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Memorial service for Catharine Crozier Gleason

March 2, 2004
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Lee Garrett is professor of music at Lewis & Clark College.

Portland’s historic Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, where Catharine Crozier was Artist-in-Residence from 1992 until her death, was the site for a profoundly beautiful memorial service on January 26, 2004. The Trinity Choir, under the direction of Canon John Strege, provided canticles and anthems, and David Higgs and Fred Swann provided organ voluntaries. [See the obituary for Catharine Crozier (January 18, 1914-September 19, 2003), “Nunc Dimittis,” November 2003, page 10; see also “In Memoriam Catharine Crozier--Tributes by Thomas Harmon, Karen McFarlane, John Strege, and Frederick Swann,” December 2003, pages 21-23.]

Mr. Higgs, chair of the organ department at The Eastman School of Music, with which Miss Crozier and her late husband, Harold Gleason, had such a long affiliation, began the service with a stately reading of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor, followed by Song of Peace, by Jean Langlais. The Entrance Rite had the Trinity Choir process to a slow cadence of two handbells, as the cantor intoned the words “I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord,” concluding with “Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” Following the Salutation and Collect for the Dead, all joined to sing a favorite hymn of Miss Crozier’s, “Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,” to the tune Slane.

Lee Garrett, professor of music at Lewis & Clark College, then read from Revelation 21:2-7, and the choir responded with the exultant Magnificat in D, by Leo Sowerby, with whom the Gleasons had maintained a close friendship. Mr. Swann, a former student of both Harold Gleason and Catharine Crozier, provided an authoritative organ accompaniment, as well as some personal reflections in subsequent remarks reminding us of Ms. Crozier’s high standards and impenetrable poise.

The playful first movement of Paul Hindemith’s second sonata was the first of three voluntaries then played by David Higgs. Ned Rorem, one of Miss Crozier’s many composer/admirers, was represented by the warm and reflective “There is a spirit” (from A Quaker Reader), and the first movement of Mendelssohn’s first sonata concluded the offering. All were reminders, in sound and style, of Miss Crozier’s immense musicianship and influence.

Karen McFarlane, for many years Miss Crozier’s personal representative, spoke eloquently of her stature spanning over fifty years, and shared comments by organists from throughout the U.S., the U.K. and Europe; their common theme was admiration for Miss Crozier’s consummate musicianship, continuing scholarship, and interest in promoting new music for the organ. Notable as well was an experience common to so many of us: how memorable was the first occasion when we heard Miss Crozier--where it was and what her program included.

Two motets by Ned Rorem were next, his quietly soaring Mercy and truth are met (Psalm 85:101-113), and, beautiful in its simplicity, an a cappella setting of the well-known (but sadly anonymous) hymn text, Sing, my soul, his wondrous love.

The Very Reverend William Lupfer, Dean of Trinity Cathedral, spoke on behalf of the cathedral and Catharine’s tenure as Artist-in-Residence, a position created for her through the vision of Canon Strege and then-Dean Anthony Thurston. Dean Lupfer offered prayers and The Commendation, and the choir responded with Sowerby’s exquisite Nunc Dimittis in D. Mr. Swann then played Sowerby’s “Passacaglia” (from his Symphony in G, one of Miss Crozier’s signature pieces), exploring the tonal palette of the Rosales organ--an instrument on which Miss Crozier made one of her last recordings (Things Visible and Invisible), and where she practiced almost daily until the last few months of her life. Following the Blessing and Dismissal, the large congregation rose to sing “Love divine, all loves excelling,” to the tune Hyfrydol, stirringly accompanied by Canon Strege.

The service and its music reflected the high standards for which Catharine Crozier was known throughout the organ world. Her passing was noted in the New York Times, and at a reception following the service, numerous organists from throughout the United States came to pay homage, joining with Trinity parishioners and members of the Portland community who had come to know and admire one of the most remarkable international performing artists of the twentieth century.

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