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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

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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Jeff Ostrowski · August 1, 2020

1 August 2020 • FEEDBACK

K.S. in Rochester, New York, wrote to us: “Your website is outstanding. It is a rich mine for information and liturgical music. Glad I found it. I’m a retired former orchestra conductor and church music director and organist. While I’m no longer an active church music director and organist (after 45 years with a variety […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 31, 2020

“Stella Caeli Exstirpavit” • Gregorian Chant During Times Of Pestilence

I would give anything to know how these girls created this recording—because it’s free rhythm!

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President’s Corner

    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
    Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 on Sundays?

    Highlighted in yellow (on this single-page PDF file) is documentation concerning whether the 2nd Eucharistic prayer may be used on Sundays.

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    —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

“It was amusing to read in our papers that German Catholics were now using the vernacular at High Mass. In some parts of Germany they have been doing just that for well-nigh four hundred years! The cathedral in Osnabruck has solemn High Mass every Sunday with the whole chapter present, and the introit Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei are sung … in German. Imagine, for four hundred years almost!”

— Hans Ansgar Reinhold (Dec. 1944)

Recent Posts

  • The Vanishing Art of Knowing Hymns • We Seek a Hymn “Expert” (Not Just a Hymn “Enthusiast”)
  • Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)
  • PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)
  • Composer Isabella Quintana: “Christ my teacher, Christ my healer, Christ my Savior.” • (Guest Article)
  • PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

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