 In the early part of the 18th century, brothers John and Charles Wesley began a quest to change religious music. The idea was to stir up the congregation at their newly founded Methodist church. Quite simply, the idea was to instill a religious fervor, by exciting the congregation with inspiring religious music.
The brothers brought hymns in from the sidelines of religious ceremonies, and made the music and singing of hymns, the center point of their church gatherings. It was a policy that worked very well for the Wesley’s, with many people leaving long established churches to join their new movement.
Some Church of England leaders grasped the significance of this musical change, and began a similar style of service in their own churches. However many in the established church system, resisted this new exciting musical style on the basis that it was not Christian to enjoy yourself in church.
In 1861, a new publication entitled, Hymns Ancient and Modern sold over half a million copies, in that year alone. 50 years later this total sales had exceeded 6 million copies, this was a period where reading abilities were not wide spread.
The Catholic Church also gave in to this new style of service, permitting the singing of hymns at services. These hymns featured Latin harmony and laid great emphasis on so-called Marian hymns. Most popular traditional church music of today comes from this short period in Christian Church history.
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