Henry Croswell et al. in St Mary Magdalene Church, Bermondsey, London - early October, 1882, 06:30 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 301:
We left during the Anthem, the Church being so far away.
[…]
O[rgan]. – Large and loud in the West Gallery.
H[ymns]. – Church Hymns and Anthem.
C[hoir]. – Large, unsurpliced, males - fine solos.
[…]
[The congregation numbered] 1300 – […] It was wonderful and exceptional to see the sight of such a crowd and to… more >>
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 301. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1552395256733 accessed: 26 April, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composersExperience Information
| Date/Time | early October, 1882, 06:30 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. In the transcript, the record is dated as 2 October 1882, which was a Monday. Given that Croswell usually mentions if he has visited a church on a weekday, it is more likely that the date of the visit was Sunday 1 October. ‘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.