Henry Croswell et al. in St Matthew's Church, Oakley Square, King's Cross, London - 1 May, 1881, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 253:
O[rgan]. – Ordinary, in the West Gallery.
H[ymns]. – S.P.C.K., a Low Church selection.
C[hoir]. – A few squalling females in the West gallery. The choir stalls were all unoccupied.
[The congregation numbered] 500 – an ordinary congregation; […] There seems to be no response whatever.
S[ermon]. – By the Curate but we didn't stop.
[…]
M[iscellaneous]. – Everything was dull and heavy.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 253. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551286505976 accessed: 11 October, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composersExperience Information
| Date/Time | 1 May, 1881, 07:00 PM |
| Duration | 45 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) published ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and ‘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.