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Views from the Choir Loft

Jeff Ostrowski • Article Archive

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He completed studies in Education and Musicology at the graduate level. Having worked as a church musician in Los Angeles for ten years, in 2024 he accepted a position as choirmaster for Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Michigan, where he resides with his wife and children. —Read full biography (with photographs).

Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2020

Clarity! • Missal vs. Gradual Text (Ordinary Form)

If this problem is to be solved, we must first understand it.

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2020

JP2 said in June of 1980…

Pope Saint John Paul II said in June of 1980: “To the extent that the new sacred music is to serve the liturgical celebrations of the various churches, it can and must draw from earlier forms—especially from Gregorian chant—a higher inspiration, a uniquely sacred quality, a genuine sense of what is religious.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2020

18 August 2020 • Fr. Fortescue wins!

The index for the Brébeuf hymnal has beautiful capital letters, and I had previously believed our creation to be unique. However, it seems Fr. Adrian Fortescue beat us. (Deep sigh.) You can see that the index for his book, Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described, is quite beautiful, and uses the capital letters I spoke […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 18, 2020

“Homily for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM

“I considered myself privileged to be Pastor at one of the places in Houck, Arizona, where Saint Katherine Drexel built a church and grade school.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 16, 2020

3 September 1958 • “De musica sacra”

From the 1958 Instruction published under Pope Pius XII: “If the faithful are to communicate, the singing of the Communion antiphon is to begin when the priest distributes Holy Communion. If this Communion antiphon has been taken from some psalm, the other verses of the same psalm may be sung, in which case the antiphon […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 16, 2020

3 September 1958 • Issued by Pius XII

The Sacred Congregation for Rites issued De musica sacra et sacra liturgia (“Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy”) on 3 September 1958. An excerpt: Finally, perfect active participation is achieved when there is also sacramental participation, by which “the faithful who are present communicate not only with spiritual affection, but also in reception of […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 14, 2020

“Homily — 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A” • Father Valentine Young, OFM

“I had a brother who was married outside the Church and had stopped going to Church for about thirty years…”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 14, 2020

13 August 2020 • “Lenten acclamations”

Where do the Latin acclamations come from, which replace the “Alleluia” during Lent? The traditional Divine Office replaces Alleluia with “Laus tibi Domine Rex aeternae gloriae.” Here’s a piece of paper that has all possible Ordinary Form “Lenten acclamations” in Latin.

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 13, 2020

“Crown Him with Many Crowns” (Diademata) • Brébeuf Hymnal #752

Big news! They discovered why Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished Symphony” was never completed!

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 12, 2020

These kids are on fire! • “Victimæ Paschali Laudes” by Philippe Verdelot

I don’t know a more beautiful, gorgeous, memorable 15 seconds than the beginning of Part 2—stunning!

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 10, 2020

10 August 2020 • FEEDBACK

A reader wrote to us: “I just wanted to send you a message and let you know I REALLY like the compositions on your website. You have a very rich harmonic language in your choral writing. The work you do is so appreciated and important!”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 9, 2020

PDF Download • “Veni Creator Spiritus” Organ Accompaniment (Each Verse Notated)

Accompaniment to the hymn “Veni Creator Spiritus” with all the verses written out (composed by Jeff Ostrowski).

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 7, 2020

Vexing? Irksome? • Thoughts On Hymnal Indexes

Most people comb desperately through the final pages, seeking the correct section…

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 6, 2020

Allowed or Forbidden? • Parallel Fourths in Renaissance Polyphony

Article Subtitle: “Brave schola director posts live recording from rehearsal.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 4, 2020

4 August 2020 • FEEDBACK

A reader wrote to us: “I must confess to taking oodles of inspiration from the work that you do. When I first found your website it was a revelation. I’ve been a monthly donor ever since. I think the work that you do is absolutely VITAL. There are so many things I’d have never been […]

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Garnier Alleluias • “Have They Moved?”

    We received an email asking whether the “Garnier Gospel Acclamations website” has…

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Absolutely ‘Perfect’ Voice-Leading?

    This brief passage seems (in my humble opinion) to be a delightful specimen.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Calling Dr. Weaver!

    A remarkable exposition of the “mora vocis” (published in 1953 in the Netherlands) which doesn’t shy away from a certain item!

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    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “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
    “Reader Feedback” • 22 June 2026
    A reader wrote to us from Virginia: “I really appreciate the 23 harmonizations that you posted on CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED for the Daily, Daily, Sing to Mary hymn. I hope to find willing voices in our small Schola Cantorum to try the three-voice version. Carry on, sir! You’re doing the Lord’s work.” While we don’t know this gentleman personally, we note that he earned a Ph.D. (which demonstrates that our blog has something for everybody). 😊
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“…it would be a very praiseworthy thing and the correction would be so easy to make that one could accommodate the chant by gradual changes; and through this it would not lose its original form, since it is only through the binding together of many notes put under short syllables that they become long without any good purpose when it would be sufficient to give one note only.”

— Zarlino (1558) anticipating the Medicæa

Recent Posts

  • Garnier Alleluias • “Have They Moved?”
  • PDF Download • 1950s Hand Missal including “Priest Photographs” at Mass (944 pages)
  • “Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up
  • Absolutely ‘Perfect’ Voice-Leading?
  • “The Choirmaster Survey” • Update on 29 July 2026

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