Henry Croswell et al. in St Barnabas' Church, Bethnal Green, East End of London - 26 October, 1879, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 172:
Harvest Festival
[…]
It is the Highest church in the neighbourhood.
[…]
O[rgan]. – Small, well played.
H[ymns]. – Popular words and tunes, a Processional and the Te Deum.
C[hoir]. – A great number of well behaved, good-looking boys and three men.
[The congregation numbered] 600 The average ritualistic congregation. There were many young women, some lads but few old.
[…]
There was a sacred concert etc.
All comers were provided with Hymns A. & M.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 172. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1548350366775 accessed: 6 February, 2025 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composersExperience Information
| Date/Time | 26 October, 1879, 07:00 PM |
| Duration | 1 hours 30 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. ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern for use in the Services of the Church’ (1861; Appendix, 1868; Second edition, 1875; Supplement, 1889) was envisaged as an anthology of the best hymns available and became the most widely-used hymnbook in the Church of England during the late nineteenth century. William Henry Monk (1823–89) was musical editor.