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King David plays his harp and St. Cecilia holds her organ on one hip in the windows lighting the choir loft at The Shrine of St. Joseph. They are appropriate symbols of the musical tradition of which the Chamber Chorus was part in the years leading to the group's fortieth anniversary season in 1995. The richness of St. Joseph's acoustic may be heard on the Chorus's first two compact discs, Choral Masterpieces and Vox Pop.
St. Joseph's goes back to 1846, when it was established by the Jesuits of nearby St. Louis University (then at 9th and Washington) as the second of the city's German ethnic parishes (the first was St. Mary of Victories). The first building faced 11th Street. The present interior was added in 1866 at right angles to the original building by Thomas Wayring Walsh and James Smith. Walsh later designed the new campus for St. Louis University. The front of the church was designed by Adolphus Druiding and dates from 1881. Its towers originally were topped by dome-like cupolas.
By the turn of the century, the neighborhood had become the worst in the city, and as it gave way to urban renewal, the church came very close to demolition. Its survival is a tribute to the efforts of its congregation, who leased the church from the Roman Catholic archdiocese in 1980, and raised more than a million dollars for restoration. Followers of the Chamber Chorus were able to watch for several seasons as the great interior space was cleaned and repainted under the direction of architect Ted Wofford to a condition commensurate with its magnificent Baroque architectural lines.
Notes by Esley Hamilton and Philip Barnes