After the Protestant Reformation, two schools of thought developed regarding music in worship: Lutherans moved toward singing hymns; Calvinists (like us) stressed singing Psalms. The popular 18th-century works of Isaac Watts helped nudge Presbyterians toward non-scriptural hymns. Music controversies continued through the early years of the 19th century, when our congregation was founded on Cedar Street.

HAD YOU stepped into the new, 600-seat Presbyterian Church in Cedar Street in 1808, you would have found no hymns, no organ, no choir and no congregational singing. From Session minutes of April 4, 1811, we see the first
discussion of using a hymnal by John Dobell, but only for Thursday evening services. The Rev. Dr. John Romeyn, our first pastor, joined a denominational committee formed in 1819 to compile a Presbyterian hymn book, but he died before it was completed.

The Session’s adoption of the Village Hymn Book in 1827 (for Thursday evening services in the lecture room) pushed the congregation firmly in the pro-Watts direction. The committee appointed to compile a new hymnal published it in 1831, but it never came into wide use, because one of its editors decided to leave out many popular hymns. Our church’s enduring influence in the advancement of congregational singing stemmed from the partnership of our fourth minister, James Alexander, and music director Lowell Mason in the mid-1850s. Dr. Alexander, a translator of hymns, and Mason, who composed the music for “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “Nearer My God to Thee,” made sure an organ was installed when the church moved uptown to Fifth Avenue and 19th Street in 1852. Mason installed his son, William, as organist.

BY 1860, both Masons had departed. In 1876, William Scharfenberg became our organist. He was a founding member, treasurer and president of the Philharmonic Society, predecessor to the New York Philharmonic. Frank Sealy served as organist from 1900–1918 and was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists. During this time, the church published its own hymnal, Common Praise.

Attempts to alter the music ran into trouble when organist Harold Gleason (1918–19) asked to play a 15-minute concert before an afternoon service. He noted in a letter that “the organ was used mainly for hymns and to accompany the mixed quartet.” His concerts were approved after much discussion, but Gleason wrote, “We did not sing solos, except as they were incidental in quartets. None of the great church music was wanted and indeed it could not be performed by a quartet.”

The Canadian W. Lynwood Farnam, a pre-eminent organist, came in 1919 but left after a short time amid conflicts with the Music Committee.

The arrival in 1920 of organist and choirmaster Harry Gilbert changed the composition of our choir and how
music would be presented. Gilbert served for 32 years and did much to popularize 20th-century church music.
Change under his tenure came on Oct. 3, 1926, when the choir quartet was enlarged to 12, the first real step toward the building of a full choir. The church bulletin began to list the singers of the day and the organist. Anthem texts were included as part of the Order of Worship. The pews behind the pulpit (for the quartet) were removed, and the organ console was lowered. In the 1940s, the choral group was enlarged again, to 24 voices.

Dr. Robert Baker came in 1953 and added to the Gilbert tradition. Baker also served as organist at Temple Emanu-El, and was a faculty member and later the dean of the School of Sacred Music at Union Theological Seminary. He brought to our choir the famous African-American opera soprano Adele Addison, who sang the Messiah here.

In 1962, Robert Bouchett became our organist, with James McKeever as choir director. Bouchette recorded an album,
The Organs of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. During recording sessions, some pew cushions were removed for better acoustics. The church’s history of musical excellence continued into the late 20th century, led by the choir and spirited congregational singing. William Whitehead (1973–89) spent 16 years as director of music and organist. Dr. Richard Westenberg, the noted artistic director of Musica Sacra, joined the