Henry Croswell et al. in St Anne's Church, Highgate Rise [now Highgate West Hill], Highgate, London - 3 February, 1884, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 371:
O[rgan]. – Small, good, in the side of the chancel.
H[ymns]. – Church Hymns, a mild selection.
C[hoir]. – Large, surpliced, feeble but good. I was too far off to see particulars.
[The congregation numbered] 450 – […] We sat at the very end. It is pewed up to the eyes and is a most sedate congregation. Everythi[ng] is Low Church, yet all turned to the East!
S[ermon]. – We didn't stop[.]
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 371. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1552998202070 accessed: 10 October, 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 Anne's Church Highgate Rise |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St Anne's Church Highgate Rise |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 3 February, 1884, 07:00 PM |
| Duration | 50 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.