Organists of Old First | 5: Charles Leech Gulick (1912-1913)

Organists of Old First | 5: Charles Leech Gulick (1912-1913)

Charles Leech Gulick was at Old First for such a short period with few mentions in the Brooklyn papers, I thought that I would need to include his story together with another organist, for lack of information. I was wrong – his life after Old First was a rich one. Gulick lived entirely for music – studying, composing and performing – and was well-known nationally […]

Organists of Old First | 4: William G. Hammond (1903-1912)

Organists of Old First | 4: William G. Hammond (1903-1912)

Curious who wrote the Polytechnic Institute alma mater? Our fourth organist, William Gardiner Hammond, was a highly successful musician and composer, well-connected and well-known during his lifetime.  William Gardiner Hammond, was born Melville, Long Island, August 9, 1874, to parents George Tillinghast Hammond and Mary Elizabeth Shipman. His father was from an old Rhode Island family with Quaker ties, his mother from Long Island City, […]

Hear 1905 Composition by Old First’s William G. Hammond

Hear 1905 Composition by Old First’s William G. Hammond

William Gardiner Hammond was a composer as well as organist and choirmaster at Old First (1903-1912). He formed one of the early musical groups to hold concerts in our Carroll Street building, the Hammond Choral Society. Performances such as these were the forerunners of what Arts at Old First has become today. As a young man, William accompanied singer Lillian Nordica, America’s first home-grown diva. She […]

Organists of Old First | 2: Rafael Navarro (1893-1895)

Organists of Old First | 2: Rafael Navarro (1893-1895)

A true man of the world, Navarro navigated the music scene as conductor, organist, composer, director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music – all while still serving his country of origin. This is the third part of an ongoing series. Rafael Navarro: Musician and Revolutionary First Reformed stepped up its game with the hiring of Rafael Navarro in May of 1893. A news item at […]

Organists of Old First | 1: Harris Cornell Meserole (1891-1893)

Organists of Old First | 1:  Harris Cornell Meserole (1891-1893)

As the congregation eagerly anticipated moving into a grand, new building, the 1891 Easter service was held in our upper hall, with the sanctuary still under construction. This is the second part of an ongoing series (read Part 1 here). The first mention of an organist that I found for our church was in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which named H. C. Meserole, a local, […]

Hymn Spotlight: And Can It Be That I Should Gain

Hymn Spotlight: And Can It Be That I Should Gain

Charles Wesley wrote six thousand Christian hymns, but this is arguably his best known.  Composed in 1738, he often worked in collaboration with his older brother, John, while they were both studying at Oxford. As part of a study group called The Holy Club, they were known to approach prayer, hymn writing and Bible study in an extremely methodical manner. As a result, their classmates […]

Hymn Spotlight: Now We Thank We All Our God

Hymn Spotlight: Now We Thank We All Our God

The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) was as long and as agonizing as it sounds. Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran minister, spent a good part of it in the walled city of Eilenburg, Saxony, where he wrote this hymn (circa 1636) amidst great distress and destruction. The walls did little good; armies had overrun the city three times, and pestilence, famine and overcrowding added to the pain […]