Henry Croswell et al. in St Marylebone Church, Marylebone, London - 18 December, 1881, 07:10 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 284:
[Croswell recorded that he arrived at 7.10pm]
We should have been in time had we not hunted for some unknown church.
[…]
O[rgan]. – Over the Altar, a curious position, and it was nothing much.
H[ymns]. – Mercer. One of the hymns was in Hymns A. & M.
C[hoir]. – In the gallery at the East end, a collection huddled up in two pews. They sung moderately but did not respond.
… more >>Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 284. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551444161294 accessed: 25 April, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St Marylebone Church |
| hymns selected from Mercer's hymnal | performed by the choir and organist of St Marylebone Church |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 18 December, 1881, 07:10 PM |
| Duration | 25 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. William Mercer’s ‘The Church Psalter and Hymn Book’ (1854, enlarged, 1856; new edition, 1864; reprinted with Appendix, 1872) was one of the principal Church of England hymnals before the publication of ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’. The music editor was John Goss. ‘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.