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Views from the Choir Loft

Important Resources for Liturgical Reform (4 of 7)

Jeff Ostrowski · August 11, 2014

965 Gregorian HOULD CHURCH MUSIC be fun? I think so, but only recently realized this. A few months ago, I was alone in a room with a keyboard, waiting for my ride to arrive. The only book there was my collection of Chabanel Psalms. In case you don’t know, I usually detest my compositions after they’re published. (My friends who compose admit the same thing, so hopefully I’m not crazy.)

I began to play through some of my pieces. “Wow,” I thought, “this one isn’t horrible after all.” A while later, I was saying, “Hey, I actually kind of like this one.” As time went on, I realized that many of my psalm settings were really nice, and I was having fun singing through them. Then, I got worried.

“This is Church music. Is it supposed to be fun?”

YES, SINGING CHURCH MUSIC should be fun, although “fun” isn’t the best word. Singing the Psalms should be A DELIGHT. From what I can tell, the Church has always placed a great value on “keeping things interesting” at Mass. After all, we’re only human. So, the delightful melodies, the stained glass windows, the incense, and the entire liturgy ought to help us pray. As I mentioned in this article, variety helps prevent our minds from wandering. In the early centuries of the Church, the variety of antiphons and psalm tones helped the monks memorize the different Psalms—and there were tons of them! Nevertheless, the Church documents 1 have always stressed that everything done at the liturgy must be dignified.

You might like some of my psalm settings. You can download the entire collection here:

      * *  Saint Noël Chabanel Responsorial Psalms — 607 pages

You can also purchase bound books at that link (for a very reasonable price), but why purchase hard copies when you have the PDF file? I recommend doing so for the following reasons:

(a) it’s cheaper than printing on your own;

(b) bound books with beautiful covers are nice;

(c) you should obtain these while you can, because the future is unpredictable—even in the best of times!

NOW, LET ME TELL YOU about a truly marvelous collection you need to obtain. This collection of organ interludes for manuals only was composed by Dom Gregory Murray, and you can read the Preface by clicking here.

These pieces are TREMENDOUS.   Here’s a sample score:

      * *  100 Easy, Beautiful Organ Interludes for Manuals Only — Dom Gregory Murray

Here’s where you can purchase the complete collection:

      * *  Purchase this collection — from SheetMusicPlus

You won’t regret purchasing these!

Once upon a time, Watershed was going to look into publishing these, since many were written in the 1930s. However, this seems unlikely at this point. For one thing, I’ve been extremely ill since April, and this has made life quite difficult. That’s why I said above: “The future is unpredictable.”


7-part series:   “Important Resources for Liturgical Reform”

FIRST PART • Richard Clark

SECOND PART • Veronica Brandt

THIRD PART • Fr. David Friel

FOURTH PART • Jeff Ostrowski

FIFTH PART • Jon Naples

SIXTH PART • Andrew Motyka

SEVENTH PART • Peter Kwasniewski



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Several significant quotes are given during this exuberant video.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dom Gregory Murray 100 Organ Interludes, Free Responsorial Psalms Organ Vocalist 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

Yet, with all its advantages, the new Missal was published as if it were a work put together by professors, not a phase in a continual growth process. Such a thing never happened before. It is absolutely contrary to the laws of liturgical growth, and it has resulted in the nonsensical notion that Trent and Pius V had “produced” a Missal four hundred years ago.

— Josef Cardinal Ratzinger (1986)

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