Music and the Wesleys (review)

Abstract

and Wesleys. Edited by Nicholas Temperley and Stephen Banfield. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. [xviii, 274 p. ISBN 9780252035814 (hardcover), $80; ISBN 9780252077678 (paperback), $25.] examples, illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index. Three generations of helped shape musical and religious life in England. As composers, performers, and pioneers, they molded as a venue for musical excellence while promoting sacred as well as secular art music. As musical figures, however, remain obscure. Per - haps this is because they operated largely in opposition to their country's principal denomination, apart from its leading musical institutions, and outside of its capital city. In a compelling collection of essays entitled and Wesleys, editors Nicholas Temperley and Stephen Banfield reassert Wesleys' place within history. They draw together disparate essays in a vision of Wesleys' musical, religious, literary, intellectual, and even entrepreneurial pursuits and influence across two countries and as many centuries. In short, they guide an exploration of John, both Charleses and two Samuels. (They also introduce, thankfully, a means to distinguish among dramatis personae surnamed Wesley.) And while they wield an editorial hand that is at times heavy-a point to which I will return-their handiwork is a welcome contribution to modest yet persistent Wesley corpus. It is certain to benefit students and scholars interested in many dimensions of Wesley studies as well as wealth of first-rate and music-making outside of England's foremost religious and musical institutions. conference Music, Cultural History and Wesleys held at University of Bristol in 2007 prompted this book, though and is not, strictly speaking, its proceedings. According to Temperley and Banfield, the [book's] emphasis has shifted in direction of greater concentration on music (p. vii). As a result, five commissioned essays supplement eleven papers delivered at conference. Additionally, John Nightingale's Cata - logue of Compositions by Charles Wesley Younger is tucked away in an appendix, further expanding scope of volume as a reference tool. Of its sixteen chapters, first eight appear under heading Music and Methodism, and consider eldest generation of well-known Wesleys; that is, brothers John and Charles. two younger generations-Charles' sons (Charles younger and Samuel) and grandson (Samuel Sebastian)-occupy second half of volume, The Wesley Musicians. In spite of its title, Music and Methodism is oriented less toward per se than hymnology, print history, and developmental stages of Methodism. These were not inclined strongly toward music. Nevertheless, John advocated impassioned corporate singing: Sing lustily and with a good courage, he once wrote. Charles fueled his brother's injunction, supplying thousands of hymn texts. In and Hymns and Hymns and Sacred Poems: Two Strands of Wesleyan Hymn Collections, Robin A. Leaver considers hymnals produced by John and Charles. Of these, A Collection of Hymns for Use of People Called Methodists (1780) and A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Lord's Day (1784) were most influential. They were not used strictly as intended, however. Lord's Day hymns enjoyed extensive use Monday through Saturday. Such off-label use veiled their separate functions: Collection of Hymns for personal use and at public meetings and Hymns for Lord's Day within service. With this distinction restored, Leaver provides a fuller picture of as it emerged as an autonomous denomination from its birthplace within Church of England. Of early Wesleyan hymnals, Hymns on Lord's Supper (1745) is among best known. In essay Eucharistic Piety in American Methodist Hymnody (1786- 1889), Geoffrey C. …