The altar is transformed into a
grassy hill, suggesting the pristine beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
The place where we gather this evening is a Holy Hill.
Long after the last glacier had done its work and carved this hill top and left the waters
of a great sound;
Long before the first European Americans and the first priest arrived,
The place where we gather this evening was a holy place.
A sacred elevation with its spring of fresh flowing water,
with its towering columns of trees,
with its lush meadows and fragrant grasses,
with its outlook on water and whales and distant islands and more distant mountains.
A place made sacred by God and blessed by the prayers of the First Peoples.
As long as people have lived on the waters of this sound,
this very place where we gather this evening has been a Holy Hill.
Jubilate! Young Women's
Ensemble sing Wagner's "Pilgrim Chorus."
1880s.
The Providence Sisters came to this Holy Hill, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and
Mary came to this Holy Hill, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and the Missionary Sisters
of the Sacred Heart came to this Holy Hill, and for the first time Seattle heard the sound
of choirs singing the ancient melodies of Gregorian chant.
1904. The land--this very land-- is purchased. This Holy Hill is to become
again a sacred place. Construction begins, not for a great Cathedral, but for a
modest wooden chapel. This entire portion of the hilltop is transformed into a building
site. And while surveys are taken and plans are drawn and dreams are dreamed, the people
of God gather on First Hill to celebrate the mysteries of the Faith and to become the
parish of St. James.
1905. The People of God came to watch Bishop ODea lay the corner stone
of the new Cathedral. Catholics and curious came.
Nuns and natives came.
Children and choirs and the entire community came.
Five thousand strong they came.
In the months following the laying of the corner stone,
a gleaming City of God rose brick by brick high above the city.
And so began a new century of pilgrimage to this Holy Hill.
Decade following decade in an ever-widening pilgrim stream.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and now, a century later,
many millions of times the faithful and the seekers have climbed this Holy Hill.
They have come from Seattle and
Washington and the world to encounter God
in this sacred space.
On December 22, 1907 the dream is no longer just a dream.
Overlooking the waters and the whales of the sound,
are the towers and mighty dome of St. James.
A baptismal font flows where once had been the spring of fresh water.
Marble columns recall the towering trees.
Polished stone replace the meadows
and fragrant grasses are transformed into incense.
In the center of this gleaming vision of the New Jerusalem--
the altar emerges from the rocks left by the glacier;
An altar carved from the Italian marble used by Michelangelo
half a world away.
December 15, 1907.
A week before the ceremonial
dedication, the entire city was invited to make the pilgrimage up the Holy Hill to the new
Cathedral. In this sacred space, before the first mass, the ecumenical gathering was
embraced by the rich sound of the largest pipe organ in the region. The Cathedral
Organist, Dr. Franklin Sawyer Palmer, a Seattleite recently returned from his studies in
Europe, demonstrated the range of this remarkable instrument, and as never before, Seattle
heard the full majesty of the great Protestant composer, Johann Sebastian Bach.
1912. The Cathedral School is dedicated and it
transforms the Cathedrals music. Womens voices had not been heard in the
Cathedral for many years since a Vatican decree of 1903 barred mixed choirs. But now, with
children at St. James, a Schola Cantorum was established and treble voices once more were
heard in the Cathedrals resonant acoustics. The Cathedral Schools
program, teaching chant singing to children, earned national acclaim, and, when radio
shows were broadcast from Seattle, these childrens voices joined with the men of the
Cathedral Choir and together were heard for miles around.
Cathedral Soloist Norman Smith
sings Dubois' "Seven Last Words."
Eighty-eight
years ago this very week, February 2, 1916, catastrophe struck the still heavily-mortgaged
Cathedral. Three feet of snow fell during a single storm. As the snow melted from the
south side of the dome, the great dome collapsed with a mighty roar--breaking windows,
throwing pews around like straws and leaving a gaping opening to the elements.
With a boldness impossible to understand unless you know Cathedral pastors, Father Noonan
began an immediate reconstruction during which the central vault, where once a dome had
soared, was lowered by nearly half its original height. He commissioned sixty-two
new stained glass windows from Tiffanys chief competitor, Charles
Connick. These windows, the worlds largest collection of glass from the
most creative period of Connicks output, were dedicated with music from Dubois
Seven Last Words of Christ.
1982. The ancient tradition of sacred drama and movement is brought to this
Holy Hill... Monks from St. Martin's Abbey, medieval instrumentalists from the Early
Music Guild, actors and dancers from Cornish College of the Arts join Cathedral musicians
in a fully-staged production of the 12th century liturgical drama Play of Daniel.
And so begins two decades of annual encounters with God in this sacred place through the
combined ministries of theater arts and dance and music and architecture and poetry.
Great Music for a Great Cathedral.
Jubilate! Young Women's Ensemble and the newly-formed St. Edward Vocal Ensemble for young men
sing the medieval "Play of Daniel," originally performed by the
young people of Beauvais Cathedral.
Intermission
James Savage conducts the
Cathedral choir in Bruckner's Agnus Dei.
Jubilate!, the Women of St. James Schola and the
Women of the Cathedral Choir
sing Verdi's "Laudi alla Vergine Maria."
Cathedral Servers
hold lanterns around the historic image of Our Lady of Seattle.
The Cathedral Brass perform music
by Giovanni Gabrieli,
originally composed for the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, 1615.
Howard Fankhauser sings "O Quanta
Qualia," a hymn of the celestial city by Peter Abelard.
The wings of the seraphim embrace
Abelard at the close of "O Quanta Qualia."
As the Cathedral Choir sings the stirring music
of Rachmaninoff, the Cathedral's collection of icons by parishioner Joan Brand-Landkamer
is carried in solemn procession.
Soprano Linda Strandberg is
Hildegard of Bingen, singing "O Frondens Virga"
with the Women of St. James Schola.
Machaut's Messe de
Nostre Dame was the first great setting of the ordinary of the Mass for four-part
ensemble. It is thought to have been composed for the coronation of Charles V at
Reims in 1364.
Choirs and brass join in a
magnificent presentation of the finale of Handel's oratorio Esther.
"Let all the earth His praise proclaim!"
As "Master of the Court," Lisa Cardwell
Pontén directs the ceremonial
entrance of Queen Esther (Louise Marley) and her uncle Mordecai (Howard Fankhauser).
Queen Esther enters amid
great magnolia petals.
Close to 300 volunteers put in countless hours to bring Great Music to life.
Thank you to the choirs, the Cathedral Brass, the stage crew, the designers, the servers,
the lighting crew, the ushers and ministers of hospitality, and all the generous patrons of A Great
Evening for Great Music.
Great Music for a Great Cathedral 2005
James Savage, Artistic Director
Jeff Robbins, Lighting Designer
Kitty Kavanaugh, Scenic Designs
Joseph Adam, Cathedral Organist
Clint Kraus, Cathedral Associate Organist
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