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Views from the Choir Loft

Archives for January 2024

Jeff Ostrowski · January 31, 2024

PDF Download • “Pew Edition” — Monsignor Martin B. Hellriegel’s Hymnal (149 Pages)

Including never-before-released photographs of Monsignor Martin B. Hellriegel.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 30, 2024

“Polyphonic Sanctus” by J.S. Bach • Jeff Attempts All Voices (Even the Girls’ Vocals)

The occasion I speak of is when he stopped by our home to see us one final time.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 29, 2024

PDF Score • “Mass Setting I Wrote For Corrinne”

I demonstrate how the “Kyrie Eleison” can be adapted for use in the Extraordinary Form.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 27, 2024

“Saint Mark” • Hymn Tune

Regarding the hymn tune called “ST MARK”—have you ever heard or sung this? If you scroll towards the bottom of this recent article, you can hear my choir (which is made up 100% of volunteers) singing it. Some people say the ST MARK melody sounds a little ‘protestant.’ What do you think? I rather like […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 26, 2024

Eucharistic Hymn With Gorgeous Tenor Line

Responding to an inquiry from Wendy Q.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 26, 2024

Do not read this!

She probably never actually said this, but leave that aside for the moment.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 24, 2024

“Seeking Employment” • Please help!

You can download my official résumé.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 23, 2024

Response to Mike’s Letter • “Six Concrete Examples”

“I would dismiss it as the second text writer being lazy and stealing someone else’s music…” —Michael H.

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Corpus Christi Watershed · January 21, 2024

A Message From Mr. Roderick Royce!

Mr. Royce has taught orchestra for thirteen years.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 18, 2024

Gregorian Chant … with a drone?

It’s possible to sing Carmen Gregorianum with a drone note (a.k.a. “ison”) but is this always a good idea? I’ve heard it done very poorly. We tried singing GLORIA IX with an ison last Sunday. Feel free to listen to this excerpt (Mp3) and let me know your thoughts.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 18, 2024

Abbat Pothier on Gregorian Chant

“There is, then, in the Church, in the Catholic liturgy, a music that, as we have just stated, is both a word and a song, a music rich and powerful, although simple and natural, a music that is not self-seeking, which does not attend to itself but comes forth as the spontaneous utterance of religious […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 17, 2024

PDF Download • “Credo III + Polyphonic Extension”

When I just couldn’t take it anymore, I called up a friend on the telephone and paid him $150 to teach me.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 16, 2024

Which Hymns Are Appropriate After Christmas?

How many Catholics realize how closely the feast of the Epiphany is tied to the Holy Eucharist and Calvary?

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Guest Author · January 13, 2024

Guest Article by Dr. Kurt Poterack

Christendom College offers scholarships and free organ lessons for students starting in the Fall of 2024.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 12, 2024

Organ Accompaniment Booklet (25 pages)

Those who celebrate VESPERS each week may wish to download my organ accompaniment booklet (25 pages) for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany. This was originally released about a year ago (link), but minor improvements have been made.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Citation Needed” • Dom Foote of ICEL
    Father Basil Foote, OSB, was organist at WESTMINSTER ABBEY MISSION (British Columbia, Canada). In 1984 he published an article called “Chanting in the Vernacular.” Twenty years later, it was republished by ADOREMUS—and that’s how it came to my attention. In that article, Dom Foote makes a claim I consider somewhat outlandish. At the very least, his statement with regard to the Latin accent needs some sort of citation. He has served on the Music Sub-Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • “Corpus Christi” (Year A)

    The 28-page Singers’ Booklet is included. Our children’s choir will join us for this Mass.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Rubric Challenge”
    The feast of Corpus Christi is special for TLM altar boys. On that day, two of us thurifers got to walk backwards while using the THURIBLE. (That American custom, if memory serves, is not strictly described in the rubrics.) A few weeks ago on the CCW Facebook Page we posted this screenshot from a 1915 Roman Catholic hymnal. The challenge is to guess what the rubric says, which we blocked from view with a red box. So far, nobody has guessed correctly. Feel free to guess! Our email address is listed at the bottom of each page. UPDATE: The answer has been revealed as of 8 June 2026.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Time and Again We Are Asked…
    John Baptist Singenberger (d. 1924) was a central figure of Catholic Church music. In this utterly fascinating excerpt (Single-Page PDF), Singenberger writes: Time and again we are asked: “Is the Gregorian chant to be accompanied by the organ?” As a young student in Saint Gall, Singenberger befriended SEBASTIAN GEBHARD MESSMER, the future Archbishop of Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The two graduated together in 1861. The school they attended (Saint George’s Seminary) was a “seminary”—but in the older European sense. In other words, it provided a classical education without necessarily leading to ordination. Singenberger remained a layman his whole life, but Messmer was eventually made archbishop—by Pope Saint Pius X—of the very archdiocese in Wisconsin where Singenberger would spend his American career, giving him a powerful ecclesiastical ally.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of June (2026)
    On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). Since we were founded in 2006, not one of our board members has ever accepted any remuneration whatsoever—not a penny. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. It couldn’t be easier to subscribe! Just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Thee” + “Thou” + “Thine”
    Few musicians realize that various English translations of Sacred Scripture were granted formal approval by the USCCB and the Vatican for liturgical use in the United States of America. But don’t take my word for it! Here are four documents proving this, which you can examine with your own eyes. Some believe the words “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee” were forbidden after Vatican II—but that’s incorrect. For example, they’re found in the English translation of the ‘Our Father’ at Mass. Moreover, the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) mentioned in those four documents employs “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee.” It was published with a FOREWORD by Westminster’s Roman Catholic Archbishop (John Cardinal Heenan).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

10 February 1588: “All incompetent singers in the cathedral are warned that they must immediately begin to improve themselves or be fined. Regularly scheduled practice hours shall be announced, and all incompetents must attend. No one shall henceforth sing anything by way of a solo except those whose names the dean communicates to Guerrero.”

— From the “Life of Father Francisco Guerrero”

Recent Posts

  • Time and Again We Are Asked…
  • “Citation Needed” • Dom Foote of ICEL
  • “Should the People Sing in Parts?” • Weighing the Case for SATB Hymnals in the Pews
  • Revealed • “Answer to the Riddle”
  • Music List • “Corpus Christi” (Year A)

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