Views from the Choir Loft

Important • Watershed Will Never Be The Same!

Jeff Ostrowski · June 19, 2020

HE STRENGTH of Corpus Christi Watershed is the vast number of supporters all over the world: you, in other words! From the very depths of my heart, on behalf of our entire team of volunteers, I thank you for your support and sacrifices. Our readers quite literally give the widow’s mite; we have no endowment and zero large donors. We are completely funded by generous Catholics who give $5.00 per month. Today, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, I have exciting news. A plan which has been formulated for quite some time has officially begun! You can read all about it in this presidential memo:

* PDF Download • MEMORANDUM (19 June 2020)

It’s better to read directly from the PDF, but you can also read these JPEG files:

77627-MEMO-A

77627-MEMO-B

77627-MEMO-C

OU WILL BE observing many changes over the next few months. If you want to immediately begin “getting the ball rolling,” please switch your monthly donations from PayPal to Cornerstone, unless using PayPal is the only option you have. Thank you!!!

Regarding what my letter says about the Feast of the Sacred Heart, here is documentation:

We did not plan to make this announcement on the Feast of the Sacred Heart—it was a coincidence. It’s difficult to avoid seeing Divine Providence here.

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

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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).

Music Director Job • $80,000 per year

Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.

—Jeff Ostrowski

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.

—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