Charles Wesley

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BiograCharles Welsey. was the son of Susanna Wesley

Susanna Wesley

Susanna Wesley, born Susanna Annesley, was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley and the mother of John Wesley and Charles Wesley. She was born in January 1669 and died on 23 July 1742....
 and Samuel Wesley

Samuel Wesley (poet)

Samuel Wesley , is now known as the father of a great religious leader, John Wesley; in his own time he was known to many as a poet and a writer of controversial prose....
. Like his brother John, Charles Wesley was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a Counties of England in the east of England. It borders Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire....
, England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, where their father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxbridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college....
 and Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church , is one of the largest Colleges of the University of Oxford of the University of Oxford in England. As well as being a college, Christ Church is also the cathedral church of the diocese of Oxford, namely Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford....
, where his brother had also studied, and formed the "Oxford Methodist" group among his fellow students in 1727 which his elder brother, John joined in 1729 soon becoming its leader and moulding it to his own notions. George Whitefield

George Whitefield

George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, , an Anglican itinerant minister who helped spread the Great Awakening in Great Britain and, especially, in the British North American colonies....
 also joined this group. After graduating with a Masters' in classical languages and literature, Charles followed his father and brother into the church in 1735, and travelled with John to the colony of Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
 in America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 in the entourage of the governor, James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe

James Oglethorpe was a Kingdom of Great Britain general, a philanthropist, and was the founder of the colony of Georgia . He was born in London, the son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe of Westbrook Place, Godalming in the county of Surrey....
, returning a year later.

Charles lived and worked in the area around St Marylebone Parish Church

St Marylebone Parish Church

St Marylebone Parish Church is a church in London, from which Marylebone gets its name....
 and so, just before his death, he sent for its rector John Harley

John Harley

John Harley was the second son of Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.He was Dean of Windsor and briefly at the end of his life Bishop of Hereford....
 and told him "Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived, and I die, a member of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the State religion Christianity Ecclesia in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches....
. I pray you to bury me in your churchyard." On his death, his body was carried to the church by eight clergymen of the Church of England and a memorial stone to him stands in the gardens in Marylebone High Street, close to his burial spot. One of his sons, Samuel

Samuel Wesley

Samuel Wesley was an England organ and composer in the late Georgian period in British history. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart and was called by some "the English Mozart."...
, was later organist of the present church.

In 1749, he married the much younger Sarah Gwynne, daughter of Marmaduke Gwynne, a wealthy Welsh magistrate who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris

Howell Harris

Howell Harris was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Williams Pantycelyn....
. She accompanied the brothers on their evangelistic journeys throughout Britain, until Charles ceased to travel in 1765 and they moved to Great Chesterfield Street (now Wheatley Street) in Marylebone

Marylebone

Marylebone is an affluent, inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It can be pronounced as Marribun or Mar-lee-bone Marylebone is in an area of London that can be roughly defined as the area bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Portland Place to...
, where they remained until Charles' death.

Charles and Sarah had 8 children together. However only three of them survived infancy, Charles Wesley junior

Charles Wesley junior

Charles Wesley junior was an England organ ist and composer. He was the son of Charles Wesley, the great hymn-writer and one of the founders of Methodism, and the brother of Samuel Wesley, also an organist and composer....
 (1757-1834), Samuel Wesley

Samuel Wesley

Samuel Wesley was an England organ and composer in the late Georgian period in British history. Wesley was a contemporary of Mozart and was called by some "the English Mozart."...
 (1766 – 1837), and their sister Sarah Wesley. Both Samuel and Charles junior were organist

Organ (music)

The organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard played either Manual or Pedal clavier. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the European classical music....
s and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
s; Samuel Wesley's son, Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Samuel Sebastian Wesley

Samuel Sebastian Wesley was an England organ and composer.He was born in London, the son of the composer Samuel Wesley and his partner Sarah Suter, and grandson of Charles Wesley....
 was one of the foremost British composers of the 19th century, and some of Charles junior's works are still available and played.

In the course of his career, Charles Wesley published the words of over five and a half thousand hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity/deities, a prominent figure or an epic tale....
s, writing the words for a further two thousand, many of which are still popular. These include:

• "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" (Lyrics)
• "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
  Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
  
  Christ the Lord Is Risen Today is a Christianity hymn associated with Easter. Most of the stanzas were written by Charles Wesley, and the hymn appeared under the title Hymn for Easter Day in Hymns and Sacred Songs by Charles and John Wesley in 1739....
  " (Lyrics)
• "Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies" (Lyrics)
• "Come, O Thou Traveler unknown" (Lyrics)
• "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" (Lyrics)
• "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise" (Lyrics)
• "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" (Lyrics)
• "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (Lyrics)
• "Jesus, The Name High Over All" (Lyrics)
• "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" (Lyrics)
• "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
  Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
  
  "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" is a Christian hymn by Charles Wesley. It first appeared in Wesley's Hymns for those that seek, and those that have Redemption and is said to have been inspired by the song "The Song of Venus " from John Dryden's play King Arthur....
  " (Lyrics)
• "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
  O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
  
  O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing is a Christian hymn written by Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns, many of which were subsequently reprinted, frequently with alterations, in hymnals, particularly those of the Methodist Church....
  " (Lyrics)
• "Rejoice, the Lord is King" (Lyrics)
• "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (Lyrics)
• "Ye Servants of God" (Lyrics)

The lyrics to many more of Charles Wesley's hymns can be found on Wikisource

Wikisource

Wikisource is an online library of free content source text, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to harbour all forms of free text, in many languages....
.

Some 150 of his hymns are included in the Methodist hymn book Hymns and Psalms

Hymns and Psalms

Hymns and Psalms is the hymn book of the Methodist Church in the UK. The hymnbook was first published in 1983, to replace 'The Methodist Hymnbook', which was published soon after the unification of the Methodist Church in 1933....
.

He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints

Calendar of Saints (Lutheran)

The Lutheran Calendar of Saints is a listing which details the primary annual festivals and events that are celebrated liturgically by the Lutheran Church....
 of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestantism List of Christian denominations headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1988 by the merging of three churches and currently having about 4.70 million baptized members, it is the largest of all the Lutheranism denominations in the Religion in the United States and t...
 on 2 March with his brother John.

As a result of his enduring hymnody, the Gospel Music Association

Gospel Music Association

The Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 for the purpose of supporting and promoting the development of all forms of Gospel music. There are currently more than 4,200 members worldwide....
 recognized his musical contributions to the art of gospel music in 1995 by listing his name in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame

Gospel Music Hall of Fame

The Gospel Music Hall of Fame, created in 1971 by the Gospel Music Association, is a Hall of Fame dedicated exclusively to recognizing meaningful contributions by individuals in all forms of gospel music....
.

Tercentenary

• Charles Wesley Hymn Festivals for 2007, Sermons from Goettingen [www.online-sermons.info]
• Free scores with lyrics by Charles Wesley in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
  Choral Public Domain Library
  
  The Choral Public Domain Library is a sheet music archive which focuses on choir and vocal music in the public domain....
  *Biography & works at the
• held at Liverpool Hope University
  Liverpool Hope University
  
  Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s....
  
• , lecture delivered by Revd Professor Kenneth Newport, at Gresham College
  Gresham College
  
  File:Gresham College, 1740.jpgGresham College is an unusual institution of higher learning off Holborn in central London. It enrolls no students and grants no academic degrees....
  , 13 December 2007. (Available for download as MP3 and MP4).