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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • “Midnight Mass Musical Plan” (2020)

Jeff Ostrowski · December 23, 2020

OMETHING WE HAVE tried to avoid on this blog is constant complaining about the way our government (and our Church) has reacted to Covid-19. The reason for this is simple: Complaining doesn’t solve anything. That being said, there is no question that Covid-19 has turned what’s already a difficult vocation into something even more precarious and arduous. Here in California, we’ve basically been ‘locked down’ since March. The Covid-19 restrictions have constantly been modified, sometimes on a weekly basis. For Christmas this year, our parish will have five Masses (whereas on Sundays, we have six Masses).

I am fearful to release our “musical program” for Midnight Mass; it’s rough with ugly formatting … but here goes:

*  PDF Download • MUSICAL PLAN (Midnight Mass)
—Rough document showing musical selections, with ancient manuscripts.

A friend of mine thought readers would enjoy seeing it, because I placed ancient manuscripts next to each piece, along with rehearsal videos.

Sacred Scripture is full of mysteries. Father Michael Irwin, FSSP, reminded us that the Bible says angels “sang” at the birth of Christ—but what precisely does that mean? Angels have no voices. According to Father Irwin, there is much we don’t understand about the Bible. Indeed, the Catholic Church Herself has never explained some of what is contained in the Book of Revelation. A very great fault—perhaps the greatest fault—of today’s theologians is an inability to say three words: “We don’t know.” In any event, God made known the Birth of Christ to shepherds; why shepherds? Precisely because shepherds were looked down upon; they were considered so “worthless” that the testimony of a shepherd was not accepted in court:

A Dutch manuscript from the 1400s shows the Nativity of Christ:

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Annunciation to Shepherds Last Updated: December 23, 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

    Tempo?? • 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘞𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘺 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘦
    Once, after Mass, my pastor said he really loved the hymn we did. I said: “Father, that's Holy God, We Praise Thy Name—you never heard it before?” He replied: “But the way you did it was terrific. For once, it didn't sound like a funeral dirge!” Last Sunday, our volunteer choir sang that hymn. I think the tempo was just about right … but what do you think?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“In older times we referred to humans as the human race, but according to this foundation we are being classed with the animals on the farm, the cow, the horse, the mule […] According to this foundation, I have no right to be born, for I am the youngest of 16 children, and God bless my mother for every one of them!”

— Archbishop Schrembs (d. 1945) vs. a foundation promoting artificial contraception

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  • PDF Download • Belgian Book of Gregorian Accompaniments (Official Edition)
  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?

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