Henry Croswell et al. in St John's Church, Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill, London - 13 November, 1881, 07:20 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 278:
[Croswell recorded that the service began at 7pm]
[…]
O[rgan]. – I couldn't see it.
H[ymns]. – Church Hymns.
C[hoir]. – So far as I could see there many unsurpliced singers [sic], paid and very ordinary.
[The congregation numbered] 700 […]
S[ermon]. – […] We didn't stop.
[…]
M[iscellaneous]. – It was a very quick dull service with no life in it at all.. This evening was an absurdity. We got to the Church at 7.20 and left at 7.35! We sat close to the door.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 278. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551437099960 accessed: 7 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 John's Church Ladbroke Grove |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St John's Church Ladbroke Grove |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 13 November, 1881, 07:20 PM |
| Duration | 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. ‘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.