Wesley Corpus

In addition to providing the musical score, it was almost certainly Lampe who introduced the textual changes (when compared to their prior published form) that occur in some of the hymns, for musical purposes. Comparison shows more frequent variation in the text placed within the musical score than in the accompanying plain form. The text that follows reproduces only the plain form. For those who wish access to the musical scores, a facsimile reprint edition is available through the Charles Wesley Society. This facsimile edition includes a helpful four-part introduction.2 While Lampe's ornate (often florid) musical settings were fairly typical of German pietism of the time, and popular in genteel culture in eighteenth-century England, few of his tunes made their way into enduring use in Methodist and other worship traditions. Editions: Charles Wesley. Hymns on the Great Festivals. London: for M. Cooper, 1746. 2nd London: for Cox, 1753. Table of Contents Hymn I. On the Nativity Nativity Hymns (1745), 12-13 (9) Hymn II. On the Nativity; or, The Shepherd's Song Nativity Hymns (1745), 4-5 (3) Hymn III. On the Nativity Nativity Hymns (1745), 11-12 (8) Hymn IV. On the Crucifixion Hymn V. On the Crucifixion HLS (1745), 15 (20) Hymn VI. On the Crucifixion HLS (1745), 18-19 (23)