Henry Croswell et al. in St Alphege's Church, London Wall, City of London - 6 April, 1879, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 150:
O[rgan]. – It was played with such absurd emphasis. The organist once made half the Charity children (girls) laugh and the other half jump.
C[hoir]. – A delectable double quartet.
[The congregation numbered] 30
[…]
M[iscellaneous]. – […] There is no ritual whatever. "Chruch [sic] Hymns" is in use. There is a surplice in the Pulpit but it is such a service as might have been conducted two hundred years since.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 150. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1547656759955 accessed: 7 November, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| hymns selected from 'Church Hymns' | performed by the choir and organist of St Alphege's Church London Wall |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St Alphege's Church London Wall |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 6 April, 1879, 07:00 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. ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and ‘Church Hymns with Tunes’ (1874) were publications of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.), under the musical editorship of Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900). This collection was the most successful of the competitors to ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ in the late nineteenth century, containing a larger number of hymns overall, and more hymns specifically intended for children and young people.