Henry Croswell et al. in All Souls' Church, Langham Place, London - 20 March, 1881, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 247:
O[rgan]. – Large, fine, in the West Gallery.
H[ymns]. – S.P.C.K.but tunes from the Hymns A. & M!
C[hoir]. – Six boys and six men surpliced. They were good singers but were not allowed to respond.
[The congregation numbered] 1000 – Downstairs it was nicely full but in the pews in the gallery there were few in. It is doubtful how many free seats there were. All were respectable and there … more >>
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 247. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1551280981367 accessed: 20 April, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| hymns selected from 'Church Hymns' | performed by the choir and organist of All Souls' Church Langham Place |
| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of All Souls' Church Langham Place |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 20 March, 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. ‘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. ‘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.