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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Christmas • When Jackie Gleason Broke Character (Updated)

Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2016

ATERSHED OWES so much to supporters like you. Below is a small Christmas gift I hope you’ll enjoy. It’s the conclusion of a HONEYMOONERS episode; the only one in which Gleason steps out of character:


Gleason had something to teach choirmasters. He avoided over-rehearsing his cast. He believed things turned out better that way. A good choirmaster knows when to “hammer” something hard during rehearsal—but avoids rehearsing a piece so much the choir begins to hate it.

LEASON AND HIS CAST made live performance seem so easy & natural. Few realize how diligently Gleason had to work to produce such phenomenal results. The same is true of the choirmaster. We do so many things and make so many decisions we’ll never get credit for—our jobs are incredibly demanding.

I know we can become discouraged, but I have some good news.

In order to understand the good news, you must first learn about Jerry Seinfeld, who was a master of “situational comedy.” To be clear, I have nothing against Seinfeld; and he’s quite good at situational comedy. But there’s more to his story. Seinfeld was incredibly successful and soon reached the highest echelon of his profession. He was rich and powerful. He did whatever he wanted. 1 But in a recent interview, Jerry Seinfeld said that—after attaining those heights—his life lost all meaning. He ended his show and “basically played pool” (his words) for about two years. But his life still had no meaning. So Seinfeld began working again—and said something terrifying about this! He said that, in his opinion, the meaning of life is a “hard day’s work,” when you come home totally exhausted from working so hard.

We Roman Catholics know better. We know the meaning of life is absolutely not throwing ourselves into “work” (whatever “work” might be).

I know we can sometimes feel discouraged as choirmasters. We often suffer tremendously and deal with major frustrations. But “say not the struggle naught availeth.” Let Jerry Seinfeld be our reminder that nothing can replace our longing for God: not money, not fame, not power, not work. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord; and they are restless until they rest in Thee.” When you’re near the end of your rope, rejoice that you have something worth fighting for—namely JESUS CHRIST, His Church, and your eternal salvation!

UPDATE :   (24 December 2016)

I forgot something important. When we’re “too close” to the choir, we can become convinced things sound bad. However, that’s not always true. I recently found an old recording by my high school girls (circa 2009), which—at the time—I thought was severely flawed. When I listen after all these years, I must admit it doesn’t sound horrible:

    * *  Mp3 • High School Girls’ Choir (“Tantum Ergo”)

My little son likes to bring me pine cones, which he carefully collects. It may not seem like much, but it means everything to me. In the end, our offerings to God are like his pine cones. God doesn’t need them, and doesn’t need us. At the same time, they are priceless in His eyes!



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   When Seinfeld was 39 years old, he dated a 17-year-old girl (still in high school) named Shoshanna Lonstein. Sadly, our celebrity-obsessed culture tolerates such inappropriate things. It was not always so, but that’s another story.

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 Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Parish Priests have to think first of the simple faithful: people now used to the Roman Missal at Mass. They don’t want change.”

— Cardinal Spellman (one of the Vatican II fathers)

Recent Posts

  • “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
  • “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
  • Little Encouragement?
  • Children’s Repertoire • Mueller’s Recommendations
  • PDF Download • “Marian Antiphon Booklet” (4 pages) + Five Rhythmic Considerations

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