Organ

this article originally appeared in the bulletin the week of July 12, 2020
When Fr. Cuddihy was outfitting his new church for worship, he needed an organ, but funds were limited and there was much work to be done in beautifying the church.  His nephew, Mr. John O’Neil was an instructor at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and one of the first organists for the parish.  He was able to secure the former organ from the Old South Church in Boston and it was installed in the later nineteenth century.  When Fr. David McGrath became pastor, he was interested in installing a new instrument for the parish’s worship.
During the year of 1910, experts advised him that rather than replace it, he should improve it since it had a purity of tone and its pipes were in excellent condition.  Hiring the firm of Hook and Hastings, they began on August 26, 1910 to enhance the organ in the choirloft.  Using the magnificent San Domingo mahogany case which was hand carved, they incorporated the existing parts into a new instrument at a cost of $6,000.  The improved organ was the result of the latest understanding and workmanship in the organ construction and was effectively four organs in one.  It would have 14 stops in the Swell, 10 in the Great Organ, and 8 in the Choir with 3 full Pedal stops.  Each of these three divisions would connect with 61 pipes, giving the instrument a total voice of 1,952 pipes, ranging in size from 16 feet to one quarter of an inch; this gave the organ a 16-foot tone with the smallest pipes the size of an ordinary lead pencil.  The front pipes of the façade were speaking pipes and were decorated with pure gold leaf.
On Sunday, October 23, 1910, Professor John O’Shea of Boston, an organ virtuoso, gave the dedicatory concert.  The Milford Daily News reported, “That all were charmed by the wonderful music states the fact too plainly.  The great brilliance of the grand organ, the instant response to the mood of the player and composer, one moment pouring forth the most delicate harmonies, and the next extended in its full power, its tones rich and full, enthralled all.”  Professor O’Shea was assisted by Mr. William H. O’Brien of Saint Cecilia’s Parish in Boston, a bass soloist, whose full voice filled the church ‘with sweetest melody.’  He song Confundantur Superbi and Ecce Sacerdos.  The concert included two selections of Wagner (Lohengrin and Tannhauser), compositions of Mendelssohn, Callaerts, Guilmant and Simonetti along with one of O’Shea’s original compositions as well.  The evening ended with a rendition of Rossini’s William Tell Overture, listed as a request.
That Sunday morning, Fr. McGrath had complimented the congregation on the completion of the organ, giving recognition to many who had contributed both from within and outside the parish.  Among them he named ex-Congressman William Whiting, a former parishioner of his from Holyoke, Mrs. Draper, the widow of General Draper, Charles Hixon of the Carroll-Hixon-Jones Co., Governor E. S. Draper, and Frank Dutcher, the president of the Draper Company as well as officials of the Regal Shoe Company.  This magnificent instrument provided inspiration and song for the better part of the 20^th century until it was removed and replaced with a new organ in the 1980s.