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

hymns by his father. At the age of sixty he was therefore able to re-establish
connections with his Methodist roots that he had rejected so vigorously as a youth.
Another breakdown in 1830 may have put him out of action for a while; but he
continued to support his young family, as his powers declined, until the end.
One of the most significant events of his life, a meeting of great symbolic
resonance, occurred less than a month before his death. Felix Mendelssohn, feted as a
composer and organist, was in London. Samuel attended a recital in Christ Church,
Newgate, and was persuaded to introduce himself to the younger musician, and to
improvise for him (this was the last time he would play in public). He had been vastly
impressed by Mendelssohn’s playing; Mendelssohn was complimentary about
Wesley’s. ‘You should have heard me forty years ago’ was his reply. 121
Why did he Wesley admire Mendelssohn? The fact is more remarkable than it
seems, in that generally his taste extended as far as Haydn and Mozart and no further.
His letters and Reminiscences are full of ironic or derogatory references, not just to
commercial variation-manufacturers, but to the leading musicians of the day:
Beethoven, Weber, Rossini, Ries, and Kalkbrenner. Presumably it was their shared
love of Bach which drew them together. Perhaps he had heard of Mendelssohn’s
revival of the St Matthew Passion? He too had attempted to perform and publish vocal
works by J. S. Bach (Jesu meine Freude and the Credo from the B minor Mass). But it
was Mendelssohn and not Wesley who had the charm, the social position, the
influence, and the money to achieve his dream.
According to his daughter Eliza, Wesley returned from the concert, hung up his
hat in the hall, and said: ‘I shall never leave this house alive.’ 122 Nor did he. Samuel
Wesley died on 11 October 1837.
It is tempting to compare him with another great misfit, J. S. Bach’s eldest son
121 Olleson, Wesley, p.215.
122 Armstrong, ‘Wesleys’, 100.
195