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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 23, 2021

Glaring Omission from Post-Vatican II Lectionary

In the 1980s, Father Valentine wrote to a Vatican Congregation in Rome about this omission. It still hasn’t been fixed.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 21, 2021

20 January 2021 • REMINDER

We have no savings, no endowment, and no major donors. You can help us (please) by subscribing to our mailing list. It’s incredibly easy; just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address. Thank you!

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 21, 2021

(Ladies Singing Low) • “Adding Fifths Above”

Under Covid-19, certain “pre-conciliar” practices have been mandated by the same bishops who previously declared such things to be evil.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 19, 2021

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 19, 2021

PDF Download • “Mass Propers For Sundays And Holydays Set To Simple Melodies” (429 pages)

In 1947, this book was given a double “Imprimatur” by Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 13, 2021

“Homily for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM

Why have I been so blessed, and spared such hardships?

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 12, 2021

Lies, Lies, Lies

“Narrative lies” cannot exist without a storyteller.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 7, 2021

Catholic Choirmasters • Never Fall For This!

Statements so appalling, egregious, and atrocious they must be corrected…

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 7, 2021

6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 5, 2021

PDF Download • “Essential Liturgical Chart”

I’ve never spent as much time creating a Liturgical Chart as I did for this one.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 5, 2021

PDF Download • “Blessing of Epiphany Water”

An 18-page PDF for the Solemn Blessing of Water on the Eve of the Epiphany.

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 3, 2021

PDF Download • “Puer Natus In Bethlehem” — Simple Christmas Hymn (2 Pages)

This is one of my favorite Gregorian hymns; very catchy!

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 2, 2021

2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 2, 2021

PDF Download • “No woman shall kiss her child on the Sabbath or fasting day.”

The “Blue Laws” were a series of fanatical laws enacted by the Puritans of the colony of Connecticut…

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Jeff Ostrowski · January 1, 2021

“Homily — Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, Years ABC” • Father Valentine Young, OFM

We seem to be sitting around waiting for “that day” when everything in the world, in our country, and in the Church is going to be perfect…

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Knox. Has. No. Equal.
    Dr. Finberg (of the University of Leicester) famously said: “No living writer possesses a greater command over the English language than Monsignor Ronald Knox.” A lifetime spent among his works would not exhaust them; always another thing to see, never once a reason to look away. Consider the marvelous way Knox Englished the famous VERBUM SUPERNUM of Saint Thomas Aquinas. The 4th verse (in Latin) means: “By being born, He became man’s companion; at this supper, He became man’s food; in dying, He became man’s ransom; in reigning, He is man’s reward.” Knox brilliantly makes the English fit the Latin meter: The manger, Christ their equal made, | That upper room, their souls’ repast, | The Cross, their ransom dearly paid, | And heav’n, their high reward at last. I believe the meaning of the French word “manger” was not absent from his thoughts when he penned that stanza.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Proportionalist Plainchant • (Documented)
    On this website, we believe: “If we don’t know where we came from, we can’t know where we’re going.” As a result, we often spend hours scanning old books of GREGORIAN CHANT (and organ accompaniments). We don’t claim those items are useful or desirable for today’s circumstances; the goal is understanding where we came from. Here is a fascinating musical score from the 19th century. At that time, it was believed that MENSURALISM (a.k.a. “proportionalism”) was the historically correct way to sing plainsong.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Garnier Alleluias • “Have They Moved?”

    We received an email asking whether the “Garnier Gospel Acclamations website” has…

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    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up
    We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    ‘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

Random Quote

In 1951 (and again in 1952 and 1955) the Sacred Congregation of Rites gave permission to the bishops of the whole world to celebrate the “Vigil of the Lord’s Resurrection” as much as possible in conformity with the ancient ceremonial: the most noticeable change was to transfer the ceremonies to the late evening of Holy Saturday. During the experimental period the text of the Missal remains unchanged, and a special “Ordo Sancti Sabbati” has been published.

— Charles Richard Anthony Cunliffe (1955)

Recent Posts

  • 1,187 Pages • “Dripping With Color, Craft, and Splendor” (Missale Romanum, 1933)
  • Knox. Has. No. Equal.
  • “Plainsong Propers” • Fascinating 1980s Recordings
  • Proportionalist Plainchant • (Documented)
  • “First Things First” • The Order We’ve Reversed: Seven (7) Points for Consideration

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