Henry Croswell et al. in St Matthew's Church, New Kent Road, Newington, London - early February, 1881, 07:05 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 240:
We got there at the Creed and left after the Collection.
[…]
O[rgan]. – Nice, small, plain gold pipes, good.
H[ymns]. – S.P.C.K., an ordinary selection.
C[hoir]. – Ladies, gentlemen and boys, sorted; unsurpliced in Choir stalls.
[The congregation numbered] 350 […]
S[ermon]. – […] It was ordinary, well delivered and manly - a change referred to - the removal… more >>
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 240. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551269325433 accessed: 11 October, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composersExperience Information
| Date/Time | early February, 1881, 07:05 PM |
| Duration | 55 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. In the transcript, the record is dated as 7 February, which was a Monday. Given that Croswell usually mentions if he has visited a church on a weekday, it is more likely that the date of the visit was Sunday 6 February. ‘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.