Views from the Choir Loft

Dr. Alfred Calabrese

Dr. Alfred Calabrese is a conductor, educator, composer, scholar, and church musician. Having worked in academia for two decades, he felt called to enter full-time work in the Catholic Church, and since 2007 has directed the music at Saint Rita Catholic Church. He and his wife live in Dallas, TX. They have two grown children. Read more.

Is This Any Way to Pray at Mass?

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · April 27, 2017 ·

My daughter freaked out when I told her this.

7 Points • “The Joy of Lent”

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · February 23, 2017 ·

Does Lent really put people in a bad mood?

The Pedagogy of the School Mass Liturgy

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · February 16, 2017 ·

The weekly school Mass may be the only Mass some students ever attend.

Nostalgia Is Not Rigid

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · December 1, 2016 ·

I don’t think young people (or most people, frankly) are drawn to the pre-conciliar Mass because of nostalgia.

Has Our Catholic Culture Been Completely Dismantled?

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · August 31, 2016 ·

Art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.

The Positive Impact Of Parish Events

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · June 30, 2016 ·

These things must begin at the parish level.

Has The Church Rejected Her Inheritance?

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · March 10, 2016 ·

The richness of liturgy and music should never be abandoned.

May 2016 • Major Choral Event In Dallas!

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 18, 2016 ·

A tremendously exciting moment in the Catholic musical world!

The Theology of a C-sharp Minor Chord

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · January 7, 2016 ·

Every time I listen to this piece I’m still shocked.

An Antidote For Clericalism: Sung Vespers

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · December 17, 2015 ·

The public singing of Vespers is an antidote to the kind of clericalism frequently condemned by Pope Francis.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski