St. Mary's Liturgical Choir

"Precious Lord" was written by Thomas A. Dorsey based on a tune by George N. Allen.  It was Martin Luther King Jr.'s favorite song, and he often invited gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to sing it at civil rights rallies to…

This year, the Fourth of July fell on a Sunday, so we sang the Star Spangled Banner as a postlude to Mass.  Maybe we should try out for the Dragons?

Franz Peter Schubert 

Austrian Composer 

Born:  January 31, 1797, Himmelpfortgrund, near Vienna, Austria 

Died:  November 19, 1828, in Vienna, Austria 

Buried: Schubert was buried near his mentor Beethoven 

Franz Schubert was a 19th century Austrian composer who is noted for…

John Milford Rutter 

English Composer. Conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer of choral music 

Born:  September 24, 1945 London, England 

John Milford Rutter is a distinguished English conductor and composer, born Septermber 24, 1945 in London. He was educated at…

Ludwig Van Beethoven 

German Composer 

Born:  December 17, 1770, baptized in Cologne, Germany 

Died:  March 26, 1827, in Vienna, Austria 

HALLELUJA, from the Mount of Olives has long been a favorite piece of music played and sung by the St…

Here is some background about the composer of God So Loved the World, one of the pieces that we'll be singing at Easter this year.  A clip of our version is found below.

Sir John Stainer

English Musician and Composer 

…

Click below for our version of one of the most famous pieces of sacred music.

"Ave verum corpus" is a motet composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791. It is a setting of the Fourteenth Century Eucharistic hymn, "Ave verum…

Let's remember why we sing at Mass.  Here's a view of multi-platinum Irish composer and priest, Liam Lawton:

"Music is part of the symbolic language of worship. I also believe it to be a vehicle of God’s revelation. It…

In April 1977, St. Mary's Parish celebrated the fifty-year anniversary of its Music Director, Joseph P. Geiger.  Benjamin Kline wrote a wonderful article for the Daily News, as follows:

"Joseph P. Geiger climbs the steps in the southeast tower of…

Listen for this year's rendition of "There Were Shepherds," featuring Mariah Berryman, Soprano, as our soloist.  Here is a video of our version from 2019.

St. Mary’s has always been known for its great music.  

Any history of St. Mary’s Church is inadequate without the mention of the significant contribution made by Rt. Rev. Msgr. Bernard J. Beckmeyer. Father Beckmeyer led and reinvented St. Mary’s…

Great music has always been an integral part of parish life at St. Mary’s. The tradition of amazing music became more defined following the installation of the Austin pipe organ in 1920. St. Mary’s music roots run very deep. In…

You may have heard a different sound coming from the choir loft for the Alleluia that we sing before the reading of the Gospel.  That’s because we are singing a new setting for the Gospel Acclamation.  It is a piece…

Here's our own Maria Berryman giving her all for "Ave Maria."

We are saddened to report that Sister Ruth will be leaving our choir and our parish after 13 years with us.  Sister Ruth grew up in Dayton and was baptized at Holy Family parish.  She became a Sister of Notre…

Today's communion hymn is an important one for the St. Mary's Liturgical Choir.  The music, written by Bob Moore, features harmonies that suit our voices well.  It is also a tune that encourages involvement from the congregation.

The words…

At St. Mary’s we put in a lot of effort into our music.  We have multiple choirs, cantors, and musicians, some of whom are paid for their expertise.  We care so much about the music because of how important it…

The words of this song were written by Julia Ward Howe, an author and abolitionist.  She wrote it while visiting President Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC at the start of the Civil War in November 1861.  She heard the soldiers…

When most of us think of "Do-Re-Mi," we think of the show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music, which was made into a movie in 1965.  Within the story, it is used by…

A favorite hymn of the St. Mary's Liturgical Choir is "O God Beyond All Praising!"  It is based on a melody called Thaxted, which is a patriotic song in Britain.  The melody first appeared as part of an orchestral suite…

What we would have sung this Easter if there was no virus.

What a beautiful song for early Easter dawn.