Henry Croswell et al. in Christ Church, Down Street, Mayfair, London - 27 April, 1884, 06:45 PM

from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 387:

(begun 6.30)  Got there end of Psalms.

[…]

O[rgan]. – Fine, large, East end.  Organist Mus. Bac. etc.

H[ymns]. – Church Hymns.  "O rest in the Lord" -  Anthem.  Heavenly!  (tenor solo)

C[hoir]. – Surpliced, paid - splendidly trained voices; all good.

[…]

[The congregation numbered] 600 – […] A sedate lot - probably in the morning full of grand swells.

S[ermon]. – Didn't stop […]

All very low.

cite as

Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 387. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1553080551339 accessed: 9 May, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)

location of experience: Christ Church, Down Street, Mayfair, London

Listeners

Henry Croswell
assurance clerk, Sunday School teacher
1840-1893

Listening to

hide composers
hymns selected from 'Church Hymns' performed by the choir and organist of Christ Church Down Street
'O rest in the Lord' [from Elijah?]
written by Felix Mendelssohn[?]
performed by tenor soloist choir and organist of Christ Church, Down Street
Anglican church music performed by the choir and organist of Christ Church Down Street

Experience Information

Date/Time 27 April, 1884, 06:45 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.


Originally submitted by lcc5 on Wed, 20 Mar 2019 11:15:51 +0000
Approved on Thu, 25 Jul 2019 14:54:15 +0100