J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

The fugues of the other major late voluntaries—for Thomas Adams in G (KO
607, c.1826-30) and William Drummer (KO 623 1828), are equally far from the dense
Bachian counterpoint of KO 606. This is even truer of the large quantity of music for
‘young organists’ he wrote in later life—6 introducing voluntaries and a loud
voluntary KO 610 (1831), 6 organ voluntaries composed for the use of young
organists KO 613 (c.1831) 6 fugues with introduction for young organists KO 612
(c.1834), preludes and fugues for Eliza KO 634 and KO 635 (c.1833), etc.—which
tend to have the defects we ascribed to his improvisatory approach without its virtues.
Even here, there are few movements show no trace whatsoever of his gift for melody,
no stroke of originality; but evidence of J. S. Bach’s influence remains hard to see. To
find clearer evidence of his effect upon Wesley’s compositional style, we will have to
look elsewhere—in some rather unexpected places, perhaps.
WESLEY THE EVANGELIST
Before we do so, it might be wise to retrace our steps and recount the kindling
of Wesley’s enthusiasm for the music of J. S. Bach. According to his own account, it
was the young George Frederick Pinto (1785-1806) who introduced him to this music
by lending him his copy of the WTC, probably around 1804; certainly by 1807 he was
fully convinced, as the very well known ‘Bach letters’ (published by his daughter Eliza
in 1875), testify. 76 These letters give a striking picture of the ‘Bach movement’ at its
very inception. Peter Williams has pointed out in the preface to his facsimile edition
that the English Bach movement cannot be simply equated with the activities of
Samuel Wesley himself—a number of other people were and had been actively
engaged in propagating J. S. Bach’s music. 77 It would be rash to assume that Wesley’s
76 See the discussion in Olleson, Wesley, pp.71-72 and 301.
77 The Wesley Bach letters, ed. P. Williams (London: Novello, 1988), pp.viii-xiii.
171