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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

What Choirmasters Do.

Jeff Ostrowski · October 28, 2019

80928 yelling ROWING UP, I was part of a particular musical “culture.” It began with the Russian school: Anton Rubinstein (d. 1894); Felix Blumenfeld (d. 1931); Wiktor Labunski (d. 1974). I won’t go into the details right now, but let’s just say it was…rigorous. Every semester, we were required to perform demanding concert programs from memory: Chopin Etudes, Medtner, Bach, Schumann, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, and so forth. The “audience” consisted of incredible pianists—Robert König, Richard Angeletti, Alice Downs, Jack Winerock, etc.—listening critically to every single note, giving a lower grade for any mistakes or memory lapses.

Having graduated college with a professional music degree, I encountered the “real world” of church music: the shocking musical situation of the Catholic Church. I discovered that very little of our day-to-day vocation has anything to do with music. (Those of you who have directed choirs throughout the United States know what I’m speaking about.) Much of what we do is physical: moving chairs, constructing shelves, sorting endless choir binders, and so forth. We also have to deal with “politics” constantly. Then, too, there is ignorance of music—such as the bride who insists that you provide 12 professional singers for her wedding free of charge, whereas she never demands (for example) a free wedding cake, or a free wedding photographer, or a free reception hall, or a free wedding dress, or free wedding flowers, or free wedding catering. We also have to be “psychologists”—because many singers have personal problems, which they choose to bring to us. Playing scales and trills for hours in college did not prepare me for this!

In case you’re wondering: the photo on the upper right is me—taken on Saturday night. You see, on Saturday night we held a special choir party. I currently direct about 62 choir members, and most of them were in attendance. It was wonderful (games, food, costumes, and so on), but it required tons of work. Again, parties have very little to do with “music,” yet they’re quite important. They help the choir members become friends with one another, and this is essential when they sing together for hours week after week.

Here’s the bottom line: Sometimes dressing up in a costume helps the music program more than a rehearsal. (Needless to say, we have plenty of rehearsals, too!)

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

    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Symposium Draft Schedule Released!
    Those who head over to the Symposium Website will notice the tentative schedule for 2023 has been released. This is all very exciting! Very soon, we will begin accepting applications, so please make sure you have subscribed to our mailing list. If you are subscribed, that means you'll hear announcements before anyone else. (It’s incredibly easy to subscribe to our mailing list; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.)
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Good Friday Polyphony by L. Senfl
    The editor of the Sacred Music Magazine recently made available to the public this splendid article by our own Charles Weaver. It includes an edition of polyphony for the GOOD FRIDAY “Reproaches.” Renaissance composers often set the various offices of Holy Week; e.g. readers will probably be familiar with the beautiful TENEBRAE setting by Father Tomás Luis de Victoria (d. 1611). From what I can tell, Ludwig Senfl (d. 1543) was originally a Catholic priest, but eventually was seduced by Luther and ended up abandoning the sacred priesthood.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

In the ’60s, I thought this emphasis on congregational singing was to encourage good Catholic hymns like “Immaculate Mary” and so forth … but after the Council, they threw them out, too!

— ‘Fr. Valentine Young, OFM (2007)’

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