LETTER TO THE EDITORSir, I was interested to read Paul Tindall's column in BIOSRep, XXVII, 1, 27, particularly his reference to John Avery and the Asylum Chapel ). As a by-product of my long-unfinished thesis on Metrical Psalm and Hymn performance, I can supply the following information, and confirm that 'the Assylum' was indeed the Asylum for Female Orphans. According to the title page of Riley, William, Psalms and Hymns, for the use of the Chapel of the Asylum for Female Orphans (London, 1767), the Asylum was situated 'on the Surry Side of Westminster Bridge'. Writing under the pseudonym 'David Hughson', David Pugh described the chapel in his extensive publication London; Being an Accurate History and Description of the British Metropolis and its Neighbourhood, to Thirty Miles Extent, From an actual Perambulation (6 vol., 1805-9, iv, 534, British Library, 289.h.13-18): A very neat chapel is included in the plan, in which some respectable minister of the Gospel officiates as a preacher on Sundays; the girls also sing appropriate hymns, accompanied by a good organ. A number of the nobility and gentry frequent this place of worship. Five distinct publications of the psalms and hymns performed by the girls at the chapel were issued between 1767 and 1820. These include compositions by a large number of prominent London musicians and many settings include organ preludes and interludes in the manner of anthems - these were known as 'Set-pieces'. Organists at the chapel included Samuel Arnold, William Gawler, John Wall Callcott, William Horsley and Thomas Forbes Walmisley (father of Thomas Attwood Walmisley of D minor evening canticles fame). David Burchell, |