Missa de Spiritu Sancto - Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley (1766-1837), nephew of the founder of Methodism, had written a full oratorio by the age of eight, and had a set of harpsichord sonatas in print at the age of 12.
The Missa de Spiritu Sancto, which this "English Mozart" composed at the age of 18, stemmed from his love of the music of the Catholic Church. It was dedicated to - and received by - Pope Pius VI. The young Wesley was obviously a most ambitious spirit and his teenage Mass is long enough to fill an evening concert.
The work was not performed during the 18th century, and a plan to feature it at the opening of Westminster Cathedral in 1903 came to nothing.
The world premiere in Dublin on Wednesday came about when Francis Routh, who has edited the work for publication, propositioned Wesley enthusiast, David Byers, the BBC's chief producer, music and arts, in Northern Ireland.
With the roping-in of RTE, the occasion became a North/South venture, bringing together in St Patrick's Cathedral the National Chamber Choir, the RTE Concert Orchestra and a team of Irish and British soloists, all under the direction of Nicholas Kraemer.
Kraemer's achievement in bringing something of the timbre and articulation of period performance practice to the National Chamber Choir and the RTECO was an impressive one.
His team of soloists was led by the light and agile soprano, Mary Nelson, who seemed to revel in running through passages of florid display as much as Wesley had in writing them. In considering his vocal soloists, the composer clearly favoured the women's voices, giving neither solos nor duets to the men.
Kraemer's tempos were less convincing. His concern to inject vitality into music with a (to modern ears) strange, backward-looking and forwardlooking mixture of styles, led often to a feeling not only of busyness, but of passages being raced through with unaccountably spiky accompaniments. Catch the broadcasts of the premiere (on RTE FM3, September 20th; BBC Radio 3, November 9th) and you can decide for yourself.
