Church Music • “Should It Make Your Congregation Happy or Sad?”
If your priest approaches you after Mass and says the music sounded horrible, it’s incorrect to reply: “Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
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.”
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).

If your priest approaches you after Mass and says the music sounded horrible, it’s incorrect to reply: “Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
A few years ago, I had valuable books stolen. Recovery efforts with law enforcement have failed, so I’m reaching out to our readers. Can somebody help me obtain VOLUME II and VOLUME VIII of the Nova organi harmonia published in the 1940s and 1950s by the LEMMENSINSTITUUT? As far as I can tell, these volumes can’t […]

The internet is putting good people in touch with one another.

The example chosen is the strenuous offertory (“Jubiláte Déo”) for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany.

If memory serves, his exact words were: “Gee, I never thought about that before.” Astonishing!

In addition to this rare book by Max Springer (870 pages), I release the draft copy of a new Gregorian project (157 pages).

Musicians can have a stronger voice than even the legendary Fulton J. Sheen!

“These manuscripts had to be sought out in the public or capitular libraries, whose conservators were often hardly supportive of—if not outright hostile to—the reproduction of their treasures.”

Father Ralph March wrote: “If any single man could deserve the title father of the renewed chant it would be Dom Joseph Pothier.”

We strive to emphasize the positive on this blog, but I have to admit…
She said: “Jeff, you should record these harmonies with human voices, to illustrate what you mean.”
Jeff, thanks for the rare Gregorian accompaniments. I just love all the work you do! About 2 years ago, my parish made the decision to ditch all the contemporary Mass settings (Marty Haugen, and so forth) and to only use the Latin! We currently use the [name redacted of a disposable missal] … some of their accompaniments […]
Dear Mr. Ostrowski; I must politely disagree with your friend who said “absolutely nobody cares” about the rare books you share on the blog. The fact is, your raw enthusiasm for these resources teaches me (and presumably others) to care. I admit that sometimes the angles from which you present them—the amount of context, or […]
Dr. Peter Wagner, a famous musicologist, founded the “Gregorian Academy” in Freiburg (Switzerland).

Let us pray for the repose of the soul of Josef Ratzinger, who did so much good for the church.
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