This photograph is dated 1927.
It is part of an insert of the
Choristers' album.
It is part of an insert of the
Choristers' album.
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Church of the Incarnation 1290 St. Nicholas Avenue New York, New York 10033 212-927-7474 |
Celebrating 100 years of Prayer and Service 1908-2008
The Incarnation Choristers (1925)
The Reverend Daniel F. O’Sullivan formed his boy Choristers in 1925 at the Church of the
Incarnation in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan Island. They sang High Mass
each Sunday in the parish school hall until the church was complete in 1929.
Tenor and bass sections were added in 1931, and George Herlihy succeeded John O’Hara
as organist.
By 1935 the choir had earned an international reputation in the performance of liturgical
polyphonic music and Gregorian Chant. The boy sopranos rehearsed an hour each morning before
school, and the altos, who attended various high schools, rehearsed separately every Monday
evening. There were full choir rehearsals every Friday night and for an hour before High Mass each
Sunday.
In addition to two annual concerts at Easter and Christmas in the Incarnation Church,
the Choristers performed numerous times on radio and in various concerts, as well as at major
occasions at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The last concert under Father O’ Sullivan’s direction was on January 12, 1941 in the Church
of the Resurrection to which he had been transferred as Administrator.
Father died in November, 1945.
Twenty-five years later, on November 20, 1965, thirty of the former Choristers sang a Twentieth
Anniversary Memorial Mass in Gregorian Chant for their beloved director.
They were joined in spirit by fifteen other former members who could not attend.
The excellence of their boyhood training shines forth in the recording of the Mass, which was sung
after only one short rehearsal. Many of the Choristers had never met before, since their periods of
service with the choir had been at different times.
It was wholly fitting that Monsignor Richard B. Curtin directed them, since Father O’ Sullivan had
trained him to be his successor as Professor of Music at St. Joseph’s Seminary.
The album recorded by the Choristers were forwarded for deposit with the major liturgical music
libraries throughout the world including the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Pierre De Solesmes in
France, and the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music at the Vatican.
The Reverend Daniel F. O’Sullivan formed his boy Choristers in 1925 at the Church of the
Incarnation in the Washington Heights section of upper Manhattan Island. They sang High Mass
each Sunday in the parish school hall until the church was complete in 1929.
Tenor and bass sections were added in 1931, and George Herlihy succeeded John O’Hara
as organist.
By 1935 the choir had earned an international reputation in the performance of liturgical
polyphonic music and Gregorian Chant. The boy sopranos rehearsed an hour each morning before
school, and the altos, who attended various high schools, rehearsed separately every Monday
evening. There were full choir rehearsals every Friday night and for an hour before High Mass each
Sunday.
In addition to two annual concerts at Easter and Christmas in the Incarnation Church,
the Choristers performed numerous times on radio and in various concerts, as well as at major
occasions at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The last concert under Father O’ Sullivan’s direction was on January 12, 1941 in the Church
of the Resurrection to which he had been transferred as Administrator.
Father died in November, 1945.
Twenty-five years later, on November 20, 1965, thirty of the former Choristers sang a Twentieth
Anniversary Memorial Mass in Gregorian Chant for their beloved director.
They were joined in spirit by fifteen other former members who could not attend.
The excellence of their boyhood training shines forth in the recording of the Mass, which was sung
after only one short rehearsal. Many of the Choristers had never met before, since their periods of
service with the choir had been at different times.
It was wholly fitting that Monsignor Richard B. Curtin directed them, since Father O’ Sullivan had
trained him to be his successor as Professor of Music at St. Joseph’s Seminary.
The album recorded by the Choristers were forwarded for deposit with the major liturgical music
libraries throughout the world including the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Pierre De Solesmes in
France, and the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music at the Vatican.
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At rehearsal
| The Church of the Incarnation A Roman Catholic Church | New York City |
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