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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 · April 3, 2015

Rubrics • Good Friday (Pius XII Holy Week Revisions)

Even Solesmes makes errors from time to time.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 2, 2015

An Essential & Unique Thing For Holy Thursday

…and a look at Holy Thursday from the 1965 Missal.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2015

Judas Iscariot & Religious Freedom

Some have criticized Christ for making Judas part of his special group of friends.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2015

Musical Resources • Holy Thursday (1962)

Bells are rung and the organ played at the “Gloria”—but then stay silent until the Easter Vigil “Gloria.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 31, 2015

What Happened To Our Catholic Artists?

From what I can tell, a trend toward *ugly* artwork in Church publications began in the late 1950s.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 30, 2015

Is This Where It All Began?

Why do so many traditional priests have an aversion to Pope Pius XII’s revision of Holy Week?

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2015

Palm Sunday Outline • Extraordinary Form

During the procession, all or some of the following selections may be sung…

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2015

Musical Resources • Palm Sunday (1962)

There are two ways to distribute palm branches in the Extraordinary Form.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 26, 2015

Diversity Of Thought

When it comes to reforming the liturgy, they want “all voices heard.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 26, 2015

“O Sacred Head Surrounded”

An easier organ accompaniment, provided by Dr. Eugène Lapierre, teacher of Roger Wagner.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 25, 2015

Free PDF • Polyphonic Gloria With Practice Videos

Uses Gregorian chant with polyphonic _Falsibordone_ by Caesare de Zachariis (†1594).

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 25, 2015

Video • Vocation Story Of Bishop Robert C. Morlino

“Scranton is a very Catholic town. Every guy, growing up considered the priesthood.” —Bishop Morlino

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 24, 2015

Do You Know The Hymn Of Saint Casimir?

The *original* meter & rhyme scheme were miraculously kept in English, Polish, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian!

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 22, 2015

Musical Resources • 5th Sunday of Lent “Passion”

The “Gloria Patri” is not said at the Introit from this day until Easter Sunday, except on Feasts.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 21, 2015

Professional Recording • “Salve Festa Dies”

Including a video demonstration: “What makes polyphony so beautiful?”

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music List • (15th Sund. Ordinary Time)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), which is 12 July 2026. Please feel free to download it as a PDF file if that appeals to you. The hymns chosen are some of the most ‘traditional’ I have chosen (and were chosen by our pastor). The ENTRANCE CHANT radiates pure bliss, overflowing with joy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Shortest Psalm In The Bible
    The shortest chapter in the whole Bible—as well as the shortest psalm—is PSALM 116 (“Laudáte Dóminum ómnes géntes”), which consists of just two verses. German-speaking Catholics did something really splendid (PDF) with PSALM 116. I was alerted to this many years ago by none other than Monsignor Robert Alexander Skeris. Click here to download—from different Catholic hymn books—ten (10) different harmonizations for this fabulous hymn.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Oldest Latin Eucharistic Hymn
    The Church’s oldest Latin Eucharistic hymn is featured in the Brébeuf Hymnal. Indeed, the legendary Father Adrian Fortescue made a translation of it—matching the original’s meter—which was elevated by the Brébeuf team. For years, we’ve been working on a Spanish hymnal: “Cantoral del Padre Antonio Daniel.” The progress has been slow but steady, and we encourage anyone fluent in Spanish to consider joining the proofreading team. A few days ago, my wife helped me record a rehearsal video for this Spanish version of the Church’s oldest Latin Eucharistic hymn.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    ‘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
    Time and Again We Are Asked…
    John Baptist Singenberger (d. 1924) was a central figure of Catholic Church music. In this utterly fascinating excerpt (Single-Page PDF), Singenberger writes: Time and again we are asked: “Is the Gregorian chant to be accompanied by the organ?” As a young student in Saint Gall, Singenberger befriended SEBASTIAN GEBHARD MESSMER, the future Archbishop of Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The two graduated together in 1861. The school they attended (Saint George’s Seminary) was a “seminary”—but in the older European sense. In other words, it provided a classical education without necessarily leading to ordination. Singenberger remained a layman his whole life, but Messmer was eventually made archbishop—by Pope Saint Pius X—of the very archdiocese in Wisconsin where Singenberger would spend his American career, giving him a powerful ecclesiastical ally.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

Recent Posts

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  • “Website Subscriptions” • (Update: 30 June 2026)

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