20th Century Church Light Music Group

One of the group's early publications (1960)

The 20th Century Church Light Music Group was set up at the end of the 1950s by a number of British musicians who felt that church music was increasingly out of touch with modern society.[1][2][3][4] These included Geoffrey Beaumont, Patrick Appleford, Gordon Hartless and Michael Brierley. According to Appleford, they sought 'a musical lingua franca or “folk” music in the sense of ordinary folk's music rather than that 'of the pop music industry'.[5] The group published numerous hymns and recordings between 1960 and 1965, and had a significant influence on church music.

References

  1. ^ Lockley, John. "The Light Music Years". 20th Century Music Group. 20th Century Members. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. ^ Glover, Raymond F. (1990). The Hymnal 1982 Companion. Church Publishing, Inc. p. 558. ISBN 978-0-89869-143-6.
  3. ^ Dean, Talmage Whitman (1988). A Survey of Twentieth Century Protestant Church Music in America. Broadman Press. p. 254. ISBN 978-0-8054-6813-7.
  4. ^ Eskew, Harry; McElrath, Hugh T. (1980). Sing with Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Hymnology. Broadman Press. pp. 147, 152. ISBN 978-0-8054-6809-0.
  5. ^ Quoted by Simon Parry in Bulletin 256 of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland