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Views from the Choir Loft

Archbishop Sheen Played The Organ!

Jeff Ostrowski · November 6, 2017

197 Fulton J Sheen R. LUCAS TAPPAN once asked: “Do you invite young children at church push down a few keys on the organ when you’re finished or do you just close up shop? Do you pull out the trumpet stop and tell him to press down the lowest pedal note and hold it? Do you tell him to try out the swell pedal and watch as the shades open and close?” He was talking about how we can generate interest in organ playing.

I thought of that when I learned 1 (today!) that Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen could play the organ:

At Fritz Kreisler’s suggestion, Sheen had taken organ lessons. His first teacher was famed swing organist Ethel Smith. Fulton acknowledged her prowess on the instrument but said that her instructional ability was weak. He then turned to a young friend, Yolanda Tomaiuoli, who was dating a cousin. She was an accomplished musician who would go on to earn a doctorate in music at Columbia University. Tomaiuoli said later that Fulton “could play some” but that “his musical talents were limited.”

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Sheen played an electric Hammond on the main floor of his building for personal enjoyment, occasionally displaying his skill to friends. Indeed, the Cahill family, invited to Sheen’s apartment for dinner, recalls dancing in his front room while the bishop played “April in Paris” on his electric organ.

In one of his talks, Archbishop Sheen made reference to “an organ here in my office”—and now, twenty years later, I understand.

Here are two articles about Sheen and Sacred music you might enjoy:

    * *  Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen On Gregorian Chant

    * *  Archbishop Sheen on Liturgy & Plainchant Choirs

The latter contains several interesting quotes, such as:

After the consecration [Sheen’s installation Mass in Rochester], Sheen told Ferris that he wanted a classical repertoire at the cathedral, including Gregorian chant. “This was unusual,” Ferris said later, “for all sorts of freaky things were being done in churches at this time.”



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Paragraph taken from Thomas C. Reeves, America’s Bishop: The Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen (New York: Encounter Books, 2002). Sources: Yolanda Holliger interview, 19 April 2000; Vincent Cahill interview; Joan Cunningham interview, 2 April 2000.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The “Nova Organi Harmonia” demanded from each of us an unusual commitment; we have dedicated to it the best of our energies. Would it be, therefore, presumptuous on our part to be satisfied with the result and to expect its welcome reception in the musical world?

— Msgr. Jules Van Nuffel (circa 1940)

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