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Views from the Choir Loft

Live Recording — Small Choir of Ninth Grade Singers (October, 2006)

Jeff Ostrowski · April 15, 2014

665 Glenn Gould Y WIFE AND I recently celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. Naturally, on that day, our air conditioning system and electric power malfunctioned … but it was still great.

Looking back over seven wonderful years, my thoughts went to when we first got married, when I was still teaching at a (brand new) Catholic high school. Specifically, I recalled how insane I used to be!

I would force my ninth grade students to listen to Bach’s Art of the Fugue (as well as the students in detention), and they were graded on being able to point out where the various fugue subjects entered: in augmentation, diminution, inverted, and so forth.

Non-musicians might have a hard time understanding what a quodlibet, canon, or fugue is … and who can blame them? Perhaps it would help if they listened to an ingenious combination of two patriotic songs. Credit for the idea of mixing them goes to Glenn Gould. You can download the complete score for piano & mixed chorus:

      * *  PDF Download: Glenn Gould Patriotic Quodlibet

… or you can listen to the following recorded excerpt (the part wherein two patriotic tunes are combined):

      * *  Gould/Ostrowski Quodlibet — A small choir of 9th grade singers (October (2006)

Did you hear the two melodies mixed together? If you did, you get a cookie!

WHAT CAN ONE SAY about Bach’s Art of the Fugue? Marvelous. Simply marvelous. Here’s a splendid example played by Gould on the piano:


Here’s the same piece played by Gould on the organ. For the record, critics with no imagination and inferior musical sensibilities tend not to enjoy Gould’s organ playing, but I love it. I think I read somewhere that Gould was originally an organist.


I should be careful when it comes to reminiscences of the past. I have a video of myself conducting 10 years ago and it’s pretty horrible! I may post it one of these days in a moment of weakness … stay tuned!

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Pianist Glenn Gould Bach 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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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

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“Come now,” they said, “Thou who wouldst destroy the temple and build it up in three days, rescue Thyself; come down from that cross, if Thou art the Son of God.”

— Gospel of St. Matthew 27:42

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