English family of religious leaders and musicians. John (1703-91), an Anglican clergyman and the founder of Methodism, spent much of his life travelling and preaching, supervising and inspiring his followers. His belief in the great power of music over men's hearts led him to compile tune books and hymn collections (1737, 1742, 1761 and 1780) in which popular or operatic songs in the fashionable galant style were adapted to religious words, a measure that not only won converts but ensured the superiority of Methodist congregational singing.
His brother Charles (1707-88), the celebrated hymn writer, had two musical sons, Charles (b Bristol, 11 Dec 1757; d London, 23 May 1834), a minor composer and organist whose works include organ concertos and string quartets, and Samuel (b Bristol, 24 Feb 1766;d London, 11 Oct 1837), one of the most gifted of his day. Lacking a permanent salaried post, Samuel lectured, took pupils, played in concerts and held appointments as organist or conductor, also composing much church music, Latin (he was briefly Roman Catholic) and Anglican, and an important group of instrumental works in Classical style. Among his best pieces are the motet Confitebor tibi Domine (1799), the Piano Sonata in D minor, the four organ concertos and the remarkable Symphony in B♭ (1802) and Concert Overture in E (c1834). He was the central figure in the early revival of Bach's music in England (from 1808).
Samuel's illegitimate son Samuel Sebastian (b London, 14 Aug 1810;d Gloucester, 19 April 1876), also a renowned organist, was the greatest composer in the English cathedral tradition between Purcell and Stanford. Despite his abrasive personality and outspoken views on the defects of cathedral music conditions, he held appointments at Hereford, Exeter, Winchester and Gloucester Cathedrals and Leeds Parish Church, concentrating his creative effort on service music (notably the monumental Service in E, 1841-5), imaginative anthems (Wash me throughly, Thou wilt keep him, Ascribe unto the Lord, Blessed be the God and Father, Let us lift up our heart, The wilderness) and devotional hymn tunes (especially Aurelia, ‘The church's one foundation’).
