Views from the Choir Loft

Popular Posts From 2015

Cynthia Ostrowski · December 29, 2015

Below are some popular articles from 2015. Unfortunately, the list is not exhaustive, because Facebook makes such lists difficult to assemble. If you didn’t read them, you might want to check them out. Here they are in no particular order:

RICHARD CLARK:

Carpeting Is the Enemy of Congregational Singing

Five Things Directors and Choirs Must Remember This Week

ANDREW MOTYKA:

“Proper Of The Mass” (Ignatius Press)

FR. DAVID FRIEL:

Pastoral Difficulties with Recently Ordained Priests

The Future of the Pipe Organ

Bishop Conley & Advent “Ad Orientem”

DR. LUCAS TAPPAN:

One Sure Way To Destroy Your Child’s Musical Potential

Where Have All The Organists Gone?

JEFF OSTROWSKI:

Cardinal Sarah’s Powerful Letter Available In English!

Six Things To Know About USCCB Hymn Approval

PDF Download • Extremely Rare Hymnal (1952)

Top Six Liturgical Quotes By Robert Cardinal Sarah

Short, Fresh, & Beautiful • SATB “Ave Maris Stella”

CHRISTOPHER MUELLER:

A Striking Approach To Performing Gregorian Chant

ANDREW LEUNG:

Papal Master of Ceremonies on receiving Communion

Understanding the Sacred

DR. ALFRED CALABRESE:

An Antidote For Clericalism: Sung Vespers

VERONICA BRANDT:

Easy Organ Hymns for Catholics

How to do Marian Hymns

GUEST AUTHOR:

“No Approval Needed for Substitute Songs” says USCCB

“Saving” Gregorian Chant In The Ordinary Form

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

About Cynthia Ostrowski

Cynthia Ostrowski holds a bachelor's degree (2005) in Geographic Information Science and a minor in Computer Science from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.—(Read full biography).

Luis Martínez Must Go!

Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]

—Jeff Ostrowski

Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!

A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)

I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Pope Pius XII Hymnal?

Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

“Hybrid” Chant Notation?

Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Antiphons Don’t Match?

A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).

—Corpus Christi Watershed