Continental Organists and Catholic Church Music in Ireland, 1860-1960 Mary Regina Deacy Dissertation submitted to the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, for the Degree of Master of Literature (M.Litt.) Supervisor and Head of Department: Professor Gerard Gillen Department of Music National University of Ireland Maynooth Co. Kildare January 2005 i Table of Contents Table of Contents i Preface iv Acknowledgements x List of Abbreviations xiii Chapter One: Irish Catholic Church music to 1888 1.1 Music in the Irish Medieval Church 1 1.2 The Effect of the Reformation and the Penal Laws on Sacred Music 5 1.3 Catholic Emancipation 6 1.4 Music in Early Nineteenth-Century Dublin 8 1.5 Haydn Corri 10 1.6 The Rise of the Irish Catholic Church 12 1.7 Church Music Reform on the Continent - The Cecilian Movement 15 1.8 The Cecilian Movement in Ireland 19 1.9 Sacred Music in Maynooth before Heinrich Bewerunge 27 1.10 Heinrich Bewerunge 31 Chapter Two: Continental Organists in Ireland 1860-1888 2.1 Early Continental Cecilian Organists 35 2.2 Alois Volkmer (Dublin) 37 2.3 Herr Thinnes and Hans Conrad Swertz (Cork) 39 2.4 Dr Leo Kerbusch (Belfast) 41 2.5 Alphonse Haan (Longford) 42 ii 2.6 Cecilianism in Thurles 44 2.7 De Prins Brothers (Limerick and Cork) 48 2.8 Appraisal 53 Chapter Three: Continental Organists in Ireland 1888-1920 3.1 The Decline of Cecilianism in Ireland 56 3.2 Motu Proprio (1903) 60 3.3 Gustav Haan (Carlow) 64 3.4 German organists in Ardee, Cobh, Kilkenny, Loughrea and Tuam 65 3.5 Aloys Fleischmann (Cork) 69 3.6 Carl Hardebeck (Belfast, Cork, Dublin) 79 3.7 Early Belgian Organists 84 3.8 Arthur de Meulemeester (Belfast) 86 3.9 Arthur de Meulemeester’s The Reform o f Church Music (1936) 91 3.10 Appraisal 102 Chapter Four: Continental Organists in Ireland 1920-1960 4.1 The Lemmens Institute 105 4.2 Ireland and the Lemmens Institute 109 4.3 The Gregorian Chant Revival in Ireland 112 4.4 Bishop Fogarty and the Lemmens Institute 117 4.5 Belgian Organists in the Diocese of Killaloe 121 4.6 Karl Seeldrayers (Westport, Sligo and Carlow) 131 4.7 Staf Gebruers (Cobh) 140 Ill 4.8 Belgian Organists in Northern Ireland 148 4.9 Michael Van Dessel (Dundalk) 148 4.10 Jozef Delafaille (Newry) 160 4.11 Leon Rittweger (Belfast) 164 4.12 George Minne (Roscrea, Kilrush, Armagh) 167 4.13 Appraisal 170 Conclusion 172 A ppendix 1: Chronological list of Continental Organists in Ireland 1860-1960 180 A ppendix 2: Compositions of Continental Organists in Ireland with Author’s Introductory Note 186 Arthur de Meulemeester 190 Aloys Fleischmann 200 Michael Van Dessel 217 Staf Gebruers 232 Appendix 3: Programme of 1935 Sacred Music Concert, Ennis 238 Appendix 4: Letter from Ernest de Regge to Bishop Fogarty De Regge’s Prospectus for Church Music School at Ennis (1936) 248 A ppendix 5: Karl Seeldrayers’ Programme of Organ Music for Westport Church 261 A ppendix 6: Programme of inaugural organ recital in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dundalk, 1900. 266 Bibliography 269 Abstract 274 Preface From the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the Irish catholic church recruited musicians from the continent to fill positions of organist and choirmaster in the country’s cathedrals and churches. Although Ireland had a rich monastic liturgical tradition in the middle ages, a series of conflicts, invasions and persecutions denied this tradition a normal course of development for almost three hundred years. Consequently, after Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the Irish catholic church, free to publicly celebrate its liturgies, was confronted with a scarcity of Irish professional musical leadership. To remedy the situation, members of the hierarchy turned to the continent, and for approximately the next hundred years, employed continental musicians to improve sacred music practice in Ireland. These musicians, mostly from Germany and Belgium, made a notable contribution to the development not only of sacred music, but to the general musical life of the towns and cities where they worked. Some of these foreign organists returned to their native countries after a short time. Others remained in their adoptive country, labouring tirelessly to raise the standard of liturgical music in the Irish catholic church. All but one of these organists are now deceased,1 as are many of their relatives and close associates. 1 The Belgian organist, George Minne (1929-), the last of this group of foreign organists to arrive in Ireland, was appointed to Armagh cathedral in 1959, a position he still holds at the time of writing this thesis. V This present work sets out to discover and record this unique and interesting period in Irish catholic church music. It aims to acknowledge the work and document the legacy of this sometimes ‘forgotten generation’ of musicians. In effect, it is a tribute to their contribution to the course and history of Irish catholic church music. This study has taken the form of a fieldwork survey, and is effectively a gathering of information on foreign organists who arrived in Ireland between 1860 and 1960. Much research was carried out to discover the identities of these musicians, their areas of operation, and their collective influence on the course of Irish catholic church music and their place in the broader social context of the arts in Ireland. An examination of Aloys Fleischmann’s book, Music in Ireland: A Symposium (1952),2 revealed identities of cathedral organists who were employed in Ireland from the late nineteenth century. Information was then sought from the particular cathedral records and diocesan archives. Interviews were conducted with family members, pupils and other associates of these organists. This necessitated visits to many cities and towns in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Visits, in some instances, revealed further information concerning additional continental organists employed in Ireland, which was not contained in Fleischmann’s register. • « « • 'X The musicians, numbering forty-six, are broadly divided into two generations. The first generation were mainly German, the majority of whom arrived in the late nineteenth 2 Aloys Fleischmann:‘Register o f Cathedral Organists’, Music in Ireland: A Symposium (Cork: Cork University Press), 160-162. 3 For a full list of these continental organists who arrived in Ireland between 1860 and 1960, see appendix one. century. The second group were primarily Belgian and came to Ireland in the early twentieth century.4 By documenting and examining the work of these foreign organists in Ireland, an examination of the state of Irish catholic church music at that time has been undertaken. Subsequently, in addition to supplying detailed information on the identity and work of these musicians, this study provides an insight into the attitude of Irish bishops to sacred music in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and notes their efforts to improve sacred music practice. It is clear that a strong relationship existed between Irish ecclesiastics and the continental church from the time of the penal days when Irish clergy fled to the continent for refuge. Evidence is presented that Irish ecclesiastics were very aware of nineteenth-century sacred music developments on the continent, and were keen to implement similar developments in Ireland. Chapter One seeks to trace the events which led to the movement of continental organists to Ireland, and to identify the principal figures involved in the process. A brief historical overview of the development of sacred music in Ireland from monastic times to the late nineteenth century is presented to set the context for their arrival. Nineteenth-century church music developments on the continent are also discussed to complete the background. The cecilian movement for the reform of sacred music, established in the Bavarian city of Ratisbon (Regensburg),5 which influenced the foundation of a similar organisation in Ireland, is examined. The appointment of German musician, priest and 4 These are general categories. As will be seen, there were a small number o f Belgian organists amongst the first generation of organists to arrive in Ireland. Similarly, some German organists arrived during the predominantly Belgian ‘period’ in the early twentieth century. 5 For the purposes of this study, the name Ratisbon will be used henceforth. scholar, Heinrich Bewerunge, a student of the church music school in Ratisbon, to the chair of sacred music at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth in 1888, is singled out as being the culmination of links established between Ireland and the German-based cecilian movement. Bewerunge’s position in Maynooth prompted further appointments of German musicians to Irish cathedrals and churches in the late nineteenth century. Chapter Two, however, provides evidence of the existence of a small group of foreign organists working in Ireland some twenty years before the arrival of Heinrich Bewerunge. Their presence points to a relationship between the Irish church and sacred music structures on the continent from as early as the 1860s. The existence of this group shows that Bewerunge, although influential in the movement of foreign organists to Ireland, was not solely responsible for their introduction to this country. Chapter Three identifies a group of organists, primarily German, who came to Ireland following Bewerunge’s appointment to Maynooth, and whose arrival therefore may be attributed to his influence. Ironically, this period witnesses the eventual decline of German influence on Irish sacred music practice. Contributing factors to this decline are outlined. However, the papal document on sacred music, Motu Proprio (1903), which is summarised in this chapter, prompted the Irish hierarchy to continue employing German organists to implement its decrees until the 1920s. The chapter then sets the scene for a shift in focus from Germany to Belgium as the main centre of sacred music expertise in the early twentieth century.