From the Archives – Music In Saint Mary’s Early Years

As we enjoy our new, recently installed organ, it is worth recalling that music has long played a prominent role in the parish. An account of Mass at the home of Col. John Fitzgerald, aide to Gen. George Washington, in the 1790s, describes Fitzgerald’s daughter Fannie playing the organ. In the19th and early 20th centuries, local newspapers regularly contained articles about the classical music performed as part of Saint Mary’s liturgies. The parish had an active choir for High Masses, Vespers, Matins and Benediction. School children sang at a weekly Low Mass. The choir frequently advertised for more male singers, and in 1903 the Holy Name Society started a men’s choir. In addition to liturgical music, over the years the parochial school and Saint Mary’s Academy presented entertaining musicales and pageants as fund raisers.

For many years, the religious sisters teaching at St. Mary’s Academy offered after-school lessons in piano, organ and violin. Joseph Monroe, parish organist for more than 50 years (from the 1880s until 1935) learned to play the organ at the Academy while he was a student at St. John’s Academy and became proficient when he was a teenager. The Monroe family was very talented. Julia Monroe, Joseph’s mother, was the parish choir’s principal soloist for 49 years. In her obituary, the Alexandria Gazette noted she had been Alexandria’s finest soloist for several decades.

In 1912, the Holy Name Band was organized by parishioners. A marching band, its members performed in parades in Alexandria and other local areas. The band also performed at sporting events, and outdoor concerts and picnics during the summer months. — Kitty Guy, Parish Historian

In 2020, to commemorate the 225th anniversary of our parish, we started “From the Archives” as a weekly feature online and in our bulletin to spotlight the history of Saint Mary’s. Due to its popularity, we are continuing the series. An archive of the features is located here.