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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 · May 16, 2023

PDF Download • César Franck Book of Gregorian Chant Accompaniments (156 Pages)

“The organ is so universally used as an accompanying instrument today that there is a pressing need to provide a written accompaniment…” —César Franck

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 16, 2023

FEEDBACK • 15 May 2023

From a reader in New Hampshire: “I just love your articles and resources! You provide an excellent resource!”

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 11, 2023

PDF Download • Extremely Rare! Organ Accompaniment Book (165 pages)

Including an “added bonus” I discovered while researching Julius Bas (an Italian musicologist and organist).

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 10, 2023

7 Suggestions • “Winning the Sacred Music Crusade”

If we truly believe what we say we believe, how can we allow goofy, off-Broadway, secular, casual music at Mass?

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 9, 2023

Vespers Accompaniment Booklet

A VESPERS ACCOMPANIMENT BOOKLET (20 pages) for this coming Sunday—the 5th Sunday after Easter—can now be downloaded. Those who sing Vespers exactly as given in the ANTIPHONALE ROMANUM will notice that all five psalms for Eastertide are sung according to the exact same tone with the exact same differentiæ. Can someone explain why this is? […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 7, 2023

Symposium Booklet (330 Pages)

As of 6 May 2023, anyone who wishes to may download the COMPLETED BOOKLET (330 pages) which was created for participants of Sacred Music Symposium 2023. Those who were accepted to participate in this year’s conference will be presented with their own (hard-copy) printed version of this breathtaking booklet. The faculty this year includes Professor […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 6, 2023

6 May 2023 • FEEDBACK

Examples of comments we recently received, from all over the globe:   (1) “The Byrd composition your student sung was certainly beautiful. I cannot say how thankful I am for all that CCWATERSHED does in the world of sacred music. The videos, and recorded audios and newsletters are wonderful and beautiful. When you said that […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 6, 2023

PDF Download • “Brief Choral Alleluia” (Suitable for the Ordinary and Extraordinary Form)

Too many priests are ignorant of the glories of authentic sacred music.

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 5, 2023

PDF Download • “Vespers Accompaniment Booklet” (Fifth Sunday after Easter) — 20 pages

To recruit, teach, inspire, and retain volunteer choir members is no easy task!

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 4, 2023

Six (6) Pernicious Hymn Pairings

The current situation is heartbreaking.

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 2, 2023

Should Chant Be Accompanied On The Organ?

As late as 1924, Dom Mocquereau mentioned Dom Desrocquettes “whose beautiful and discreet accompaniments I hear every day at Solesmes.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 30, 2023

My Student Singing Byrd Will Make You Weep!

Today we release polyphony by two composers: William Byrd and William Fritz.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 29, 2023

Photograph • Pope Saint Paul VI Distributes Holy Communion (Kneeling, On The Tongue)

How dare we—who are so sinful—how dare we receive our Lord?

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 29, 2023

Introit • “Jubiláte Déo” (3rd Sunday after Easter)

Sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 27, 2023

PDF Download • “English Hymns for Three Voices” (SSA), edited by Dr. Theodore Marier—182 pages

My choir will definitely be using these settings. They’re something many have begged for!

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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

“…it would be a very praiseworthy thing and the correction would be so easy to make that one could accommodate the chant by gradual changes; and through this it would not lose its original form, since it is only through the binding together of many notes put under short syllables that they become long without any good purpose when it would be sufficient to give one note only.”

— Zarlino (1558) anticipating the Medicæa

Recent Posts

  • PDF Downloads • “16 Gorgeous SAB Motets”
  • PDF Download • “Singers’ Music Booklet” (15th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
  • “One Nation Under God” • Unapologetically Roman Catholic in the United States of America
  • Organist and Choirmaster (Birmingham Oratory)
  • ‘Ould’ But Not Good

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