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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 · January 1, 2017

A Majestic Christmas Hymn That Isn’t Difficult

“Here lies He in the manger, alleluia, Who reigns without end, alleluia, alleluia.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 31, 2016

Brave Schola Director Posts “Live” Recording…

A snippet caught by a generous alto at Candle-lit Mass in Hollywood.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 25, 2016

Proof Good People Still Exist

Several singers shown here helped record the Watershed polyphonic rehearsal videos.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2016

Christmas • When Jackie Gleason Broke Character (Updated)

I forgot something important…

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 21, 2016

60 Minutes • “The Pope’s Choir” (Sistine Chapel)

This video sharply condemns the choir’s previous director…a dangerous game.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 20, 2016

Shortest “Kyrie” Palestrina Ever Wrote

Especially suited for the Ordinary Form—and did you spot the invertible counterpoint?

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 14, 2016

Musical Resources • 4th Sunday of Advent (EF)

“Look with favor, we beseech Thee, O Lord upon these offerings here before Thee…”

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 14, 2016

Musical Resources • Christmas Midnight Mass (EF)

We won’t be singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for Offertory!

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 12, 2016

Bauer Family Sings “O Magnum Mysterium”

…Victoria lives, thanks to fine youngsters such as these!

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 10, 2016

PDF Download • “Rorate Mass” Booklet

Including a video snippet taken in Los Angeles.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 9, 2016

Musical Resources • 3rd Sunday of Advent (EF)

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 9, 2016

Help! Why does my printer leave off the clivis?

When I print this entire booklet, the Communion inexplicably erases every clivis in the psalmody.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 8, 2016

And Now … Some Fantastic News!

Good people really do exist.

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 8, 2016

PDF Download • Immac. Conception Music Booklet

Make sure to read the translation of the Offertory Hymn—so gorgeous!

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Jeff Ostrowski · December 6, 2016

“Ad Orientem” • Archbishop Naumann’s Letter

“…there are, in the core of the Church’s sacramental teaching and experience, good contentions and corollary arguments to be made for both practices.” —Archbishop Naumann

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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

“No living writer possesses a greater command over the English language than Msgr. Knox, but in this instance one cannot help feeling that he has allowed his virtuosity to get the better of him, and, in his anxiety to shield the holy of holies from vulgar intrusion, produced a text that would either pass over the listener’s head as completely as the original Latin, or else leave him groping so long after the meaning that he would be quite unable to keep pace with the officiating priest.”

— Dr. Herbert Patrick Reginald Finberg (University of Leicester)

Recent Posts

  • 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.
  • “A Mode of Singing & Chanting Mass for Children”

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