Views from the Choir Loft

Articles

Jeff Ostrowski · November 24, 2015

Our Church Music Movement: How Are We Doing?

I never dreamed that so many people love this stuff…and are willing to fight for it!

Fr. David Friel · November 23, 2015

An Extraordinary Event: NCYC 2015

Traditional Mass offered at National Catholic Youth Conference

Fr. David Friel · November 22, 2015

St. Cecilia Academy for Pastoral Musicians

The program seeks to broaden the knowledge of already well trained musicians so that they can become well trained liturgical musicians.

Andrew Leung · November 19, 2015

What can Men Do Against such Reckless Hate?

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” —Leonard Bernstein

Jeff Ostrowski · November 19, 2015

PDF Download • Hymnal by Fr. John Selner (1954)

Some of the old Catholic hymnals were dreadful, but this one is splendid.

Jeff Ostrowski · November 18, 2015

PDF Download • “Liber Brevior” (1954)

This special Solesmes book contains another version of the “Chants Abrégés.”

Jeff Ostrowski · November 17, 2015

Sacred Music & Babies

What’s our end game?

Jeff Ostrowski · November 16, 2015

Solesmes is not infallible…

The accent on “adjúva” should be “ádjuva”

Fr. David Friel · November 15, 2015

Fides et Ratio

Celebrating the Great Balance of Albertus Magnus

Fr. David Friel · November 15, 2015

Should the Liturgy Be Televised?

Introducing a New Book by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang

Veronica Brandt · November 14, 2015

How a Priest Saved Thousands in WW2

A movie I have been meaning to see for years and now heartily endorse.

Richard J. Clark · November 13, 2015

“Liturgy Wars” and Four Universal Principles

An important approach when utilizing multiple styles in one liturgy is to filter all music through the most important musical and liturgical principals.

Andrew Leung · November 12, 2015

Sistine Chapel Choir has made Great Improvement

The Sistine Chapel Choir is sounding like a British Boys’ Choir in their new CD

Jeff Ostrowski · November 11, 2015

Stunning New Collection Of English Propers

This book of organ accompaniments by John Ainslie covers every season, including ordinary time.

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · November 11, 2015

The Sacral Language of Liturgiam Authenticam as Applied to Choral Diction

The Church has its own language and its own culture. Are you a native speaker?

PDF Download • “Organ Accompaniment”

Over the past few years, I’ve been harmonizing all the vernacular plainsong Introit settings by the CHAUMONOT COMPOSERS GROUP. This coming Sunday—10 May 2026—is the 6th Sunday of Easter (Year A). The following declaration will probably smack of “blowing my own horn.” However, I’d rank this accompaniment as my best yet. In this rehearsal video, I attempt to sing it while simultaneously accompanying myself on the pipe organ. The musical score [for singers] as well as my organ accompaniment can be downloaded free of charge from the flourishing feasts website.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gregorian Chant Quiz” • 4 May 2026

A few days ago, the CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED Facebook page posted this Gregorian Chant quiz regarding a rubric for the SEQUENCE for the feast of Corpus Christi: “Lauda Sion Salvatórem.” There is no audience more intelligent than ours—yet surprisingly nobody has been able to guess the rubric. Drop me an email with the right answer, and I’ll affirm your brilliance to everyone I encounter!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Rare Photographs” • Hannibal Bugnini

On 2 September 2025, we included in this article extremely rare photographs of Archbishop Hannibal Bugnini taken in Iran circa 1979. Bugnini had initially been banished by the pope to Uruguay, but he refused to obey. [This is interesting, since Bugnini relied upon ‘blind obedience’ when it came to modifications of the ancient liturgy.] After he refused to obey the order from the pope, Hannibal Bugnini was banished to Iran. You can also watch a short video of Hannibal Bugnini in Iran, dated 10 November 1979. That’s about a week after the USA embassy hostage crisis began in Tehran, and Pope Saint John Paul II had sent the leader of the Iranian Revolution a special letter.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF Download • “Anima Christi”

I received a request for an organ accompaniment I created way back in 2007 for the “Anima Christi” Gregorian Chant. You can download this PDF file which has the score in plainsong followed by a keyboard accompaniment. Many melodies have been paired with “Anima Christi” over the centuries, but this is—perhaps—the most common one.

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Liturgical Law” (467 Pages)

On Good Friday during the middle ages, the pope privately recited THE ENTIRE PSALTER. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself by reading this passage by Dom Charles Augustine Bachofen (d. 1943). His famous book—called “Liturgical Law: A Handbook Of The Roman Liturgy”—was published by the Benjamin Herder Book Company, which was the American arm (operating out of St. Louis, Missouri) of one of the world’s most significant Catholic publishers. Dom Charles Augustine Bachofen was born in Switzerland but spent his career between the Benedictine monasteries at Conception (Missouri) and Mount Angel (Oregon). His 1931 masterpiece, Liturgical Law can be downloaded as a PDF file … 467 pages!

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Gregorian Chant Quiz” • 24 March 2026

How well do you know your Gregorian hymns? Do you recognize the tune inserted into the bass line on this score? For many years, we sang the entire Mass in Gregorian chant—and I mean everything. As a result, it would be difficult to find a Gregorian hymn I don’t recognize instantly. Only decades later did I realize (with sadness) that this skill cannot be ‘monetized’… This particular melody is used for a very famous Gregorian hymn, printed in the LIBER USUALIS. Do you recognize it? Send me an email with the correct words, and I promise to tell everybody I meet about your prowess!

—Jeff Ostrowski