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Views from the Choir Loft

“Simple Kyriale” for Dumb Organists Like Me!

Jeff Ostrowski · August 25, 2016

NE OF THE THINGS you learn as choirmaster is that doing easy music well is better than performing complicated music poorly. That’s why I think our readers will find the following book of organ accompaniments helpful. Close to a decade ago, this book was posted in the Lalande Library, which you should explore when you have time. Most of the books found there came from my personal collection, but this particular book came from the generous heart of MR. TED KRASNICKI.

It’s a groovy little book from 1937 that can be “tossed” in front of an amateur organist:

    * *  PDF Download • 1937 SIMPLE KYRIALE

Here’s a sample page:

177 Sample


When I want to scare my (excellent) organist, I threaten her: “I can play that one, if you like.” While it’s true that I do a decent job as organist if I practice in advance, I hardly ever have time. Remember: an organist must not only play all the correct notes—the registration must also be correct! And correct registration depends on many different factors.

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

Filed Under: Articles 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

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
14 May 2022 • Gorgeous Book

If there is a more beautiful book than Abbat Pothier’s 1888 Processionale Monasticum, I don’t know what it might be. This gorgeous tome was today added to the Saint John Lalande Online Library. I wish I owned a physical copy.

—Jeff Ostrowski
Sound Familiar?

1 June 1579: “The chapter passes a rule that anyone ascending to the new organ without official permission shall be fined a month’s pay.”

26 October 1579: “The altar boys remain always separate and distinct from choirboys—the one group learning only plainchant and assisting at the altar, the other living with the chapel-master and studying counterpoint and polyphony as well. Father Francisco Guerrero postpones his departure for Rome and instead spends the entire year in Seville making ready for the trip. In the meantime he neglects his choirboys. On 16 November, after considerable complaint against their unruliness and ignorance, he engages an assistant, Bartolomé Farfán.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I would hope there is a place [at Mass] for the avant-garde in the same way I think there has to be a place—and we have to be careful with this—a place for Jazz and a place for Evangelical and all of that. […] On theological grounds, I do think we need interaction with the culture at the level of high art or at the level of more commercial pop culture.”

— Fr. Anthony Ruff (22 June 2016)

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