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.

cite as

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: 4 December, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)

location of experience: St Alphege's Church, London Wall, City of London

Listeners

Henry Croswell
assurance clerk, Sunday School teacher
1840-1893

Listening to

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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.


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:39:20 +0000
Approved on Thu, 02 Jul 2020 12:41:39 +0100