Today’s Morning Coffee Vinyl Side: Choir Of The Church Of St. Dominic “Holy God We Praise Thy Name…”

Описание: Today’s Morning Coffee Vinyl Side: Choir Of The Church Of St. Dominic “Holy God We Praise Thy Name” 1960.

When Clarence “Cal” Stepan retired as the Musical Director of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church of Shaker Heights, Ohio, of the Cleveland Diocese in 1991, it marked the end to a 44 year career of devotion to both music, but also his community. He would live another 9 years before passing away at the age of 83 in the year 2000, but he is still fondly remembered today by parishioners, Choir members, and all those he taught and brought the gift of music to over the years.

In 1960, the famed head of Columbia Records, Mitch Miller, came to Ohio, to personally oversee the recording of "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" - an album of Catholic Hymns sung by The Choir of the Church of St. Dominic’s, under the direction of “Cal” Stepan. Miller, himself a Choirmaster, knew of the choir by reputation - they were already famed in some music circles - and it was his keen ear for talent, and his own classical training, that compelled him to take a chance and see the project through.

1960 was a big coming-out year for Catholics and The Catholic Church in America. JFK, on the campaign trail, was drawing a lot of attention to his Catholic faith, and by the end of the year would become the nation’s first Roman Catholic President elect. America (very much foundationally a Protestant nation) was softening its prejudice towards the Roman Church, and in its own way the Church itself was in the midst of reform from within - ever moving closer the instigation of the Second Vatican Counsel that would take place in the autumns of 1962 through to 65 and result in the Vatican II - a reformation that would shake the Church into modernity. And this album in many ways shows just how ready for reforms the Church was.

What’s unusual about this program (and this speaks to the movement towards reform within the Church) is that it features Catholic Hymns sung in English & not Latin. It’s not that English language hymns didn’t exist that makes this remarkable though. It’s that the Church (and you can believe permission here most likely had to go back to Rome for adjudication) allowed this New World Choir, to sing Catholic English Language Hymns, in a business venture with a secular entity like Columbia Records, in an industry that many would consider awash in sin. I can only imagine the back room religious and business politics that had to go on to make this deal happen.

That the Church of Dominic Musical Director & Choirmaster “Cal” Stepan steered this ship through this journey was no small accomplishment - but his success in bringing attention to the Choir and St. Dominic, and the Catholic Faith, was only one of his many achievements. The one’s that interest me the most, are all the individual ways he helped people connect to, and share the experience and love for, listening to and creating music.

Most touching to me was reading testimonials from all his piano students whom he taught to play, and hearing the reverence and respect from those that sang for him in the Choir expressed; Reading about his academic pursuits, his memberships on musical boards and counsels; his research projects and his newspaper columns that spoke of the state of the nation with respect to sacred music in his diocese.

Cal Stepan may have worked for the Church, and felt a calling from his God to propagate his faith through music … but I think it was music that called him to God - not God that called him to music. But no matter how you see this - and what your position towards Faith is - there is no denying - he lived a musical life. And that’s a wonderful thing unto itself.