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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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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 · November 5, 2023

When just 13 years old, Beethoven……

Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (WTC) was not officially published until 1801. By that time, many hand-copied manuscripts had circulated through Europe. According to Charles Rosen: “Beethoven, at the age of 13, played the entire WTC in public.” His feat was published in the newspapers of that time. In my view, both books of the WTC—with a […]

Jeff Ostrowski · November 4, 2023

PDF • Draft Booklet “Couture Chant” (255 Pages)

This is very much a “work in progress”…

Jeff Ostrowski · November 3, 2023

Dissonant Chord? • (not in context)

If you play nothing but the notes and chord highlighted by yellow in this passage from the “Haec Dies” Gradual, it’s quite ugly and dissonant. However, in the context of the stepwise descending bass-line, the LEMMENSINSTITUUT does not disappoint!

Jeff Ostrowski · October 31, 2023

Cardinal Newman • “Hymn for Souls in Purgatory”

A way to avoid having the choir’s pitch sink. (Tag: 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 31, 2023

PDF Download • “Choral Warm-Up” by Jeff Ostrowski (after Morley)

The “SSS” technique, known by every great singer. (Tag: 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 26, 2023

PDF Download • “Hymn for the Feast of All Saints” (Released for the First Time in History!)

“Each day Father Knox would write for his students a Latin poem describing events of the previous day.” —Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Jeff Ostrowski · October 25, 2023

“Secret Trick” of Jeff Ostrowski • Re: Singing Amen

“Sic transit gloria mundi…” (𝑇ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑.)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 25, 2023

Now Available Online! • 1959 “Organ Accompaniment Book” (233 Pages)

“Occasionally, the English texts for some of the hymns are almost barbaric artistically…” —𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑎 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 (1960)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 23, 2023

Jeff As Organist? • His Attempt…

I’m attempting to record (on the pipe organ) any hymn contained in the Brébeuf Hymnal which doesn’t yet have its own rehearsal video with real voices. You can listen to my latest attempt: a hymn called DEVONSHIRE. For the second verse, I attempted to change the registration. Please let me know what you think. I […]

Jeff Ostrowski · October 23, 2023

“Did One Man Single-Handedly Sabotage the Gregorian Restoration?” • (Part 2 of 2)

Will anyone step forward to defend this?

Jeff Ostrowski · October 20, 2023

Playing Pipe Organ = Very Difficult!

Not every hymn contained in the Brébeuf Hymnal has its own rehearsal video. In the meantime, I’m attempting to provide pipe organ recordings for the missing hymns. Today, I attempted to record COBLENZ, with a harmonization based on Sir Richard R. Terry. You can listen to my recording by clicking here. Whenever the record button […]

Jeff Ostrowski · October 18, 2023

PDF • “Mass Propers in English” (113 pages)

The University of Kansas has made available—as a free PDF document—this 2017 dissertation (113 pages) by Dr. Katherine Schmitz. The full title of the dissertation is: Chanting the Propers: A Comparative Study of Selected English Sources for the Catholic Mass. Dr. Schmitz is a Gregorian Chant scholar who has earned degrees from the University of […]

Jeff Ostrowski · October 18, 2023

“Spotted” • Singaporean Sacred Sounds

I glanced at the audience to see what effect Corrinne’s presentation was making…

Jeff Ostrowski · October 16, 2023

“Breathtaking!” • Hymn for the Souls in Purgatory

“Raising the pitch for the final verse.” (Tag: 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳)

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Jeff Ostrowski · October 15, 2023

Can Nobody Help Us?

We are still searching for someone who can obtain for us a physical copy of either VOLUME 2 or VOLUME 8 of the accompaniments done by the LEMMENSINSTITUUT during the 1940s. Jeff’s personal copies were stolen.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)
    Readers have expressed interest in seeing the ORDER OF MUSIC I created for this coming Sunday, which is the 3rd Sunday of Lent (8 March 2026). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. This feast has magnificent propers. Its stern INTROIT (“Óculi mei semper ad Dóminum”) is breathtaking, and the COMMUNION (“Qui bíberit aquam”) with its fauxbourdon verses is wonderful. I encourage all the readers to visit the feasts website, where the Propria Missae may be downloaded completely free of charge.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Samaritánæ” (3rd Sunday of Lent)
    With regard to the COMMUNION for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (Year A), the Ordo Cantus Missae—which was published in 1969 by the Vatican, bearing Hannibal Bugnini’s signature and approbation in its PREFACE—inexplicably introduced a variant melody and slightly different words, as you can see by this comparison chart. When it comes to such items, they’re always done in secrecy by unnamed people. (Although it is known that Dom Eugène Cardine collaborated in the creation of the GRADUALE SIMPLEX, a book considered by some to be a travesty.)
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Ubi Caritas” (SATB)
    I remember singing “Ubi Cáritas” by Maurice Duruflé at the conservatory. I was deeply moved by it. However, some feel Duruflé’s version isn’t suitable for small choirs since it’s written for 6 voices and the bass tessitura is quite low. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to discover this “Ubi cáritas” (SATB) for smaller choirs by Énemond Moreau, who studied with OSCAR DEPUYDT (d. 1925), an orphan who became a towering figure of Catholic music. Depuydt’s students include: Flor Peeters (d. 1986); Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel (d. 1953); Arthur Meulemans (d. 1966); Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989); and Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965). Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #19705. When I came across the astonishing English translation for “Ubi Cáritas” by Monsignor Ronald Knox—matching the Latin’s meter—I decided to add those lyrics as an option (for churches which have banned Latin). My wife and I made this recording to give you some idea how it sounds.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
    It isn’t easy to determine what Alice King MacGilton hoped to accomplish with her very popular book—A Study of Latin Hymns (1918)—which continued to be reprinted in new editions for at least 34 years. This PDF file shows her attempt to translate the DIES IRAE “in the fewest words possible.” There’s a place for dynamic equivalency, but this is repugnant. In particular, look what she does to “Quærens me sedísti lassus.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
    For vigil Masses on Saturday (a.k.a. “anticipated” Masses) we use this simpler setting of the “Holy, Holy, Holy” by Monsignor Jules Vyverman (d. 1989), a Belgian priest, organist, composer, and music educator who ultimately succeeded another ‘Jules’ (CANON JULES VAN NUFFEL) as director of the Lemmensinstituut in Belgium. Although I could be wrong, my understanding is that the LEMMENSINSTITUUT eventually merged with “Catholic University of Leuven” (originally founded in 1425). That’s the university Fulton J. Sheen attended.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Grotesque Pairing • “Passion Chorale”
    One of our rarest releases was undoubtably this PDF scan of the complete Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) by Father Joseph Roff, a student of Healey Willan. One of the scarcest titles in existence, this book was provided to us by Mr. Peter Meggison. Back in 2018, we scanned each page and uploaded it to our website, making it freely available to everyone. Readers are probably sick of hearing me say this, but just because we upload something that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wonderful or worthy of imitation. We upload many publications precisely because they are ‘grotesque’, interesting, or revealing. Whereas the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal had an editorial board that was careful and sensitive vis-à-vis pairing texts with tunes, the Pope Pius XII Hymnal (1959) seems to have been rather reckless in this regard. Please take a look at what they did with the PASSION CHORALE and see whether you agree.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Urban VIII appointed four Jesuits to reform the hymns, so that they should no longer offend Renaissance ears. These four, in that faithful obedience to the Holy See which is the glory of their Society, with a patient care that one cannot help admiring, set to work to destroy every hymn in the office.”

— Fr. Adrian Fortescue (1916)

Recent Posts

  • “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
  • PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
  • Music List • (3rd Sunday of Lent)
  • “National Survey” (Order of Christian Funerals) • By the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship
  • “Samaritánæ” (3rd Sunday of Lent)

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