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Views from the Choir Loft

Learn A New Word, See It Within 24 Hours (5)

Jeff Ostrowski · May 7, 2012

I’ve written about this subject before, here, here, here, and here. Whenever one learns a new word or talks about an odd subject, one will see it again “out of the blue” within 24 hours. This used to happen to me once a month. Now it seems to happen all the time. It can be something relatively common (like a random Star Wars excerpt or particulars of skateboarding) that manifests itself within 24 hours, or it can be even more bizarre. Perhaps this will become more clear if I describe a recent example:

Anyone who has seen My Fair Lady remembers how the father of Eliza Doolittle talks. He has a funny way of speaking. Note carefully these famous lines of his:

“I ain’t pretendin’ to be deservin’. No, I’m undeservin’ . . . and I mean to go on being undeservin’. I like it and that’s the truth. But will you take advantage of a man’s nature? . . . Do him out of the price of his own daughter, what he’s brought up, fed and clothed by the sweat of his brow?”

Obviously, Mr. Doolittle should have said “whom he’s brought up” not “what he’s brought up.”

So, a few days ago, I started asking myself, “What would it be like if we all spoke as Eliza Doolittle’s father?” A question like this: «Are there any Germans working here?» would change to: «Are there any Germans what work here?» A statement like this: «Good things come to those who wait.» would become: «Good things come to them what wait.» A proverb like this: «There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.» would now read as: «There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for him what snatches a delusion from a woman.» A sentence like this: «Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl … the girl who has everything?» would change to «Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl … the girl what has everything?»

Almost like clockwork, what do I come accross later that very day, while reading a little Sherlock Holmes?

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Learn a new word see it within 24 hours 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 Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“If I could only make the faithful sing the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo, the Sanctus, and the Agnus Dei…that would be to me the finest triumph sacred music could have, for it is in really taking part in the liturgy that the faithful will preserve their devotion. I would take the Tantum Ergo, the Te Deum, and the Litanies sung by the people over any piece of polyphony.”

— ‘Giuseppe Cardinal Sarto, Letter to Msgr. Callegari (1897)’

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