Mr. Langham et al. in near Newmarket, Suffolk - in the middle of the 1760's

from Memoirs of the late Thomas Holcroft: Written by Himself; and Continued to the Time of His Death., pages 140-143:

One day as I happened to be passing the church, I heard voices singing, which exercise I admired; and having, as I thought, a tuneful voice, I was desirous of becoming acquainted with so pleasing an art. I approached the church door, found it open, and went in, when I found my ear charmed with some heavenly addition to the sweet melody of music; and on inquiry was told, they were singing in four parts. At the head of them was a Mr. Langham, who could sing…   more >>

cite as

Thomas Holcroft, and William Hazlitt (ed.), Memoirs of the late Thomas Holcroft: Written by Himself; and Continued to the Time of His Death., volume 1 (London, 1816), p. 140-143. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1656601129218 accessed: 22 November, 2024

location of experience: near Newmarket, Suffolk

Listeners

Mr. Langham
maker of breeches, Singing Teacher
Thomas Holcroft
actor, apprentice shoemaker, lyricist, Playwright […]
1745-1809

Listening to

hide composers
four-part singing performed by student singers, Thomas Holcroft

Experience Information

Date/Time in the middle of the 1760's
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, indoors, in public, solitary

Notes

Thomas Holcroft had a remarkable memory and a great hunger for learning, including literacy, numeracy, singing, violin and was an able, clever stableboy at this time. Langham also instructed Holcroft in mathematics and ‘was a maker of leather breeches, which were worn through all Newmarket’ (p. 147). Holcroft studied in earnest John Arnold’s Church Music Reformed, Or The Art of Psalmody Universally Explained Unto All People, 1765 when he learned to sing.


Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Thu, 30 Jun 2022 15:58:49 +0100
Approved on Mon, 18 Jul 2022 10:53:12 +0100