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 >>
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: 8 November, 2024
Listeners
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.