Views from the Choir Loft

Religious Clipart

Catholic Bulletin Art • Installment #71

Cynthia Ostrowski · August 15, 2016 ·

If you’re confused about what’s happening, search google for “Dormition of Mary.”

Catholic Bulletin Art • Installment #70

Cynthia Ostrowski · October 19, 2015 ·

The feast of Christ the King approaches!

Catholic Bulletin Art • Installment #69

Cynthia Ostrowski · September 16, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a picture of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri.

Christmas Gift Idea • Unbelievable Made-By-Hand Wood Carvings!

Cynthia Ostrowski · August 24, 2015 ·

“Creating these etchings reminds me of my mother’s deep spirituality.” —John McCarthy

What Happened To Our Catholic Artists?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 31, 2015 ·

From what I can tell, a trend toward *ugly* artwork in Church publications began in the late 1950s.

Catholic Bulletin Art • Installment #68

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 28, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a third picture of the Epiphany—different than the two we’ve previously posted.

Catholic Bulletin Art • Installment #67

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 19, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a third image for 8 September—totally different than the two we’ve posted in the past.

Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #66

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 12, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a rare image of Our Lady’s Nativity.

Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #65

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 5, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a rare image of our Lord’s Resurrection.

Catholic Line Art, Black and White • Installment #64

Cynthia Ostrowski · January 1, 2015 ·

Today’s installment is a picture of the angel Raphael.

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