for SSATB and organ
Written in 1852 in the wake of S.S.Wesley's groundbreaking Service in E this is an equally ambitious work with an important obbligato organ part. With only one change of tempo, it has an unflagging forward momentum. An ideal work for those occasions when a large-scale, expansive setting is wanted.
Peter Horton's preface makes reference to William Husk's observation that Smart was interesting if unoriginal. That's probably true, but the same could justifiably be said about much music written for the Anglican church. Smart in G evening canticles are just that. It would be overstating the case to claim that Smart in G was an early-Victorian masterpiece, but given the competition (Wesley in E aside) it's as good as it gets.