Henry Croswell et al. in St Magnus' Church, London Bridge, City of London - 26 January, 1879, 06:30 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 143:
O[rgan]. – Grand, old.
H[ymns]. – Mercer - hymns inappropriate for the season. An Anthem was sung also.
C[hoir]. – A paid quintette with select solo singing.
[The congregation numbered] 30 and Officials plus Charity children prettily dressed.
[…]
M[iscellaneous]. – I found the service dull, uninteresting, lifeless and respectable. There were printed papers about the singing but nobody sung except the paid choir. […] There is a singing class evry [sic] Wednesday. Of whom could it be comprised?
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 143. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1547649420668 accessed: 7 November, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
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Listening to
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| Date/Time | 26 January, 1879, 06:30 PM |
| Duration | 1 hours 20 minutes |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |
Notes
Henry Croswell (1840–93) kept a record of his visits to churches in London over a period of more than twelve years (1872–85). He made methodical notes about the number of clergy, the churchmanship, the congregation, the sermon and the church architecture, as well as commenting on the music that he heard (the organ, the hymns and the choir). The above listening experience has been extracted from one of these records. William Mercer’s ‘The Church Psalter and Hymn Book’ (1854, enlarged, 1856; new edition, 1864; reprinted with Appendix, 1872) was one of the principal Church of England hymnals before the publication of ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’. The music editor was John Goss.