“Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude

Jeff Ostrowski · August 28, 2026

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

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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).

“Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude

Peter Piel (d. 1904), a Roman Catholic layman and composer, was awarded the Prussian title of Königlicher Musikdirektor (“Royal Music Director”) under WILHELM I, King of Prussia. The Germans always add brilliant little interludes, preludes, and postludes for hymns in their accompaniment books. Peter Piel’s organ interludes for “Be Joyful Mary, Heavenly Queen” are truly delightful. For the record, the technical name of these items in German are as follows: VORSPIEL, ZWISCHENSPIEL, and NACHSPIEL.

—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

PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

Monsignor Franciszek Walczyński (d. 1937) was a Polish composer. If you play the pipe organ, I encourage you to try out this ORGAN INTERLUDE FOR MANUALS ONLY (1-page PDF) which he composed. Walczyński taught plainsong at the seminary in Tarnów (about 50 miles east of Kraków). With his brother Stanisław—also a Catholic priest—he initiated the Saint Adalbert Society for the Support of Church Music, which ran annual workshops for their diocese. In July of 1894 (more than a decade before the appearance of the Editio Vaticana) Walczyński lectured on “congregational singing and Gregorian Chant.” On top of all that, Monsignor Walczyński founded an organists’ school in Tarnów and the SAINT ADALBERT CHOIR at the cathedral.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

“Be Joyful Mary” • Organ Interlude

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