Sunday, 6 October 2013: “Lead me, Lord,” by Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Samuel Sebastian Wesley
1810-1876

The anthem for Sunday, 6 October 2013, the
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time,will be Samuel Sebastian Wesley’s “Lead me, Lord,” which is actually an extract of a longer anthem, “Praise the Lord, O my soul.”

A grandson of Charles Wesley, the composer’s middle name is a testament to his father Samuel Wesley’s admiration of the earlier composer, Johann Sebastian Bach. He dedicated his entire life to music in the Church of England, beginning as a boy chorister in the Chapel Royal, through his years as organist at Exeter, Winchester, and Gloucester cathedrals.

Here is a fine performance of this short anthem, by the Somerville College choir.

For practice at home, you may download a score here and a MIDI practice file here.