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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 · July 22, 2020

21 July 2020 • From a Musicology PhD…

To you and your colleagues who helped produce the Brébeuf hymnal, I wanted to drop a line to say “bravo.” I just got a copy and immediately ordered the choral supplement (I ought to have just gotten it in the first place). What an achievement this book is! This is the sort of hymnal one […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 21, 2020

“Pope Pius XII Psalter” • How different was it?

If this had caught on, every chant book—along with every psalm setting of Palestrina, Victoria, Morales, Guerrero, etc.—would have become “garbage” overnight.

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 17, 2020

PDF Download • “Label Your Luggage”

Religious instruction from Fr. Robert Nash, SJ. (1943 Imprimatur)

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 14, 2020

PDF Download • “Saint Edmund Arrowsmith Mass”

The fourth installment—“Mass settings that work well, even with a single cantor + organist.”

Jeff Ostrowski · July 14, 2020

Wonderful emails received recently…

(#1) “Thank you for all the great work you do to provide music and rehearsal videos for all of us to use! It has been invaluable to those music and choir directors who’ve had to build a Gregorian chant schola from scratch! May God continue to bless all you do to promote sacred music for […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 13, 2020

1,055 Images • “Paramentica Liturgical Design”

When we pray from a book which is special, beautiful, and dignified, it helps us focus.

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 12, 2020

Honesty and Integrity

Someone who made a generous donation wrote as follows: While I sometimes strongly disagree with the content or tone of the blog article authors, I, as a parish music director, have used CCWatershed’s resources countless times and have always found the site to be an excellent source of high-quality Sacred Music, which is very hard […]

Jeff Ostrowski · July 12, 2020

Two Settings • “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name”

Imagine trying to read from a score like this!

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 10, 2020

Featured • “To All Who Care About CCWatershed”

During my 9 years as president, you know I never ask for assistance unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Jeff Ostrowski · July 8, 2020

Can These Youngsters Save Catholic Music?

This remarkable piece by Father Victoria contains a mind-blowing canon between upper voices!

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 8, 2020

“Just how Tridentine are you?” • Quiz by GIA Publications

GIA’s 2004 article Re: “masses of yesteryear” seems absurd on this 13th Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum.

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Jeff Ostrowski · July 5, 2020

Two remarkable (radical) liturgical realities … which few realize!

It’s interesting to compare the literal translations in the Brébeuf Hymnal to those done by Solesmes Abbey during the 1950s.

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 30, 2020

Draft Document • “Church Music Manifesto” (2020)

We’re living in darkness—but, like the phoenix, authentic Church music can rise from the ashes!

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Jeff Ostrowski · June 28, 2020

Sonata during the Gradual?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote seventeen Church Sonatas between 1772 and 1780. These are short pieces intended to be played between the Epistle and the Gospel (during Mass). Shortly after Mozart left Salzburg, the Archbishop mandated that an appropriate choral motet or congregational hymn be sung at that point in the liturgy, with the result that […]

Jeff Ostrowski · June 27, 2020

Sister Goodchild • “Gregorian Chant for Church and School”

This 130-page book can be downloaded for free.

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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

“Glorious among virgins, high above the stars, thou dost nourish at thy breast as a child him who created thee.” (Fortunatus)

— English translation by Dr. Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923)

Recent Posts

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  • “Dies Irae” • A Monstrous Translation
  • PDF Download • “Holy, Holy, Holy”
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  • “National Survey” (Order of Christian Funerals) • By the USCCB Secretariat of Divine Worship

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