Views from the Choir Loft

Does CCW Matter? Some Messages…

Jeff Ostrowski · January 10, 2018

We only exist because people from all over the world donate $5.00 per month.

Some messages we have received:

Keep on doing what you do; despite criticism.

Thanks for all the work you do for our Lord; and for His Church! It matters so much.

Keep the traditions as St Paul had admonished Holy Mother Church; no matter the battle we face. May Mother Mary protect you and may God bless you.

May God Bless your efforts to restore our Liturgical Patrimony; particularly Sacred Music; to its rightful place. The practice videos for the Propers of the TLM are what are most helpful to me; and any additional efforts in adding more Feast days is greatly appreciated!

God bless you for all you do. Wish we could do more to help.

I rely on CCW for all my Latin Mass info; God Bless you. Ours is the only parish in the Diocese that offers a weekly TLM.

Admire your work over the years.

Previous pastor at St. Jude; Martin TN; now at Ascension; Memphis TN. Music director at my new church is delighted to discover there is a more beautiful alternative to the dreadful OCP “Respond and Acclaim.”

I love your work. Please use this small donation however you can to make the Church better.

Thank you for all you do for the Church! Happy Advent.

I have wanted to do this for a long time; but just today noticed you use Cornerstone and not PayPal. So thank you for that better alternative for Catholics.

Though I spent almost all of my four decades as organist in Protestant churches; I appreciate so much your dedication to dignified music for the Catholic Church. I enjoyed “reading through” at the computer the Flor Peeters chant accompaniments. I played many of his hymn and chant settings; and once attended a recital he gave in NYC.

Many many thanks for all your hard work.

Please consider donating $5.00 per month.

If you want CCW to receive the highest percentage of money, use Cornerstone instead of PayPal.

Whenever you purchase on Amazon, please follow the directions (at the very bottom) and we get a small percentage!

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

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).

Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Lent (8 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its stern INTROIT (“Óculi mei semper ad Dóminum”) is breathtaking, and the COMMUNION (“Qui bíberit aquam”) with its fauxbourdon verses is wonderful. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Samaritánæ” (3rd Sunday of Lent)

With regard to the COMMUNION for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A), the Ordo Cantus Missae—which was published in 1969 by the Vatican, bearing Hannibal Bugnini’s signature and approbation in its PREFACE—inexplicably introduced a variant melody and slightly different words, as you can see by this comparison chart. When it comes to such items, they’re always done in secrecy by unnamed people. (Although it is known that Dom Eugène Cardine collaborated in the creation of the GRADUALE SIMPLEX, a book considered by some to be a travesty.)

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)

I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Grotesque Pairing • “Passion Chorale”

One of our rarest releases was undoubtably this PDF scan of the complete Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) by Father Joseph Roff, a student of Healey Willan. One of the scarcest titles in existence, this book was provided to us by Mr. Peter Meggison. Back in 2018, we scanned each page and uploaded it to our website, making it freely available to everyone. Readers are probably sick of hearing me say this, but just because we upload something that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wonderful or worthy of imitation. We upload many publications precisely because they are ‘grotesque’, interesting, or revealing. Whereas the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal had an editorial board that was careful and sensitive vis-à-vis pairing texts with tunes, the Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) seems to have been rather reckless in this regard. Please take a look at what they did with the PASSION CHORALE and see whether you agree.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski