Henry Croswell et al. in The Royal Military Asylum, Chelsea, London - 30 March, 1884, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 383:
Got there 6.50. Home by 9.2.
[…]
O[rgan]. – None; Nice small harmonium.
H[ymns]. – A & M. A nice selection.
C[hoir]. – The whole of the boys downstairs; those upstairs, I think, only play sometimes.
[The congregation numbered] 430 – 400 lads downstairs; 30 lads up. There are 200 for the Public in the Galleries (about thirty of the Public there)
S[ermon]. – Didn't stop. (I liked the clergyman's reading of prayers etc. much). This evening's church-going I liked much.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 383. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1553031233258 accessed: 23 January, 2025 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| Anglican church music | performed by the boys and organist of the Chelsea Royal Military Asylum |
| hymns selected from 'Hymns A&M' | performed by the boys and organist of the Chelsea Royal Military Asylum |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 30 March, 1884, 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. ‘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. The Royal Military Asylum was founded by the Duke of York in 1801 as a school for the orphans of British servicemen killed during the Napoleonic Wars.