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Views from the Choir Loft

Archives for June 2024

Corrinne May · June 28, 2024

Can I Just Say?

Many of the choristers could not read music. How were they doing this?

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Veronica Moreno · June 21, 2024

Jeff Was Our Choir Director

A choir member from Jeff’s choir reflects on singing for the long-term and expresses gratitude to the Ostrowski family.

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 20, 2024

Jeff Has Left Los Angeles • “Final Communion”

We complain about the abysmal state of music in the Catholic Church—yet we ought to rejoice!

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Richard J. Clark · June 19, 2024

Kathleen Pluth discusses hymn writing with National Pastoral Musicians

A recent podcast interview on “Ministry Monday” (National Pastoral Musicians) with Amanda Bruce.

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Andrea Leal · June 19, 2024

FREE • Sacred Music Symposium Books Available!

These are packed with fascinating historical and musical information!

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 15, 2024

Excellent Choral Sound • “How Best Obtain This?”

Without rehearsal time, what can be done?

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 5, 2024

Mozart at Mass in Malaysia

Including a brief word about “Englishing” plain-chant.

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 4, 2024

“People’s Mass Book” • Omer Westendorf

On page 226 of the “People’s Mass Book” (1964), you’ll discover the “TOULON” melody used several times in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal, whose editorial team made it clear they had zero interest in “ginning up” a brand new hymnody tradition. Many of the melodies in the Brébeuf Hymnal were used by hundreds of Catholic hymn […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 3, 2024

“Schmaltzy” Pipe Organ Music At Mass?

Tinctoris said: “There is no music worth hearing save that written in the last 40 years.”

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Corpus Christi Watershed · June 3, 2024

We’ve Heard From Sister Anne Flanagan, FSP!

Some believe this to be the Church’s most ancient 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 melody.

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 1, 2024

“Lauda Sion” (Sequence) • Too Lengthy, Or Not?

At the end of the American Civil War, nearly 33% of all currency in circulation was counterfeit.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Cordero de Dios”
    Feel free to download this setting of the “Cordero de Dios” (AGNUS DEI) in Spanish. The congregation gets an interesting melody within reach, the organist gets a straightforward accompaniment, and the person assembling the ORDER OF WORSHIP gets a ‘ready-to-paste’ plainsong version. Try this setting of the “Santo, Santo, Santo” (SANCTUS) if you desire one that’s easy to sing and includes a simple organ accompaniment. For the record, I have harmonized the Spanish “GLORIA” found in the MISAL ROMANO, Tercera Edición. Click here to download that.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude

    Peter Piel (1835–1904), was a Roman Catholic composer named “Royal Music Director” under Wilhelm I, King of Prussia.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)
    Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

    You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up
    We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    ‘Ould’ But Not Good
    Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

To end an impropriety, noticed particularly at orchestral Vespers, when two or three Psalms are sung with full orchestra, and then the other Psalms and the Hymn are rapidly hurried through with organ accompaniment only […] we order that at Mass all portions of the text, including “Agnus Dei,” be sung with orchestral accompaniment. […] Moreover, the musicians are not allowed to put the instruments away and leave their places before the conclusion of the sacred function.

— Cardinal Patrizi (18 November 1856)

Recent Posts

  • Musical Lineup • “Mass of Thanksgiving for a Newly-Ordained Priest”
  • PDF Download • “Cordero de Dios”
  • PDF Download • “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” — Simple Organ Interludes (5 pages)
  • “Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude
  • Active Passivity? Yes. Let me explain.

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