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Views from the Choir Loft

Mark Dwyer • Concert to Benefit the E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings (1875) Organ at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Richard J. Clark · October 23, 2018

ARK DWYER, Organist and Choirmaster of the Church of the Advent and one of the finest church musicians in the country, will have the distinction of shining the light on two glorious Hook organs in Boston all at the same time — and in one concert.

With the Cathedral of the Holy Cross currently under renovation, fundraising for the Cathedral’s historic 101-rank E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Organ, Opus 801 (1875) continues with a concert at Saint John’s Seminary:

Sunday, October 28, 2018, 3:00pm
St. John’s Seminary • 127 Lake St., Boston, MA 02135 Dwyer will play works by Sowerby, Franck, Handel, and Whitlock on the beautiful Hook & Hastings — 1902, Opus 1833 restored by the Andover Organ Company in 2015.

• Download concert poster and info here.
• Download concert program here.
• Suggested donation: $20. Boston AGO members, Seniors, and Students: $10.
• Parking is available at Saint John’s Seminary.
• The Seminary is accessible by the MBTA Green Line “B Train” outbound to Boston College (end of the line).

The Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, Massachusetts contains one of the most notable historic pipe organs, the 101-rank E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings Organ, Opus 801 (1875). Quite distinctive and rare is not that it is Hook’s largest organ, or that it was the largest organ built in America at that time, but that it is still nearly tonally intact from 1875. It is a concrete link to many generations who have worshipped in Boston. It is a living and breathing connection to sacred art and to our treasured traditions. These in turn elevate our minds and hearts to God and remind us of who we are today.

• Listen to several brilliant improvisations by Mark Dwyer on the Cathedral Opus 801 organ here.

• Listen to Janet Hunt perform on the Seminary’s Opus 1833 organ here.

ALL PROCEEDS GO ENTIRELY to the Cathedral Organ Restoration Fund for the E. & G. G. Hook, Opus 801. While the instrument has come a very long way in recent decades, there is much more restoration work that needs to be done. I hope to prioritize additional restoration projects in collaboration with the Andover Organ Company.

Another happy development is that with the removal of a great deal of carpeting and the addition of marble floors, the glorious sound will be further enhanced. Any funds contributed will be supported by an improved acoustic! We wish to keep it playing more beautifully than ever and for years to come.

The main sanctuary of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross is scheduled to reopen in time for Holy Week of 2019. (The Cathedral’s Blessed Sacrament Chapel and Our Lady’s Chapel are still open and continue to serve the Cathedral Parish.) I also greatly look forward to Leo Abbott’s rededication recital of the E. & G. G. Hook, Opus 801. As Music Director and Organist of the Cathedral for thirty-three years, it is truly his voice and he makes it sing like no one can.

E OWE AN ENORMOUS DEBT OF GRATITUDE to Leo Abbott, FAGO, ChM. for nearly singlehandedly driving the ongoing restoration of this beautiful instrument that was in disrepair (and at times silent) for parts of the Twentieth Century. It has been a labor of love that began with cleaning pipes in the basement and doing a number of improvements on a shoestring budget. My intention is to build upon Abbott’s legacy and allow this instrument to continue to serve the greater glory of God.

This concert is co-sponsored by the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. In addition, Many thanks to Janet Hunt, Director of Music and Organist at St. John’s Seminary for hosting this benefit concert two years in a row. Such collaboration for the sake of sacred music, art, and beauty is rare and very special!

Soli Deo gloria

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Pipe Organ Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III: a.k.a. “Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne.” This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. Feel free to download the score, generously made available—free of charge—to the whole world by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

Dom Vitry never claimed chant could not be used successfully with English words. No one need take my word for it. He was a pioneer on the matter of vernacular adaptation, and I need only refer you to the many publications of his own “Fides Jubilans” press. What he said was that adaptation involved some mutilation, and that we were faced with one or the other.

— Monsignor Francis P. Schmitt (1963)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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