“…the rendering of Haydn’s beautiful mass, which every choir should know almost by heart, was unworthy of even a village choir. The tempo was wrong in several of the movements, and there was anything but unanimity in either tone or expression. The solo quartet is singularly constructed, no two voicee being alike in either style or conception of a composer’s ideas. The lovely bass solo ‘Qui tollis’ received hard treatment, the singer’s voice consisting, it seemed, of a tremolo and a trumpet stop. The organ was much too powerful in many of the movements of the mass, drowning completely the thin body of tone proceeding from the eight singers. It was evident from the manner in which this well known mass was performed that a leading spirit in this choir was sadly needed. Time was when the music at St. Stephen’s acquired a fame and reputation that extended beyond New York city; but, judging from yesterday’s performance, that time exists no longer. The church should be first in music, as it is in every other respect.”