Views from the Choir Loft

Articles

Jeff Ostrowski · November 2, 2012

Liturgy And Our Television Age

Have you noticed that absolutely everything is shown on television these days?

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Fr. David Friel · November 1, 2012

Mozart’s Sacred Music

Extra Ecclesiam

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Fr. David Friel · October 28, 2012

My Soul Proclaims

Out of the Depths

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Fr. David Friel · October 19, 2012

The Year of Faith

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate

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Fr. David Friel · September 28, 2012

Faith Is Obnoxious

Life as the Just One

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Fr. David Friel · September 21, 2012

Source of Excitement

Weddings vs. Receptions

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St. Edmund Campion Missal and Hymnal · September 14, 2012

“Lead, Kindly Light”

Cardinal Newman Beatification Film

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Fr. David Friel · September 14, 2012

Ephphetha

Beyond the Physical

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Fr. David Friel · September 4, 2012

Arbeit Macht Frei

Or, Ora et Labora?

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Fr. David Friel · September 2, 2012

The Meaning of Marriage

‘Til Death Do Us Part

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Fr. David Friel · August 22, 2012

Eating from Above

Lessons from Freshman Biology Class

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Fr. David Friel · August 15, 2012

The Flesh

In Heaven?

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Fr. David Friel · August 6, 2012

A Mini-Retreat

John 6 over 5 Weeks

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Fr. David Friel · July 28, 2012

Gratitude for Gifts

A Double Remembrance

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Fr. David Friel · July 23, 2012

Carmel

The Vineyard of God

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PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)

Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).

—Jeff Ostrowski

PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

Monsignor Franciszek Walczyński (d. 1937) was a Polish composer. If you play the pipe organ, I encourage you to try out this ORGAN INTERLUDE FOR MANUALS ONLY (1-page PDF) which he composed. Walczyński taught plainsong at the seminary in Tarnów (about 50 miles east of Kraków). With his brother Stanisław—also a Catholic priest—he initiated the Saint Adalbert Society for the Support of Church Music, which ran annual workshops for their diocese. In July of 1894 (more than a decade before the appearance of the Editio Vaticana) Walczyński lectured on “congregational singing and Gregorian Chant.” On top of all that, Monsignor Walczyński founded an organists’ school in Tarnów and the SAINT ADALBERT CHOIR at the cathedral.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 on Sundays?

Highlighted in yellow (on this single-page PDF file) is documentation concerning whether the 2nd Eucharistic prayer may be used on Sundays.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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—Jeff Ostrowski

“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