Sacred Harmony:
The Musical Wesley Family

1 February– 28 April 2007

Curated by
Carlton R. Young

An exhibition celebrating the contributions to church music by the Wesley family, Sacred Harmony: The Musical Wesley Family, premiered 1 February, 2007 at Perkins School of Theology’s Bridwell Library, beginning a series of events commemorating the tercentenary of Charles Wesley's birth.
The exhibition, curated by Dr. Carlton R. Young, Professor Emeritus of Church Music at Emory University and editor of The United Methodist Hymnal, featured correspondence, hymn and tune collections, books, and scores illustrating the formation and development of eighteenth-century British Wesleyan-style worship song, and the musical education and career of several generations of the Wesley family. The exhibition paid special attention to John, Charles, Charles Jr., Samuel, and Samuel Sebastian Wesley and ran through 28 April  in The Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Galleries at Bridwell Library.

Events surrounding the exhibition opening 1 February began in  Perkins Chapel at 4:30 P.M. with a  performance of a  sonata by Charles Wesley, Jr., “Sonata per il Cembalo in F minor" performed by Dr. Larry Palmer. Bridwell Library recently acquired this signed manuscript, and Bridwell Library staff member Clyde Putman transcribed the original. Following the performance,  Dr. Nicholas Temperley, Professor Emeritus of Musicology at the University of Illinois,  delivered a lecture in Perkins Chapel entitled “Music and Charity in Eighteenth-Century England, with Special Emphasis on the Lock Hospital.”

The exhibition traveled to the Duke Divinity School Library and was on display, 15 June-1 August, 2007, and then to the United Methodist Archives Center at Drew University, 15 September-15 November, 2007.