Wesley, John (EN)

Wesley John, *17 June 1703 Epworth (Lincolnshire), †2 March 1791 London, English theologian, one of the founders of Methodism. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1727, he was ordained a priest, and in 1729, together with his brother Charles, he founded a religious group in Oxford, which became the cradle of the Methodist movement. He spent most of his life travelling and preaching in churches, open-air venues, and homes. In 1742, he published the first collection of Methodist church tunes (The Foundery Tune Book), and in 1761, he compiled a collection of liturgical hymns, Select Hymns with Tunes Annext. John Wesley’s views on music, devoid of Puritan austerity (e.g., in The Power of Music), manifested in, among other things, the adaptation of popular melodies for liturgical purposes and the belief that music possesses a special power and hold over human hearts, contributed significantly to the spread of Methodist doctrine.

Literature: Jan Wesley: Kazania, transl. of an English ed. from 1787, Warsaw 1926; Letters of Samuel Wesley to Mr. Jacobs, ed. E. Wesley, London 1875, 2^nd ed. 1878, facsimile ed. entitled The Wesley Bach Letters, introduction P. Williams, London 1988; The Letters of Samuel Wesley. Professional and Social Correspondence: 1797–1837, ed. P. Olleson, Oxford 2001; Journal of the Rev. Charles Wesley, M.A., ed. T. Jackson, London 1849, reprint 1977; G.J. Stevenson Memorials of the Wesley Family, London 1876, reprint New York 2010; L. Tyerman The Life and Times of John Wesley, New York 1872; J.K. Pyne Wesleyana, in: The Musical Times, vol. 40, No. 676, 1899; R. Green The Works of John and Charles Wesley. A Bibliography, London 1896, 2^nd ed. 1906; J.S. Bumpus The Church Compositions of Samuel Sebastian Wesley, in: Musical News, vol. 39, 1910; Letters of John Wesley, ed. J. Telford, London 1931; M. Lelièvre Jan Wesley. Jego życie i dzieło, transl. from French, Warsaw 1931; J.T. Lightwood Samuel Wesley, London 1937, reprint New York 1972; E. Roudey The Musical Wesleys, London 1968, reprint Westport 1976; H. Ambrose The Anglican Anthems and Roman Catholic Motets of Samuel Wesley, Boston 1969; N.F. Adams The Musical Sources for John Wesley’s Tune Book, Ann Arbor 1974; P.P. Chappell Dr. Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Great Wakering 1977; P. Horton The Music of Samuel Sebastian Wesley, Oxford 1983; A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, The Works of John Wesley, ed. F. Hildebrandt, O.A. Beckerledge, vol. 7, Oxford 1983; R.W. Brown Chares Wesley, Hymnwriter, Bristol 1993; C.R. Young Music of the Heart: John and Charles Wesley on Music and Musicians, Carol Stream 1995;  P. Horton The Unknown Wesley: the Early Instrumental and Secular Vocal Music od Samuel Sebastian Wesley, in: Nineteenth Century British Music Studies, vol. 1, ed. B. Zon, Aldershot 1999; P. Olleson Samuel Wesley and the Music Profession, in: Music and Culture, 1785–1914, commemorative book of C. Ehrlich, ed. C. Bashford and L. Langley, Oxford 2000; M. Kassler, P.J. Olleson Samuel Wesley: a Sourcebook, Aldershot 2001; P.J. Olleson Samuel Wesley: the Man and his Music, Aldershot 2003; P. Horton Samuel Sebastian Wesley. A Life, Oxford 2004 (contains a thematic catalogue); Charles Wesley: Life, Literature and Legacy, ed. K.G. Newport, T.A. Campbell, Peterborough, 2007; Music and the Wesleys, ed. N. Temperley and S. Banfield, Farnham 2010; P.J. Olleson Samuel Wesley and the Development of Organ Pedals in England, in: Music and Performance Culture in Nineteenth-Century Britain, ed. B. Zon, Aldershot 2012; W. Markowski Jan i Karol Wesleyowie – ojcowie metodyzmu, in: Gdański Rocznik Ewangelicki, vol. 7, 2013.