USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The parish of the Advent in the city of Boston, a history of one hundred years, 1844-1944 > Part 9
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CHOIR BOYS, ABOUT 1856
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acter to be organized in the country, and the first in the city of Boston.2
In 1848 the exchange of the organ for another had been approved; three years later there is mention of the resig- nation of Theron Dale (a member of the original quartet) as organist. At this time Dr. F. E. Oliver, the author of the Sketch and a member of the corporation, was ap- pointed "to raise a choir and direct it." Probably he served also as organist until 1852, when Henry Stephen Cutler, Mus. Doc., was appointed to the position of organist and choirmaster.
For many years a feature of the choral worship in the English cathedrals had been the division of the choir into two sections, each complete in its representation of the four voices, and designated as decani and cantori from their seats on the side of the Dean or of the Precentor respectively. This arrangement facilitated antiphonal or responsive chanting, and was often featured in the more elaborate settings of anthems and service music. It is prob- able that for a time the Advent continued the employment of the mixed quartet, now brought down from the west gallery, as one of these two choirs; but in 1855 an ap- propriation was made for "double choirs," i.e .: evidently for a group of boys and men on each side of the chancel. Mr. Coale, in his admirable pamphlet on the early his- tory of the parish, in speaking of this double choir, writes "The Advent had the first choir of that character in any of our churches in the city. Fortunately, it was able to secure as organist and choirmaster, Dr. Henry S. Cutler, who had, I think, been brought up in England, where he was given the degree of Doctor of Music. The music be-
2 The first "boy choir" in our Church appears to have been or- ganized in St. Paul's College, Flushing, L.I., about 1839. Dr. Mühlen- berg introduced it at the Church of the Holy Communion in New York in 1845, but the choir was not vested.
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came at once a novelty, and a subject of much interest to the musical people of the day, especially as it was devel- oped along the lines of the so-called English Cathedral service. A pamphlet of ancient Church melodies and Gre- gorian chants, as used at the Advent, was published by Dr. F. E. Oliver, who arranged them. Among them was the De profundis, which he found in a French service book. It is now known all over the country, having been published in many popular hymnals, but without its source being told. There were at least seven editions of this pamphlet. The pamphlet also contained the Miserere3 with which we are all familiar.
"While Dr. Cutler was organist, what was known as the Advent Psalter was published, a collection of what were considered the best of English single chants. Thus the Parish became known as one of the pioneers in this country in the use of dignified Church music. One of Dr. Cutler's best choir boys later took orders, and for many years sang the choral service for us most beautifully, the Rev. Joseph W. Hill, who left us in the 70's, I think, to become Precen- tor at Trinity Church, New York, where he died a year or so ago at an advanced age. It was to Mr. Hill that Mr. S. B. Whitney, our well-known organist, who served under him for many years, owed a great deal that made him so highly esteemed as an exponent of Church music."
The first appearance of the Advent choir in surplices appears to have been about 1856. Dr. Cutler went to Trinity Church in New York in 1858, where he continued to direct a choir of men and boys, who, however, did not appear as a vested choir until the visit of the Prince of Wales to Trinity Church in 1860.
Of the years from 1858 to 1872 there is no mention in the parish records of the identity of the choirmasters, ex-
3 Still a feature of the Lenten evening services at the Advent.
CHOIR MEN, ABOUT 1856
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cept a reference in 1861 to a Mr. Mattson or Mattison as organist. In September of that year, the music being found too expensive, the modest appropriation was re- duced; but a month later was restored to its former figure. At this time it was decided that the organist should play "three services on Sundays, Morning Prayer on weekdays, and Morning and Evening Prayer on Saints' days"; that he should "furnish a choir of boys for Sunday mornings and two choirs for the evening"; that the service was to be "as musical as it can be rendered." Further, that the organ should be played at afternoon service on Sundays, the music to be congregational as well as in the morning. On Christ- mas, Easter, and Whitsunday, Morning Prayer might be sung. From this it may be deduced that the time for the Choral Eucharist had not arrived; and that the singing of the psalter was ordinarily confined to the office of Evening Prayer.
In December, 1865, a year and a half after the parish had moved to Bowdoin Street, a new organ was presented to the church by Mr. Edward N. Perkins and others; this instrument apparently served until 1874, when its sale was authorized, and another one was secured from Hook and Company. The latter was again changed, upon Mr. Whit- ney's recommendation, the following year.
The year 1871 was an eventful one for the music of the parish, for it was then that Samuel Brenton Whitney was appointed organist and choirmaster. Mr. Whitney served the parish as choirmaster for twenty-six years, and as organist for thirty-eight, with devotion and with a keen insight into the true relation of church music to liturgical worship. Although not a brilliant organist, he excelled in the musical quality of his improvisation, and accompanied the service with great sympathy. Under his direction the choir and the music of the Advent became famous through- out the diocese, and indeed throughout the country. He
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THE GREAT INTERCESSION
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furthered the use of the English Cathedral or choral serv- ice, and with it the best English music in the form of anthems and services, which were far better adapted to the choir of boys and men than much of the music hitherto written by our own composers (including many of distinc- tion in other musical fields), designed especially for the quartet choir then so generally employed.
In 1876 the Massachusetts Festival of Parish Choirs was organized, its membership consisting of the choirs of Epis- copal Churches in Boston and vicinity, and in some more distant cities of the diocese. The first service was held in Emmanuel Church, Boston, under the direction of J. N. Metcalf, organist of All Saints Church, Worcester, and with S. B. Whitney of the Advent and J. C. D. Parker, organist of Trinity Church, Boston, sharing the organ accompaniment. The following year the festival was held at Trinity Church, in Boston, and two years later in Boston Music Hall; but soon the services were given only in a church, as was desirable. In the beginning the large chorus must obviously have been made up of women, boys, and men; but later the organization, now named the Massachu- setts Choir Guild, included only boy choirs. In 1892 it became necessary to divide the festival into two sections, so numerous were the choristers; in later years as many as five sections were required for the thirty-five choirs par- ticipating. During all this period, however, the one or more sections held at the Church of the Advent were those in which participation was most eagerly sought-for here the dignity and beauty of the ceremonial contributed much to the impressiveness of the service and its influence upon the attending choirs. Thus the Advent and its organist con- tributed largely to the value and inspiration of these annual festivals to the member choirs, especially those of the smaller parishes, and to the large public attending them.
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Since the World War the festivals of the Guild no longer have been held.4
For the third festival, in 1878, Mr. Whitney served as Precentor, in later years more correctly designated as Guild Choirmaster ; he continued in that capacity until his death.
In 1897 Mr. Whitney resigned his post as Choirmaster of the Advent, but continued to serve as organist until 1908, when he retired and by vote of the corporation re- ceived the title of Organist emeritus. In the following year he was elected a member of the corporation. He died August 3, 1914.
For about three years after 1897 the position of choir- master was filled successively by John Pleasants and Dudley Fitts. In 1901 this office was entrusted to Albert W. Snow, who as a lad of ten years had been admitted to the choir in 1889 as a boy chorister, and who had thus had the benefit of Mr. Whitney's training in his earlier years. Mr. Snow continued in charge of the choir until Mr. Whitney's resignation as organist in 1908, when he was chosen by the corporation to fill the offices of both organist and choirmaster.
Under Mr. Snow's administration the music of the Advent reached a high standard. He was not only an able organist, but also a well-equipped church musician. He re-established the musical service upon a high level of ex- cellence, utilizing the best music of the Anglican school in England and America to replace musical services of Roman and other sources which from time to time had enjoyed a certain popularity, but which were not well adapted to the
4 Although these festivals were discontinued after 1918, mention should be made of occasional special services in which the Advent choir has since been joined by the choirs of other Boston parishes. Note- worthy among such services have been those in which the excellent choir of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, under the direction of its choirmaster Everett Titcomb, has cooperated.
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Anglo-Catholic spirit. He also ordered the Gregorian chanting and the singing of the choral service upon a basis of recognized musical and traditional authority.
In 1918 Albert Snow resigned the position in which he had rendered such long and notable service, in order to accept a similar post at Emmanuel Church in Boston, which he retained until his death in 1939. He was succeeded by a namesake, although not a relative-Francis W. Snow- who continued ably to sustain the musical traditions of the parish until 1922, when he, too, resigned, in order to be- come organist and choirmaster of Trinity Church in Boston, a position which he still occupies.
Francis Snow was, succeeded by Alfred Hamer, a young organist of ability, who served until 1925, when he ac- cepted an invitation to take charge of the choir and music of Trinity Church, Pittsburgh. Mr. Hamer was followed by Thompson Stone of Boston, a finely equipped musician, who remained until 1928, when he resigned in order to devote much of his time to the conductorship of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston.
In 1928 the present incumbent, Frederick Johnson, was appointed to succeed Mr. Stone. In the sixteen years of his incumbency Mr. Johnson has carried on his work with unfailing devotion, with a deep and reverent sense of the true relationship of church music to Catholic worship, meeting the many problems of its administration with ability and fidelity. For it must be recognized that the changes in the tide of urban population, the increasing adoption of the boy-choir by denominational churches, in addition to the continuing demands of our own parishes- together with the total absence in our own country, save in isolated instances, of the advantages of the choir-school afforded in the English cathedrals-render no easy task the maintenance of an efficient choir of boys.
In the face of what might have proved a discouragement
THE CHOIR, 1944 With the Clergy and the Organist and Choirmaster
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to others, Mr. Johnson has maintained the standards of the choir and of the repertoire at the high point of excel- lence for which the music at the Church of the Advent has long been noted; while his organ-playing both in the serv- ices and in special recitals generously given, has afforded pleasure to countless worshippers.
For many years the organ of the Church of the Advent, built by Hutchings and Plaisted of Boston and installed in 1883 at a cost of $6750, was widely known as an instru- ment of unusually fine tonal quality, a distinction to which perhaps the quite extraordinary acoustical conditions of the chancel and nave contributed not a little. In 1912 the organ was equipped with electric action, and a new console of beautiful design was installed, all the gift of the Misses Sturgis in memory of their brother, Charles Russell Sturgis.
In succeeding years further renovations of the organ were effected from time to time, but as is so often the case with instruments undergoing fundamental alterations the organ finally began to show its age; despite repeated attempts to cure its successive ailments, the need of replacement began to be evident. Under the will of the late Harold Jefferson Coolidge, long a member of the corporation and for seven- teen years clerk of the parish, a generous bequest had been made available for any one of several purposes. In 1935 it was determined to devote this bequest to the acquisition of a new organ.
The present fine instrument, constructed by the Aeolian- Skinner Organ Company of Boston under the expert super- vision of Donald Harrison, was the result. A memorial tablet, appropriately inscribed in Latin to Mr. Coolidge's memory, expresses the gratitude of the parish to its bene- factor. Not only in the accompaniment of the service, but also in frequent recitals the instrument justifies the reputa- tion it has already acquired as one of great beauty.
In the excellence of the rendering of the musical service,
2
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in the quality of the musical repertoire, and in the close as- sociation of the music with the liturgy, in which emphasis has ever rightly been placed upon the music of the services itself, as distinguished from incidental anthems, the Church of the Advent has long set an example. As has been noted, the use of Gregorian chants for the psalms, and upon occa- sion for the canticles as well, was introduced at the very first ; as was the substitution of a psalm at the Introit for the metrical versions of the psalms which for a time were the only form of hymns authorized by the Church. At a later date the use of the proper Introits of the Mass became in- variable, while in more recent years the singing of the Ordi- nary of the Mass in the traditional plainsong settings has often been a feature of the High Mass, not only in Advent and Lent-when their inherent simplicity has made them an effective preparation for the festival music of Christ- mas and Easter-but on other Sundays and certain feast days as well.
From the first the singing of hymns by the congregation has always been a feature of the musical service, however important may have been the portion delegated to the choir. For many years the English hymnal Hymns Ancient and Modern was regularly used, having been introduced before the book authorized by General Convention in 1892 became available. The English collection contained many hymns, otherwise unobtainable, which were important to the use of the Advent. In 1925 The English Hymnal was adopted for use in the parish. (The use of the American Hymnal of 1940 is now under consideration. )
The musical order of the choral service of the Mass, as sung by the priest and with the responses of the congrega- tion, in which hearty participation has always been encour- aged 5 follows strictly the principles established by General
5 In 1874 Fr. Grafton declared that "the Creed is properly sung ac- cording to ancient custom. . . . It is to be regretted that the whole con- gregation are not able to join in the choral rendering of the Creed ; in
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Convention's Joint Commission on Church Music, the sec- retary of which is a member of the Advent corporation. The elaborate musical masses of Roman source, which for a time found favor, have been replaced by those of the best composers of the Anglican school in America 6 and Eng- land, which are far better adapted to our own liturgy ; while the sentimentality in music or accompaniment which once was all too prevalent in our churches has given way to a better and more fitting order.
Thus it may well be to our satisfaction that in church music, as "an influence for good in this community," and in the introduction of "a more reverent worship in our churches," the Church of the Advent has played a not un- important part.
Absence of records makes it difficult to trace the succes- sive steps in the evolution of the services from the simple choir offices of the parish's earliest days to the type of wor- ship now definitely established. Obviously, Morning and Evening Prayer were the services first provided, their choral
that case we must remember that we are a congregation and not a mere assemblage of isolated units, and that the choir is our mouthpiece." (Parish Almanac for the Year of Grace 1874.) It may here be noted that for some years past at the Church of the Advent the Creed at High Mass has almost invariably been sung to the ancient Gregorian and melodic setting which has been the use of the Catholic Church for many centuries. In order further to encourage congregational par- ticipation, the melodies of the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and all re- sponses at Mass were printed on a card to be placed in the pews.
6 The debt of the Episcopal Church in America to one who at the time of his death was unquestionably her most distinguished musician -Horatio Parker-was acknowledged shortly thereafter by a special memorial service held at the Church of the Advent under the auspices of the American Guild of Organists, on Sunday afternoon, February 8, 1920. An address of appreciation was delivered by the late Rev. Winfred Douglas, Canon of Fond du Lac and long a friend of the Parish of the Advent, whose subsequent services to the cause of our Catholic church music, by reason of his profound scholarship and un- tiring Christian devotion, were of inestimable value. (It is gratefully recalled that only a few months before his death in 1944 Canon Douglas sang the High Mass on a Sunday at the Advent. )
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rendering dating from Dr. Cutler's time, in the 1850's."
The weekly celebration of the Holy Eucharist was insti- tuted by Dr. Bolles in 1862, in order that soldiers at home on leave might make their communions with their families. At first it was probably not the principal service of Sunday. The time of its weekly celebration with choir, as the chief service of Sunday, presumably was when Fr. Grafton be- came rector ; an inventory of vestments dated 1888 lists chasubles in all the ecclesiastical colors, also white and red dalmatics and tunicles. The use of the latter, and conse- quently the celebration of High Mass, was probably con- fined to the great feasts and festal seasons.8
Until 1911 the choral celebration of the Holy Eucharist ordinarily was preceded by Choral Matins, except upon the great feasts and during certain portions of the year. Even until 1919 this order was followed on the last three Sundays in Advent, and in some years also during Lent. The daily celebration of Holy Communion dates at least from 1873, possibly somewhat earlier.
For many years Solemn Evensong (i.e., choral, with incense) has obtained as the second choir service of Sun- day. During the earlier years at the present church in Brimmer Street the daily afternoon service of Evensong during Lent, fully choral, was well attended; but with chang- ing conditions, beginning with the Lenten season of 1916, it became unwise to continue the attendance of the choir.
Of the occasional services for which the Church of the Advent has long been renowned, both the Litany sung in procession on a week-day evening in Lent and followed by a special choral rendering of the Miserere already referred to,
" It is interesting to note that in 1861 the vestry voted "that means be found to deter persons leaving the church before sermons"!
8 For a few years, through the generous interest of a member of the corporation, an orchestra assisted the choir at High Mass at Christmas and Easter. In November, 1892, however, the rector was requested by the corporation "to confine the music at Christmas and Easter, as far as practicable, to the choir."
ET INCARNATUS EST The Christ-Mass at midnight
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and the Three Hour Service of Good Friday, now so widely observed in other churches in Boston, were instituted at the Church of the Advent many years ago. The carol serv- ices of Christmas Eve and the evening of Easter Day are noted far and wide, while the singing of carols on Beacon Hill on Christmas Eve, initiated by the choir of the Ad- vent, was for many years an annual event of which the fame spread throughout the country. It appears that this custom originated during the rectorship of Dr. Bolles; º its ob-
9 It is interesting to know of the impression made upon one who was then not of the Episcopal faith, upon hearing this singing for the first time. The Rev. Frederic Dan Huntington, a Unitarian minister, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in Harvard College and Preacher to the University, on Christmas Day, 1859 wrote to his sis- ter : ". . . After the house had become still, about half-past ten o'clock, as I was sitting in the study preparing for the holy duties of today, suddenly most delightful music, in youthful voices, broke under my window. I raised the curtain, and there stood a picturesque group of singers, mostly young boys, muffled in cloaks and shawls, with lan- terns, under the sparkling stars in the frosty night air, pouring out Christmas carols, genuine old English carols, in words and music wholly peculiar, and beautiful exceedingly. At first I puzzled to make them out. I noticed that whenever they spoke the name of Jesus they bowed the head. Altogether the effect was remarkable,-as if I had been transported back into the ages of old romance and faith. On going out to ask the strangers in, they greeted me with a 'Happy Christmas.' They proved to be the choir of the Episcopal 'Church of the Advent' in Boston, whom one of our neighbors worshipping there had brought out to his house here, where I presently joined them. It was an old-Country church custom for these companies, called 'waits' to carol in this way, on Nativity night, under the Rector's window. You know the pathetic and moving character of the music-voices of boys. This formed a charming conclusion to the day." (Memoirs and Letters of Frederic Dan Huntington . .. by Arria S. Hunting- ton, p. 150.)
In 1860 the Rev. Dr. Huntington became a candidate for Holy Orders ; on September 12 he was ordered deacon, and in March, 1861, he was advanced to the sacred priesthood by Bishop Eastburn. He was the first rector of Emmanuel Church in Boston ( September 16, 1860; cf. Bishop's address to the Diocesan Convention in 1861). April 8, 1869 he was consecrated first Bishop of the Diocese of Cen- tral New York.
Bishop Huntington was the father of the Rev. James O. S. Hunt- ington, the sainted founder of the Order of the Holy Cross.
THE CHRISTMAS CRÈCHE
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servance continued until 1925. During the years immedi- ately preceding, the simple charm of this annual heralding of the Nativity of our Blessed Lord had gradually been obliterated by the noisy demonstrations of countless sight- seers, and the discordant and often raucous sounds of mod- ern traffic. It must be admitted also that the effect of the night air and of the frequently inclement weather, and the resultant fatigue occasioned, proved anything but favorable to the adequate participation of the choir-boys in the Christ- Mass of the following morning. So, although with genuine regret, the participation of the Advent choir in this beauti- ful tradition had to be abandoned.
In 1925 the singing of the office of Tenebrae on the eve- ning of Wednesday in Holy Week was inaugurated as an annual feature of the solemn observance of that week, with a form of the service especially adapted for the Church of the Advent.
The Parish House
The original plans for the Church of the Advent, of which only one has been found since the death of the architect, Mr. John H. Sturgis, provided for a large octagonal parish house, to fill the entire lot remaining outside of the church, includ- ing the area now occupied by Hunnewell Chapel. The par- ish house was to have been covered by a many angled roof, with a tower instead of the present spire. These plans were modified, partly from motives of economy and other prac- tical considerations, and partly because of failure to secure the abuttors' consent to the erection of the tower.
At the same time, the rector (Fr. Grafton) being a mem- ber of the Cowley Society, it was planned to build a clergy house on Brimmer Street on the side of the church, ad- joining the rectory, and to connect the clergy house with several parts of the church. No steps were taken to erect this clergy house, however, as the Society remained in Bow- doin Street; and since the need of accommodations for par- ish work, for the Sunday School, and for the choir and acolytes was acutely realized, early in 1883 the building committee was instructed by the corporation to erect, under certain conditions, a two story building on the Brimmer Street lot, to meet these needs. The Sunday School con- tinued to meet in this building until the construction of Hun- newell Chapel.
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