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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 · September 10, 2020

“A blast from the past”

Consilium document (“Instantibus Pluribus”) to presidents of the national liturgical commissions, on norms for translation of the Graduale Simplex, dated 23 January 1968: “The types of chant in the Graduale Simplex may be adapted to the style of music and song typical of individual peoples. But any sort of secular or profane melody is excluded.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 10, 2020

PDF Download • 1928 “Invitatory” (86 pages)

The “invitatory” occurs at the beginning of Matins and therefore introduces the daily divine Office.

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 8, 2020

“Homily — 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A” • Father Valentine Young, OFM

“Often, the person who did us harm won’t even know that we’re still stewing over what they did to us; and if they knew, they might even be glad.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 7, 2020

Jeff Ostrowski • “Three Rules For Good Music”

But we have not spoken very much about Baroque music…

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 6, 2020

Important Message To Fathers

“Kids don’t remember this…”

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 4, 2020

(Installment #6) “Catholic Hymnals” • Jeff Ostrowski

How to avoid that sickening feeling when you realize nobody—and I mean nobody—in the congregation knows the hymn you picked!

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 4, 2020

“Homily for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM

“If worry did any good, I would advise you to do it—but it is wasted time and energy.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 4, 2020

Sir Richard Terry: Hymns, Congregational Singing, and Avoiding “Violence” to the Elders

Terry was forced to resign from the Cathedral in 1924, partially due to his “inconsistent approach to congregational singing at the Cathedral.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 4, 2020

3 September 2020 • Tausig, Liszt’s student

When Polish virtuoso Carl Tausig died in 1871 at the age of thirty, Franz Liszt said to Anton Rubinstein: “Now there are only two of us left in the world.” Liszt had sent Tausig to Richard Wagner, who wrote as follows: You have given me great pleasure with little Tausig. […] He is a terrible […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 3, 2020

“That Image” from World War II • Further Questions

When I look more closely, I notice some very tiny (“itsy bitsy”) hand missals held by the soldiers…

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 3, 2020

WW2 post at 3:30am = 10k views?

The internet is a very strange thing. I have spent hundreds of hours on certain articles—usually about hymn voice leading—and they get virtually no attention. But last night at 3:30AM I posted an image from WW2 from 9 April 1944 (showing a priest saying Mass with soldiers) and it was viewed 10,000 times on the […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 2, 2020

Holy Mass During World War II • (9 April 1944)

German troops included in American Easter Sunday Mass via loud-speaker.

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 1, 2020

PDF Download • “Communion Antiphon” (with organ accompaniment)

An exciting new project gives me great hope for the “musical future” of the Catholic Church!

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Jeff Ostrowski · September 1, 2020

“Homily — 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A” • Father Valentine Young, OFM

“Examining the life of Jesus, we discover that He acted differently in different circumstances.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · August 28, 2020

“Resplendent Beyond Reckoning” • Sherborne Missal (1399AD)

As the Isaac Jogues Missal would do 650 years later, this Missal provides pictures of the priest during the Canon!

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    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
    Rare Plainsong Accompaniments
    Our contributor, Veronica Brandt, went deep into Australia to take photographs of organ accompaniments for Gregorian Chant. Some consider these peculiar PLAINSONG ACCOMPANIMENTS—with 3-part harmonies by Barcelona Cathedral organist, Father Josep Muset i Ferrer—to be the rarest in the world. Click here to learn more. Thanks Veronica! 😊
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Hidden Chant” • For the Ordinary Form

    Not even the magnificent “GregoBase”—which is incredibly comprehensive—realizes music for this antiphon was published by the Vatican in the 1930s.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “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
    “Reminder” — Month of June (2026)
    On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). Since we were founded in 2006, not one of our board members has ever accepted any remuneration whatsoever—not a penny. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. It couldn’t be easier to subscribe! Just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

To end an impropriety, noticed particularly at orchestral Vespers, when two or three Psalms are sung with full orchestra, and then the other Psalms and the Hymn are rapidly hurried through with organ accompaniment only […] we order that at Mass all portions of the text, including “Agnus Dei,” be sung with orchestral accompaniment. […] Moreover, the musicians are not allowed to put the instruments away and leave their places before the conclusion of the sacred function.

— Cardinal Patrizi (18 November 1856)

Recent Posts

  • Two Ways to Defile a Hymn • (And How Not To)
  • “Reader Feedback” • 22 June 2026
  • These Photographs Are Utterly Astounding !
  • Public Criticism of Jeff Ostrowski’s Singing Voice • Also: “Dich König loben wir”
  • Oldest Latin Eucharistic Hymn

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