• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

  • Donate
  • Our Team
    • Our Editorial Policy
    • Who We Are
    • How To Contact Us
    • Sainte Marie Bulletin Articles
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • KYRIALE • Saint Antoine Daniel
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Repository • “Spanish Music”
    • Ordinary Form Feasts (Sainte-Marie)
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Catechism of Gregorian Rhythm
    • Father Enemond Massé Manuscripts
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Secrets of the Conscientious Choirmaster
    • “Wedding March” for lazy organists
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
    • The Eight Gregorian Modes
    • Gradual by Pothier’s Protégé
    • Seven (7) Considerations
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 · July 22, 2022

PDF Download • Professionally-Scanned “Graduale Romanum” (Schwann, 1908) • 1,129 pages!

This is the “pure” Vatican Edition—technically the only version of the rhythm allowed by Church documents!

Jeff Ostrowski · July 15, 2022

“Hymn For Mary’s Assumption” (15 August) • By Saint Robert Southwell, Priest & Martyr

Installment 3 • “How Has Nobody Done This Before?” (series)

Jeff Ostrowski · July 14, 2022

“Truly Wonderful Quote” • Dr. Roger Wagner

“Never apologize for your choir, because they’re as good as you are!”

Jeff Ostrowski · July 13, 2022

“To go to Mass together will be the light of Sunday for a family.” — Pope Benedict XVI (2005)

Statement by Pope Benedict XVI • Saint Peter’s Square (October, 2005)

Jeff Ostrowski · July 12, 2022

PDF Download • “Sunday Vespers” (22 pages)

In spite of its imperfections, creating this (draft) booklet required much more effort than I had anticipated.

Jeff Ostrowski · July 11, 2022

11 July 2022 • FEEDBACK

Someone who heard the CCW plainsong recordings with NOH accompaniment says: “For years I have travelled the continents and crossed the oceans of Gregorian chant in search of a composition and interpretation as sublime as this. The text and the melody are interwoven in a game of mirrors with the interpreters, the singer and the […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 11, 2022

Gregorian Chant • Its “True” Rhythm

I’m dumbstruck (with joy) to see that my recent video presentation on plainsong rhythm has garnered quite a number of “views” on VIMEO. I also made the full presentation available on YouTube, and—as I write these words—it has collected 700+ views. How cool is it that folks are still interested in the rhythm of Cantus […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 9, 2022

“Do You Know This Hymn Composer?” • Orlando Gibbons (d. 1623)

Installment 2 • “How Has Nobody Done This Before?” (series)

Jeff Ostrowski · July 8, 2022

“I’ll be back next year … but with my entire choir!”

“The symposium exceeded all of my expectations.” — Pediatrician, Choirmaster, and Mother of Six Children

Jeff Ostrowski · July 2, 2022

Across the Pacific • Alto is “Raving”

From Asia: “I held choir rehearsal yesterday and one of the choir members (singing Alto) was just raving about how she loved the layout of the Brébeuf Choral Supplement because she didn’t have to look up and down for both music and verse—and she loved the ease with which she could sing her part because […]

Jeff Ostrowski · June 30, 2022

Alabama Assessment!

We received this evaluation of Symposium 2022 from an Alabama participant: “Oh, how the Symposium echoed the words of Cardinal Merry Del Val: …choosing only what is most conformed to Thy glory, which is my final aim. In one short and fast paced week, the faculty and attendees showed me the hand of God and […]

Jeff Ostrowski · June 29, 2022

“How Has Nobody Done This Before?” • First Installment

I’ve been encouraged to launch a new series!

Jeff Ostrowski · June 29, 2022

“Exceeded Every Expectation!” • Mr. O’Brien’s Review

“I attended Symposium this year, and was absolutely blown away.”

Jeff Ostrowski · June 28, 2022

Photograph • Dom André Mocquereau (d. 1930)

Dom Mocquereau, prior to becoming a monk, was a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 26, 2022

Our Daily Prayer • Sacred Music Symposium 2022

“My God, my Father, and my All, I am ready and willing to accept from Thy hands this day…”

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 51
  • Page 52
  • Page 53
  • Page 54
  • Page 55
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 177
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. However, on the feasts website, the chants have been posted for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), which is this coming Sunday: 6 July 2025.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The free space which the new order of Mass gives to creativity it must be admitted, is often excessively enlarged. The difference between the liturgy with the new liturgical books, as it is actually practiced and celebrated in various places is often much greater than the difference between the old and new liturgies when celebrated according to the rubrics of the liturgical books.”

— Cardinal Ratzinger (1998)

Recent Posts

  • Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
  • Pope Saint Paul VI to Consilium (14 October 1968)
  • August 2025 • “Colorado Sacred Music Conference”
  • New “Latin/English Missal” for the Novus Ordo
  • Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2025 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.

The election of Pope Leo XIV has been exciting, and we’re filled with hope for our apostolate’s future!

But we’re under pressure to transfer our website to a “subscription model.”

We don’t want to do that. We believe our website should remain free to all.

Our president has written the following letter:

President’s Message (dated 30 May 2025)

Are you able to support us?

clock.png

Time's up