Views from the Choir Loft

Musical Creed — Text From New Roman Missal

Jeff Ostrowski · February 26, 2014 ·

AST FRIDAY I put aside a few hours to compose this musical setting of the Creed, dedicated to my brother, Deacon Mark Ostrowski. Below, I explain what I was trying to do from a compositional standpoint. Yesterday afternoon, I recorded a practice video, so you can hear it. Please pardon the bad singing (when I’m playing the organ, my mouth often gets too close to the microphone):

Before I explain why I composed this Creed, here are the files you can download:

* * St. Felix Creed • Congregational Printout

* * St. Felix Creed • Choir Score (Modern Notation)

* * St. Felix Creed • Choir Score (Gregorian)

* * St. Felix Creed • Organ Accompaniment Score

HERE’S WHAT I TRIED to accomplish in writing this piece:

1.) I wanted this setting to be interesting, so people don’t get bored after a few weeks. On the other hand, I kept the congregational sections in a low range, with somewhat simple melodies.

2.) With respect to switching between sections, the Creed is very long, so I tried to “mix it up.” If it goes back and forth in a predictable, monotonous way, people get nauseated.

3.) The congregational sections tend toward a “brighter” reciting tone, while the cantor parts hover around a “darker” reciting tone — again, to keep things interesting!

4.) I treated the cadences differently each time, rather than doing the same thing a billion times, over and over.

* * St. Felix Creed • Audio Practice Recording (Mp3 File)

If you appreciate this Creed setting, please consider donating $5.00 per month. Thanks!

About Jeff Ostrowski

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004), and did graduate work in Musicology. He serves as choirmaster for the new FSSP parish in Los Angeles, where he resides with his wife and children.

Could Pope St. Pius X Sing?

“On 12 March 1908, the complete publication of the Roman Gradual was issued by the Vatican Press. On that very day, Dom Pothier solemnly presented the first copy to the Holy Father. A witness of the audience says that Pius X wished to be the first to see the new book; he opened it at random, at page 128 of the supplement pro aliquibus locis—it was the Introit of the new Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Pope sang it with perfect taste to the last note.” (Catholic Choirmaster, February 1915)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Julius Bas Accompaniment

A very prolific harmonizer of Gregorian chant in the early 20th century was Mr. Julius Bas. He often uses a very strange technique, wherein he employs rests to eliminate the Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices. Consider what he did with “Lumen ad revelationem” here:

* JPEG • Lumen ad revelationem

It seems quite lazy, and I’ve never seen anyone else use such a technique, although Dr. Peter Wagner often switched to parallel octaves when he ran out of ideas… (Yuck!)

—Jeff Ostrowski

Hitting wrong notes

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM, used to say: “The organist can play 1,000 correct notes and one wrong note—and the only thing people will care about is the wrong note.” Last Sunday I hit some wrong notes, and felt bad. Then I remembered a story about Rudolf Serkin and started to chuckle. Charles Rosen (or was it Leon Fleisher?) told the story of Serkin playing a Beethoven Sonata in front of a large audience. The theme is all in octaves; but Serkin hit some wrong notes, and played parallel 7ths instead. This so unnerved him that every time the theme returned, he played the entire thing in parallel 7ths! We must remember that even the greatest hit wrong notes. Alfred Cortot, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Sviatoslav Richter, Egon Petri—they all hit wrong notes, which we can hear on recordings. (Josef Hofmann was an exception, but he was super-human so he doesn’t count!)

—Jeff Ostrowski