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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

The Greatest Blog Entry Ever Of All Time

Jeff Ostrowski · November 8, 2012

RE YOU A PERSON who frequently reads Blogs? I bet you’ve been waiting for the “perfect” Blog entry to come along—the one you’ve been dreaming about all these years. Well, guess what? This is it, because I have something amazing to share with you. I hope you’ll take the time to read what I have to say, and I hope you enjoy what I share. I also really hope I can finish typing this Blog before my daughter wakes up (the poor thing hasn’t been feeling well and I need to help take care of her).

First, you need the back story. I will explain it the way they explained it to me in Musicology Graduate school: hopefully I remember all the details correctly. You might pull down the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians to “fact check” this entry. You see, most people don’t realize that Bach was actually a piano salesman toward the end of his life. In connection with this, he went to visit Frederick the Great of Prussia, who was also the employer of Bach’s son. Frederick was a musician, and wrote Bach an extremely complicated theme. He said to Bach, “I bet you can’t write a fugue on this theme!” Well, in case you don’t know, Johann Sebastian Bach was an astounding musical genius, one of the very greatest of all time. He took Frederick’s theme and wrote several unbelievable canonic variations on it called the “Musical Offering.”

Now for Part II of the story. Edwin Fischer was a phenomenal Swiss pianist who was particularly interested in the music of Bach. He arranged this “Musical Offering” for his chamber group and recorded it several times. At the conservatory where I studied piano, Sequeira Costa was an Artist in Residence. I was friends with most of his students, and one of them gave me a live recording of Edwin Fischer conducting his arrangement of part of the “Musical Offering.” By the way, Costa and Fischer toured together many years ago, playing four-hand music. I had heard the Fischer recording many times, and loved it, but I had never heard this particular “live” version before.

Here is an excerpt:  Excerpt of Live Recording / Edwin Fischer, Conductor [Mp3]

Listen to how it starts out very soft and slow. You can tell the fugue subject is quite complicated and chromatic. As you continue to listen, you will notice that Bach builds … builds … and builds. The culmination will melt your heart. It is tremendously beautiful and passionate: even after all these years, I start crying when I hear it. I feel tingles down my spine.

I hope to add more Blog entries as time goes on. There is so much unbelievable music I would love to talk about and share with you. By the way, I love music so much, I tend to use (abuse?) words like “favorite’: “best ever”; “most amazing”; etc.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

In the place of liturgy as the fruit of development came fabricated liturgy. We abandoned the organic, living process of growth and development over centuries, and replaced it—as in a manufacturing process—with a fabrication, a banal on-the-spot product.

— ‘Pope Benedict XVI, describing the postconciliar liturgical reforms’

Recent Posts

  • “How to Conduct 90 Vespers Services Each Year and Live to Tell the Tale.”
  • 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • The Tallis Scholars
  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)

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