Roman Catholic hymnody, British

Before the Second Vatican Council English Catholic hymnody falls into two distinct phases: the era between the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 and the Second Vatican Council (1962-3) and the years between that time and the present day. In the first period Catholic hymnody had a distinctly different character from its Protestant counterparts, partly because of the history of the English Catholic community; but also because it served very different functions. Between 1559 and the First Catholic Relief Act of 1778 English Catholics belonged to a persecuted community. So, except in seminaries and schools on the Continent, they had little opportunity to proclaim their faith openly in song...