Views from the Choir Loft

Final Sunday after Pentecost (4th in November)

Jeff Ostrowski · November 25, 2017

These musical programs are for FSSP.la, the new FSSP Apostolate in Los Angeles. Bring your family to the High Mass (SAINT VICTOR, 8634 Holloway Dr, West Hollywood, CA 90069) at 7:00pm every Sunday.

PROCESSIONAL

Organist.

ASPERGES

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer) • Organist

We also add a polyphonic section, which is #4550.

INTROIT • Sometimes the ladies sing this.

PDF Score (Singer) • Practice Audio (Singer)

KYRIE ELEISON

We are singing #5294 (KYRIE “Iste Sanctus” by Guerrero)

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

We will sing #5612.

GRADUAL & ALLELUIA

Psalm Tone Version

We will pair it with ALLELUIA by Fr. Cristóbal de Morales: #3982.

CREDO IV • Alternatim

We may sing #5984 by Machaut.

We also sometimes sing this version: #3445. But sometimes we sing in unison.

OFFERTORY ANTIPHON

PDF Score (Singer)

OFFERTORY OTHER

Organist will play.

SANCTUS & HOSANNA

We will sing the Palestrina #6962 (“Te saeculorum”)

Sometimes we sing #3496 paired with #2999.

Sometimes we sing Sanctus from Mass XIII. The complete “Kyriale” (Ordinarium Missae) can be found at St. Antoine Daniel.

BENEDICTUS & HOSANNA

We will sing #6926 Palestrina (Te Sæculorum).

AGNUS DEI

We will sing #7554.

Before long we will begin work on a setting by Giovanni Gabrieli.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

This will be sung by chosen soloists.

COMMUNION ORGAN

Organist.

COMMUNION OTHER

“O Esca Viatorum” is #4687.

RECESSIONAL HYMN • #869 Who Are These, Like Stars Appearing

From the Campion Hymnal.

CHOIR PRAYER (from CAMPION HYMNAL) happens after attendance is taken:

What Fr. Ragueneau after learning about the martyrdom of St. Charles Garnier:

3817 St Charles Garnier

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

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).

PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)

I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Cantus Mariales” (192 pages)

Andrea Leal has posted an absolutely pristine scan of CANTUS MARIALES (192 pages) which can be downloaded as a PDF file. To access this treasure, navigate to the frabjous article Andrea posted Monday. The file is being offered completely free of charge. The beginning pages of the book have something not to be missed: viz. a letter from Pope Saint Pius X to Dom Pothier, in which the pope calls Abbat Pothier “a man versed above all others in the science of liturgy, and to whom the cause of Gregorian chant is greatly indebted.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Music List • (2nd Sunday of Lent)

Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 2nd Sunday of Lent (1 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its somber INTROIT is particularly striking—using a haunting tonality—but the COMMUNION with its fauxbourdon verses is also quite remarkable. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Extreme Unction

Those who search Google for “CCCC MS 079” will discover high resolution images of a medieval Pontificale (“Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 079”). One of the pages contains this absolutely gorgeous depiction of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

PDF Chart • “Plainsong Rhythm”

I will go to my grave without understanding the lack of curiosity so many people have about the rhythmic modifications made by Dom André Mocquereau. For example, how can someone examine this single sheet comparison chart and at a minimum not be curious about the differences? Dom Mocquereau basically creates a LONG-SHORT LONG-SHORT rhythmic pattern—in spite of enormous and overwhelming manuscript evidence to the contrary. That’s why some scholars referred to his method as “Neo-Mensuralist” or “Neo-Mensuralism.”

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “O Come All Ye Faithful” (Simplified)

I admire the harmonization of “Adeste Fideles” by David Willcocks (d. 2015), who served as director of the Royal College of Music (London, England). In 2025, I was challenged to create a simplified arrangement for organists incapable of playing the authentic version at tempo. The result was this simplified keyboard arrangement (PDF download) based on the David Willcocks version of “O Come All Ye Faithful.” Feel free to play through it and let me know what you think.

—Jeff Ostrowski