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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 29, 2024

PDF Score • “Mass Setting I Wrote For Corrinne”

I demonstrate how the “Kyrie Eleison” can be adapted for use in the Extraordinary Form.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 27, 2024

“Saint Mark” • Hymn Tune

Regarding the hymn tune called “ST MARK”—have you ever heard or sung this? If you scroll towards the bottom of this recent article, you can hear my choir (which is made up 100% of volunteers) singing it. Some people say the ST MARK melody sounds a little ‘protestant.’ What do you think? I rather like […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 26, 2024

Eucharistic Hymn With Gorgeous Tenor Line

Responding to an inquiry from Wendy Q.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 26, 2024

Do not read this!

She probably never actually said this, but leave that aside for the moment.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 24, 2024

“Seeking Employment” • Please help!

You can download my official résumé.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 23, 2024

Response to Mike’s Letter • “Six Concrete Examples”

“I would dismiss it as the second text writer being lazy and stealing someone else’s music…” —Michael H.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 18, 2024

Gregorian Chant … with a drone?

It’s possible to sing Carmen Gregorianum with a drone note (a.k.a. “ison”) but is this always a good idea? I’ve heard it done very poorly. We tried singing GLORIA IX with an ison last Sunday. Feel free to listen to this excerpt (Mp3) and let me know your thoughts.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 18, 2024

Abbat Pothier on Gregorian Chant

“There is, then, in the Church, in the Catholic liturgy, a music that, as we have just stated, is both a word and a song, a music rich and powerful, although simple and natural, a music that is not self-seeking, which does not attend to itself but comes forth as the spontaneous utterance of religious […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 17, 2024

PDF Download • “Credo III + Polyphonic Extension”

When I just couldn’t take it anymore, I called up a friend on the telephone and paid him $150 to teach me.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 16, 2024

Which Hymns Are Appropriate After Christmas?

How many Catholics realize how closely the feast of the Epiphany is tied to the Holy Eucharist and Calvary?

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 12, 2024

Organ Accompaniment Booklet (25 pages)

Those who celebrate VESPERS each week may wish to download my organ accompaniment booklet (25 pages) for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany. This was originally released about a year ago (link), but minor improvements have been made.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 12, 2024

“O Magnum Mysterium” • Do You Sing This?

The Consilium of Pope Paul VI asked (15 March 1965): “Is it pleasing that the feast of the Holy Family be suppressed?”

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 11, 2024

Know your hymns? How Well?

Several singers from my choir recently recorded this beautiful hymn (Mp3), using famous lyrics from the Brébeuf Hymnal. How well do you know your hymns? Can you name that tune? If so, please email us. If you correctly name that tune, I’ll declare: “You really know your hymns!”

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 8, 2024

PDF Download • Msgr. Hellriegel’s “Hand-Written” Hymnal (Organ Accompaniment) — 102 pages

A major announcement on 8 January 2024!

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 8, 2024

Organ? Or SATB unaccompanied?

Pipe organ (with voices) or unaccompanied SATB? Which do you prefer? Yesterday at Mass, my volunteer choir gave you an opportunity to compare “apples to apples.” Simply click here and compare the first verse with the second. For the record, that melody is called by various names: ALTONA, VOM HIMMEL HOCH, ERFURT, and so on.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Reminder” — Month of July (2026)
    On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). Since we were founded in 2006, not one of our board members has ever accepted any remuneration whatsoever—not a penny. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. It couldn’t be easier to subscribe! Just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

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

“The Saint Jean de Brébeuf Hymnal will undoubtedly enrich liturgical life at the parish level by making accessible these ancient, noble, and theologically-rich Catholic hymns, translated into English in quite a beautiful way.”

— Rev. Fr. John Berg (Superior General, Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) 30-NOV-2018

Recent Posts

  • Explanation of Gregorian Chant • “Using Words Mama Can Understand”
  • “Reminder” — Month of July (2026)
  • “Reader Feedback” • 9 July 2026
  • PDF Downloads • “16 Gorgeous SAB Motets”
  • PDF Download • “Singers’ Music Booklet” (15th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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