Making Music

 

Music was a constant factor in the life of Maynooth College from the beginning, not only in regard to the performance of church music but also in regard to secular music, with both professors and students forming educated listening habits, and also contributing to small recitals and ensemble playing. Music appreciation learned in Maynooth would be transmitted through its graduates to thousands of students in diocesan schools and to tens of thousands of parishioners, to the extent that 'the musical priest' became an accepted category of classification. From the mid 20th. century, that  benefit would be transmitted also through the hundreds of laymen who had left Maynooth at various stages of their studies (by 1970, less than 50% of an entry class of more then one hundred were ordained to the priesthood, and of these a further ten were later laicised). 

Academic staff from many disciplines took responsibility at various times for instruction of Maynooth College students in the singing of plain chant and more complex choral forms, but in the latter part of the 19th century the influence of various burgeoning movements and affiliations in church music began to be felt in Ireland and from then on both church and secular music assumed an enduring role in the life of the college.

In a very initial attempt to isolate the dominant figures in the various eras, the names of less than a dozen college administrators, and instructors feature. In expanding the scope of the exercise into the modern era - when the music department at Maynooth has four full professors, eight assistant professors and more than a dozen adjunct professors, lecturers and support staff - the narrative would also have to be greatly expanded to include not only that complement but also the students, graduates, post graduates, the notable figures (clerical and lay) who influenced musical appreciation, and those who made a career in music. 

To this might be added the contribution of external performers who gave concerts at Maynooth, including the Radio Eireann Symphony Orchestra, whose annual visit to the college (in exchange for the rights to broadcast Mass from there during a Spring month) served for many students as their first introduction to serious music.

Although there were many precursors in the performance and promotion of music at Maynooth, the first significant figure would seem to be Laurence Renehan (1797-1857), who was a staff member of the college from 1825 and Professor of Sacred Scripture from 1826, eventually becoming President in 1845. Alongside his academic specialisation he had an abiding interest in both church history and church music, producing practical guides such as his Choir Manual of Sacred Music and Requiem Office Book. His History of Irish Music, edited by a successor as Professor of Scripture Daniel McCarthy (later Bishop of Kerry) and his Grammar of Gregorian and Modern Music were published in 1858, the year after he died; his colleague Richard Hackett, who was a junior dean in the college at the time and later a professor of Philosophy, re-edited the latter work and extended its contents seven years later. John Keane was employed by the college authorities as organist and choirmaster for a period in the mid 1850s, during Renehan's last years as President.

William Walsh, Vice-President from 1878 and President from 1880, published Directions for Chanting the Psalms and A Grammar of Gregorian Chant in 1885, the year he became Archbishop of Dublin. His successor as President, Robert Browne, completed the fitting out of the college chapel and the installation of the Stahlhuth organ. 

A major influence on the place of music in Maynooth at this time was Fr. Nicholas Donnelly (1837-1920), Administrator of St. Andrew's Parish, Westland Row, and later Parish Priest of Rathgar and Bray. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1883, and brought to his position a strong connection with the German musical world, and in particular the Cecilian movement, of which he was a founding influence in Ireland. A custodian of the Boland family and its bakery fortune, he had translated into English in 1877 the Magister Choralis of Frans Xaver Haberl (1840-1910), a priest of the diocese of Ratisbon, choirmaster of its cathedral from 1871 to 1882, and then head of its famous cathedral music school. Donnelly's connection with Haberl and with Germany (he spoke the language fluently, as he did Italian) would be a major factor in the spread of interest and infrastructure in both church and secular music in Ireland and his personal relationship with Haberl would result in the appointment of Heinrich Bewerunge to Maynooth as well as of several Continental organists to Irish cathedrals.

Other musicians with involvement in Maynooth's musical progress were Edward Houghton, who was employed in the same capacity as John Keane (as occasional organist and choirmaster) in the mid 1880s, and Alois Volkmer (c. 1857-1899), who was the organist in Bishop Donnelly's church at Westland Row and organ teacher at the Royal Irish Academy, where he represented the Catholic tradition in an otherwise Protestant milieu. Born in Silesia in Germany in 1857 or 1858 he became a part-time instructor in music at Maynooth in the period before Bewerunge's appointment and would seem to have lived and performed both before and after this assignment in Liverpool, as well, according to some sources, as in South Africa. He died in March 1899 while in his early forties.

HEINRICH BEWERUNGE (1862-1923) Born in Lethmathe in rural Westphalia but brought up in Dusseldorf, he was educated for the priesthood at the Collegium Willibaldum in Eichstadt (now the Catholic University of Eichstadt-Ingoldstadt). He studied theology at Würzburg University and music at the Bayerisches Staatskonservatorium der Musik, taking a post-graduate diploma at the Kirchenmusikschule in Regensburg, and working extensively under the notable Cecilian Fr. Franz Haberl in that movement's task of promoting the use of plainchant and polyphony in the liturgy. Ordained priest in 1885 for the Diocese of Paderborn, he was seconded to the archdiocese of Cologne, where he acted as secretary to the vicar general and cantor at the cathedral in the new administration of Archbishop Krementz. In 1888 he was 'head-hunted' through Fr. Haberl by the Irish hierarchy for a contract assignment to establish Church Chant and Organ as an area of major study at the national seminary. Appointed permanently to the position of professor shortly thereafter, he would dominate the burgeoning church music scene in Ireland for the next quarter-century, working with bishops, priests and a new generation of continental organists and choirmasters across Ireland to introduce a higher standard of musical performance to liturgies. He combined this with the production of regular articles on his subject in publications in Ireland and Germany, the transposition of notable choral works for male voice parts, major inputs into the specification and building of organs, and membership of the committee of the Feis Cheoil. On holiday in Europe in at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he was prevented from returning to Ireland by the outbreak of the first World War; when he did return in 1921 he was not in good health, and survived for only two years, dying at the age of sixty-one. He is buried in the college cemetery;

 

MICHAEL TRACY (1892-1954), who was ordained as a priest of the diocese of Limerick at Maynooth in 1916, having served as a student replacement from 1914 for organist and choirmaster Heinrich Bewerunge during his enforced stay in Germany; he continued in this position until Bewerunge's return in 1921, and after his death in 1923; he was appointed Professor of Church Chant and Organ 1927, serving in that position until he retired due to ill-health in 1951;

 

CATHAL O'CALLAGHAN (1905-82), who was born Charles Hugh O'Callaghan in 1905 in Rathmullan, Co. Donegal, the second child and second son in the family of three boys and three girls of Patrick O'Callaghan, a prominent businessman in the town, and his wife Elizabeth. He was educated at St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny and at Maynooth, where he graduated in English Language and Literature in 1925 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Raphoe in 1929. For the next decade he served on the English mission in the Archdiocese of Southwark, being engaged principally in pastoral work in the early years, but with an abiding interest and involvement in music, which led to his appointment in 1934 as organist and choirmaster at Southwark Cathedral. He was also involved in secular music circles in London, both as instructor and student. In 1938 he was recalled to his native diocese, where he was appointed to the English teaching staff of St. Eunan's, also taking responsibility for instruction of the students in music and forming a notable boys' choir in the county capital. In 1951 he was appointed to the chair of Music and Chant at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, succeeding Fr. Tracy who had been involved with music education in the college for almost forty years and who lived on there in retirement for a further three. In the sixteen years he was to spend as professor and conductor of the Maynooth College Choir Cathal O'Callaghan introduced an arrangement whereby sung High Masses were broadcast on national radio from Maynooth in the Easter period, and (in return) secured an annual visit to Maynooth by the RTE Symphony Orchestra. He also maintained contact with music circles in Ireland and Germany (his sister had married a German national) and supervised a highly select number of individual students in studies for the degree B.Mus. One of these, Francis Borgia Corcoran, became an internationally-recognised composer of 'new music.’ At Maynooth Cathal (known familiarly as 'Charlie Chant') composed several vocal, choral and organ works  of fine calibre in the Vaughan-Williams/Howell/Kitson styles he had so ardently studied. In 1967 he returned to pastoral service in his native diocese, becoming parish priest of Templecrone and Lettermacaward, with its main centre in Dungloe. There he continued to perform and compose, often accompanying his former student Seamus Rafferty (baritone) in recitals, and once again producing a star protege - for a year he tutored a young singer from a notable local traditional music family, the O’Braonáins. She would later achieve international fame as the artiste Enya. Fr. O'Callaghan died in 1982 at the age of 77.

 

NOEL WATSON (b. 1931), who is a native of Belfast, was educated at St Malachy’s College there and at Queen's University, where he graduated in 1952. He studied Theology at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth and was ordained to the priesthood in 1956 for service in his native diocese of Down and Connor. He returned to Queen's to study music, gained a Bachelor of Music degree and being awarded two scholarships - the May Turtle and the Hamilton Harty. To these he soon added a Licentiate of the Royal Academy in singing and performing and a Licentiate of Trinity College London in piano. He then studied at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Rome which led to him being awarded a Baccalaureate in Gregorian Chant. On his return from Rome in 1962 he was assigned to St. Joseph’s College of Education as a lecturer in Music. In 1968 he was appointed as Professor of Music at St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, succeeding Cathal O'Callaghan who had been his mentor during his student years there. He thus became the first Professor of Music to have a significant role in secular third-level education as the recognised college of the National University of Ireland at Maynooth was opened to religious and lay students. In 1984 he was appointed to Newcastle, Co. Down as curate and then in 1988 became Parish Priest in Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, a position from which he retired in 2003.

 

GERARD GILLEN (b. 1940), who became the first lay Head of Music at the National Seminary, Pontifical University and Recognised College of the National University of Ireland in 1985, united its centuries-old tradition of church music with the modern experience of music performance, appreciation and education. A native of Dublin, where he was born in 1940, he graduated with a first-class honours degree in music from University College, Dublin, in 1962 and carried out post-graduate studies from 1963 to 1967 at the Royal Conservatoire of Music, Antwerp (where he gained the Prix d'Excellence, the highest award for instrumental performance). He also studied at Oxford University, where he acquired his B.Litt. in Musicology under James Dalton from 1967-70; in 1992 he returned to the university as holder of the John Betts Memorial Fellowship. In 1969 he had joined the staff of his alma mater as Lecturer in Music, a position he would occupy for the next dozen years, and in 1976 he added the responsibility of Titular Organist at Dublin's Pro-Cathedral.  In 1984 he was conferred with a Knighthood of St Gregory (KCSG) by the Vatican. Following his appointment to the staff of Maynooth, he extended his performance schedule to include, in addition to his Pro-Cathedral duties, concerts in Europe, the Middle East, America and Australia. He has also been a member of international competition juries in Oxford, Ann Arbor, London, Graz and Dublin. Gerard Gillen was founder of the Dublin International Organ & Choral Festival (now ‘Pipeworks’) and principal organiser of the Tullamore Summer Organ Concert Series.  He was also elected to Fellowship of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (FRIAM). As Professor of Music at the National University of Ireland Maynooth from 1997 he oversaw a dramatic expansion of the department. Professor Gillen retired from the academic position in 2007 (he continued his tenure at the Pro-Cathedral until 2018). In 2006 he was made a Chevalier des Ars et des Lettres by the French Government, and in 2007 he was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa by the Pontifical University of Maynooth. In 2010 he was awarded the Belgian Government honour of ‘Officer of the Crown’ and the Ehrenkreuz für Wissenschaft und Kunst, 1e Klasse (Cross of Honour for Science and Arts) by the Government of Austria.

 

JOHN O'KEEFFE: The musical education tradition at the Maynooth Colleges continued with the appointment in 1985 of John O'Keeffe as Director of Sacred Music at St. Patrick's College, a position he subsequently combined with that of Director of Choral Groups at Maynooth University. There he conducts the University Choral Society and oversees the activities of the Maynooth Chamber Choir, the Maynooth Schola Gregoriana (a joint SPCM/MU project) and the MU ladies’ choir, Altus. He also directs postgraduate and diploma courses in liturgical music and chant at both SPCM and MU.

A native of Portmagee, Co. Kerry, he came from a musical family - his late father, Vincent, an accordionist, was a familiar figure on South Kerry stages in the 1950s, and his mother, Ina, who is from Lisselton, was well known as a fine singer and music teacher. 

His career in church music began when he was aged eight, as organist in his parish church under the supervision of his national school teacher, Bridie O'Connell. At the age of 12 he was awarded a scholarship to St Finian’s College, Mullingar, where he joined the Scola Cantorum, allowing the specialist study of sacred music alongside regular secondary school subjects.

After studying as an organ scholar at Westminster Cathedral and Dublin's Pro-Cathedral, and under David Sanger, Ben van Oosten and Gerard Gillen, he was appointed organist and choir master at St. Mel's Cathedral Longford.

He holds a master's degree in organ (MU 1988, based on his thesis An analytical survey of the organ music of Maurice Durufle 1902-1986) and a doctorate in musical composition and performance (University of Limerick 2007, based on his thesis Music and Text in the Mass Settings of Seán and Peadar Ó Riada: Models, Modes and Motifs). His work 'The Masses of Seán and Peadar Ó Riada: Explorations in Vernacular Chant’ was published by Cork University Press in  2017.

As a composer of liturgical music, his Mass of Saint Mel was commissioned to mark the rededication of St Mel’s Cathedral, and his new vernacular setting of the Credo was commissioned as part of Irish Dominican celebrations to mark the eighth centenary of the death of their founder.

His compilation of an indigenous repertoire of liturgical music for Mass and office, a small portion of which has so far been published as part of the Church music series ‘Feasts and Seasons’, continues.

In 2018 he conducted the choir and orchestra for the Mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park during the visit of Pope Francis.

In 2021 he shared with fellow-organist Ronan McDonagh the award of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Gregory the Great, established in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI and the highest honour awarded by a pope, usually in recognition of services to or support for the church. Previous Irish recipients include the tenors John McCormack and Frank Patterson, the politician John Hume and the businesswoman Margaret Downes. The award was made at Mullingar Cathedral on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Schola Cantorum.

In 2021 also he was awarded the Higher Diploma in Theological Studies of St. Patrick's Pontifical University following completion of the required course of studies, for which he secured a prize for excellence.