Nicola A. Montani

Nicola Aloysius Montani, KCSS (6 November 1880 in Utica – 11 January 1948 in Philadelphia) was a conductor, composer, arranger, and publisher of sacred music.

His earliest musical studies were in Indianapolis with his brother Gaetano, Charles Schultze, composition with H. D. Beissenherz, organ with W. H. Donley, and Leslie E. Peck. In Indianapolis he formed part of the Montani Brothers Orchestra, and was also a member of the early Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under Karl Schneider.

In 1903 he studied in Rome at the Conservatory of St. Cecilia, studying voice with Clara Bretschneider and future wife Catherine Sherwood, organ with Filippo Capocci, Gregorian chant with Rodolfo Kanzler and Antonio Rella. Further personal studies were pursued in Rome with Don Lorenzo Perosi, director of the Sistine Chapel Choir. In 1906 he studied Gregorian chant with the Benedictine Solesmes monks exiled on the Isle of Wight in Appuldurcombe House, including with Dom André Mocquereau and Dom Eudine. Upon his return to New York, he was music director of Newark's Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and professor of music at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception.

He moved to Philadelphia in 1906, to be music director at St. John the Evangelist church. During the rest of his career in the Philadelphia area, he also taught and directed choirs at dozens of schools including J. W. Hallahan High School, West Philadelphia Catholic Girls High School (now West Catholic Preparatory High School), St. Mary's Academy, Mater Misericordiae Academy (now the Merion Mercy Academy), the Melrose Academy (run by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart), and the Academy of Mercy (now the Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School). He was the editor for liturgical music for the Schirmer and Boston Music Company publishing houses.

He founded and conducted the Catholic Choir Club, which soon became the Palestrina Choir. Their recordings for Victor were among the first recordings available of Renaissance polyphony. He also founded the Choral Festival of Catholic Choirs, and directed it during their performance of his Festival Mass in the 1926 United States Sesquicentennial Exposition.

In 1915 Montani cofounded the St. Gregory Guild and the Society of St. Gregory of America with Leo Manzetti and Dr. Petter, leading American Gregorian chant reform efforts pursuant to Pope Pius X's motu proprio Inter pastoralis officii sollicitudines. These efforts were modelled after the Cecilian Societies formed in Italy. Conventions and demonstrations were held throughout North America, and he organized subsidiary Choir Guilds in various chapters of the American Guild of Organists. The Society's official journal was the Catholic Choirmaster, which he edited. He published white lists and black lists of music appropriate or antagonistic for liturgy. He wrote the guide The Correct Pronunciation of Latin According to the Roman Usage.

In 1920, through the Society of St. Gregory he published the famous St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book, containing mainly his own editions and compositions, similar to Oreste Ravanello's work. Under sponsorship from the Library of Congress, he also published a Braille version of the hymnal in nine volumes, the first Braille hymnal.

Pope Pius XI made Montani a Knight Commander of St. Sylvester in 1926. In 1947, in recognition of his pioneering work in the field of sacred music, the Society of St. Gregory awarded him a gold plaque.

Montani was married to singer Catherine Sherwood, daughter of Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Adiel Sherwood.

Birth and Death Data: Died January 11, 1948

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1917 - 1928

Roles Represented in DAHR: choral director, composer, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor C-23567 12-in. 1/6/1920 Gesu bambino Giovanni Martinelli Tenor vocal solo, with boys vocal chorus and orchestra choral director  
Victor BVE-37858 10-in. 3/21/1927 Ave Maria Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, with organ choral director  
Victor BVE-37859 10-in. 3/21/1927 Hymn in honor of St. John the Baptist Palestrina Choir Chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-37860 10-in. 3/21/1927 Ave Maria Palestrina Choir Chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-37861 10-in. 3/21/1927 O bone Jesu! Palestrina Choir Chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-39519 10-in. 7/11/1927 Ave Maria (Salutatio angelic) Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-39520 10-in. 7/11/1927 Hymn to Apollo Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, with flute choral director  
Victor BVE-39521 10-in. 7/11/1927 Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Holy Ghost) Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-39522 10-in. 7/11/1927 Sicut cervus Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-39523 10-in. 7/11/1927 Magnificat (My soul doth magnify the Lord) Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-39525 10-in. 7/12/1927 Adoramus te Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director, arranger  
Victor BVE-39526 10-in. 7/12/1927 Popule meus Palestrina Choir Mixed vocal chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-45216 10-in. 5/28/1928 Dies irae Nicola A. Montani ; Palestrina Choir Mixed chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-45217 10-in. 5/28/1928 Ave Maria Nicola A. Montani ; Palestrina Choir Mixed chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-45218 10-in. 5/28/1928 Joseph mine Nicola A. Montani ; Palestrina Choir Mixed chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-45219 10-in. 5/28/1928 Lo, how a rose e'er blooming Nicola A. Montani ; Palestrina Choir Mixed chorus, unaccompanied choral director  
Victor BVE-45220 10-in. 5/28/1928 Ave Maria Palestrina Choir Mixed chorus, with organ choral director  
Victor [Trial 1919-02-10-08] Not documented 2/10/1919 Sweet Tipperary Edward Dooner Male vocal solo, with piano composer  
Columbia 58710 10-in. approximately September 1917 A patria ce chiamme Evangelista Berni Canani Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Montani, Nicola A.," accessed December 25, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109338.

Montani, Nicola A.. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 25, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109338.

"Montani, Nicola A.." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 25 December 2025.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/109338

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