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Views from the Choir Loft

“Look Beyond The Bread You Eat” (Part 2)

Jeff Ostrowski · November 18, 2013

IFE AS A PARENT is a constant struggle. The children have endless energy … and you have none. It’s hard to find even a few minutes which can be spent peacefully listening to music. However, a few days ago I listened to part of a Mass by Cristóbal de Morales (sung by Chanticleer). It was so incredibly beautiful. More on this below.

I mentioned in Part 1 that certain things seem obvious to me, yet others have a totally different view. Let me give just one more example:

Years ago, upon being criticized for a lack of variety of Communion selections, I admitted to my priest-employer that I was struggling to find decent Communion hymns. His response was, “Well, obviously you don’t have a clue. Come over here, and in five seconds I can do a better job than you could dream of doing.” His rude manner of speaking did not bother me, because he spoke to everybody that same way. For the record, I ended up quitting a few months later, because this same priest began to weep — literally sob! — when I refused to allow a local jazz combo to play for the Holy Saturday Vigil.

Anyhow, this priest looked through our OCP hymn book, searching for what he called “reverent, orthodox hymns.” He searched and searched. Finally, he pointed to a song called, “Look beyond the bread you eat.” I was flabbergasted. It dawned on me that nothing I’d been saying to him had made the slightest impact. All these months, I had literally been wasting my breath. It was a revelation. Sometimes people are on a completely different wavelength.

Getting back to the Morales I mentioned earlier, his settings of the Mass — Credo, Sanctus, etc. — were so gorgeous … but why? I believe one reason was to transport us to a different world.

Have you ever wondered what it must have been like when the galaxy was created? Were you present when God created the birds? Were you there when grass and oceans were being created? What was it like to see whales and deer and rainbows and clouds come into existence? I don’t know … I wasn’t there. But this Morales music is transcendent, and (in my view) opens the mind to contemplate life in a different way. All of a sudden, humans (upon hearing such music) are invited to contemplate things Divine, whereas too many of us tend to waste our time and thoughts. Morales pulls us out of “reality” into a higher reality. How remarkable that someone back then could write such sophisticated and beautiful music, when modern culture insists that people today are so much smarter than former ages, and we no longer require “myths” like the God of the Bible. By the way, which of us routinely contemplates death? Modern culture wants us to think about anything BUT death. To make a long short, how different is the liturgical music of Morales from a song like Look Beyond The Bread You Eat !!

I DON’T WANT TO SHOCK anybody, but the Catholic Church has millions and millions of dollars. (This is still true, although it’s hard to believe when we hear about horrible scandals, like Roger Cardinal Mahoney paying close to a billion dollars from church funds because he covered up sexual abuse of minors.) So, why is our Catholic liturgical music so terrible in 99% of parishes? I’m starting to think it has to do with what I said earlier: we’re talking past one another. We’re not on the same page.

Therefore, I’ve decided to work on a set of “proposals” for Church musicians. These are basic, fundamental facts that both Pastor and Musician must understand. I’ve wanted to do this for years. I hope you’ll give your input, as time goes on, and we can together formulate a clear, guaranteed “formula for success.”

This article is part of a series:

Part 1   •   Part 2

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Contract Between Priest And Musician Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

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

Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

—Jeff Ostrowski
29 March 2021 • FEEDBACK

“E.S.” in North Dakota writes: “I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you have put—and continue to put—into your wonderful website. In the past two years, my parish has moved from a little house basement into a brand new church and gone from a few families receiving Low Masses twice a month to several families (and many individuals) receiving Mass every Sunday, two Saturdays a month, and every Holy Day. Our priest has been incorporating more and more High Masses and various ceremonies into our lives, which has made my job as a huge newbie choir master very trying and complicated. CCWatershed has been an invaluable resource in helping me get on my feet and know what to do!!! Thank you more than I can express! May God bless you abundantly and assist you in your work and daily lives!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The Sacrifice is celebrated with many solemn rites, none of which should be deemed useless or superfluous. On the contrary, all of them tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, when beholding these saving mysteries, to contemplate the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

— Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)

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