Philadelphia is a city of many historic churches, some dating back before the nation’s birth. The parish of Christ Church, at Second and Market Streets in Old City, dates back to 1695, while my own parish — Old St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, at Fourth and Walnut Streets in Society Hill — was founded in 1733.

Other churches in Philadelphia are notable for their position within their own specific community or in the city as a whole. The Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway occupies a special place among local Catholics as the seat of Archbishop Nelson Pérez. Fashioned after the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, it’s an example of Victorian adaptation of the Baroque style.

Holding a similar position for local Episcopalians is the Cathedral Church of the Savior, at 38th and Ludlow Streets in West Philadelphia. Established as a parish in 1855, it was substantially renovated in 1898, only to be devastated by a fire in 1902. It was subsequently rebuilt in 1906 and named the official cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1992.

It’s been said of Philadelphia that the city is really “Tinytown,” because everyone knows everyone else in a particular circle, musical or otherwise. That assertion holds true among the city’s church musicians in general, and organists in particular. If the connection didn’t start at either Rittenhouse Square’s Curtis Institute of Music or at the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan, then it’s cemented shortly after taking a position in town.

Chestnut Hillers have fond memories of Erik Meyer, who was the music director and organist at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Chestnut Hill from 2011 until 2020. After departing St. Martin’s, Meyer worked at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Salem, New Jersey, and then returned to Pennsylvania to work as the organist at Abington Presbyterian Church.

With the departure of Wesley Parrott as organist at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of the Savior, Meyer assumed the post in 2024. He came on board just as Parrott’s project to replace the failing organ at the cathedral with a 1936, 33-rank, 3.400-pipe Moller pipe organ got going.

“It was originally housed in the Schwab Auditorium of Penn State University at State College,” Meyer explained, “and it was restored for our cathedral by Emory Brothers. Specifically, those are the pipes in the chancel organ up at the front of the cathedral.

“Up in the gallery,” he continued, “those pipes come from a 1938 — specifically #512 — Moller that has a lot of solo registrations that are more like a theater organ. It offers more distinctive colors than the chancel organ does, which is more symphonic in style. It can really produce that famous ‘Philadelphia Sound.’” (Meyer was referring to the one-of-a-kind sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra under its legendary Maestro Eugene Ormandy in the 1950s and ‘60s as recorded in Town Hall by Columbia Masterworks.)

Meyer also said the newly installed instrument has no digital electronic sounds, so it is a true acoustic pipe organ. Alongside accompanying services at the cathedral, Meyer hopes to establish an organ recital series to make use of the church’s impressively warm and resonant acoustics.

Laurel Hill Mansion

Philadelphia is also a city that boasts some of the most beautiful “country mansions” in the nation. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wealthy Philadelphians left the oppressive heat and dangerous plagues of the city proper during the spring and summer to experience the relative cool and safer climes of Fairmount Park.

One of the most beautiful as well as most historic homes is Laurel Hill Mansion, which hosted a recital performed by the Wister Quartet Sunday, July 27. The event was sponsored by the Women for Greater Philadelphia (WFGP).

The Wister Quartet is comprised of violinists Nancy Bean and Meichen Liao-Barnes, violist Pamela Fay, and cellist Derek Barnes. Their scheduled program featured works by Antonín Dvorák, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Franz Schubert.

WFGP is a nonprofit service organization, originally incorporated in 1973 in preparation for the Bicentennial Celebration of the Declaration of Independence. The organization’s first project was the restoration and renovation of Laurel Hill Mansion, which was built in 1767, when Pennsylvania was still a proprietary colony in the British Empire. For more information about the WFGP’s current activities visit wfgp.org.

You can contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-caruso@comcast.net.