Henry Croswell et al. in St Michael's Church, Lant Street, Borough, London - 10 April, 1881, 06:40 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 250:
[E]xtreme Low Church.
O[rgan]. – Small and showy, only recently put in. It was badly played.
H[ymns]. – formerly Kemble but now S.P.C.K.
C[hoir]. – A few screaming girls anywhere. They and all behaved shockingly.
[The congregation numbered] 7 – These were grown up women. There were no males except officials. … more >>
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 250. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551283657901 accessed: 29 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 Michael's Church Lant Street |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St Michael's Church Lant Street |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 10 April, 1881, 06:40 PM |
| Duration | 1 hours 15 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. The S.P.C.K. (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) hymnbook refers to ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and/or ‘Church Hymns with Tunes (1874, under the musical editorship of Arthur Sullivan). 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. Rev. Charles Kemble’s ‘A Selection of Psalms and Hymns, arranged for the public services of the Church of England’ was first published in 1853 in a words-only edition. Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–76) was asked to edit a music edition (1864), to which he contributed a number of original melodies.