The eighth illustration consists of four watercolour paintings by Francis Routh’s wife Diana. Painting in watercolour gave her particular satisfaction, and three of these paintings were finished works in themselves before being chosen as suitable for use as cover for discs, which her husband was working on at that time. These three CDs are: Redcliffe Recordings (RR catalogue numbers)
- Château du Guildo, Bretagne RR 018 British Musical Heritage © 2004 Les pierres sonnantes, le soir
- ‘Moving together’ RR 020 British Musical Heritage © 2003
- The Loire RR 021 British Musical Heritage ©2010
Illustration 8
Château du Guildo
Bretagne
Les pierres sonnantes, le soir
The first three of these paintings were landscapes or seascapes. The fourth was for a CD and filled a very different purpose, being specially commissioned in 2001 from Diana Routh by Redcliffe Recordings in celebration of the rediscovery of the music of the Georgian composer Samuel Wesley, 1766 – 1837. He was the most important composer of the classical period in England; yet during his lifetime his music was largely ignored. After his death the very name Wesley was officially buried by the Victorian Establishment, until by the turn of the twentieth century all trace of his life and work seemed to be erased from the musical culture of das land ohne musik.
And yet Samuel Wesley was born into one of the most distinguished families in the land. His father Charles Wesley the hymn writer, and his uncle John Wesley the founder of Methodism, ensured that Samuel Wesley’s music would one day be heard and judged for what it was, with a true aesthetic.