music, including the popular anthem ''Blessed be the God and Father'', written for an [[Easter|Easter Day]] service when the choir only had boys and one male singer. He married the