Views from the Choir Loft

Archives for August 2015

Jeff Ostrowski · August 23, 2015

Organ Accompaniment • “Christe Supreme”

When your choir isn’t ready for polyphony…

Jeff Ostrowski · August 22, 2015

The Weirdest Thing About Renaissance Motets

A priest named “Reuschius”…

Veronica Brandt · August 22, 2015

Sacraments and family

God is amazing. Families are amazing. God working in families is amazing.

Andrew Leung · August 20, 2015

The Danger of Praise and Worship

Praise and Worship can be dangerous and confusing…

Dr. Lucas Tappan · August 20, 2015

One Man I Would Give My Right Arm To Meet In Person

“This honest, magnanimous and public statement made my struggle totally worthwhile.” —Colin Mawby

Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2015

Chabanel Psalms … In Dutch?

The cantors do something I never thought of in this video…

Jeff Ostrowski · August 19, 2015

Musical Resources • 13th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

“We have received, O Lord, thy heavenly sacrament…”

Andrew Leung · August 18, 2015

Summer Sacred Music Workshop — Report

Report on the Summer Sacred Music Workshop in Jasper, GA.

Jeff Ostrowski · August 18, 2015

Improve Your Parish’s Liturgy … Instantaneously!

“Until we are blue in the face, we could repeat what Vatican II said about Gregorian chant…”

Jeff Ostrowski · August 17, 2015

PDF Download • “Mount Mary Hymnal” (1937)

All 255 pages of this famous hymn book can now be downloaded as a PDF.

Fr. David Friel · August 16, 2015

Vesting Prayers • Part 7 of 9

The Stole

Richard J. Clark · August 14, 2015

Entering the Mainstream Conversation

Will Cardinal Sarah’s recent letter make it into the mainstream conversation?

Jeff Ostrowski · August 13, 2015

Musical Resources • 12th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

The “Testament of the Spirit” is the new and permanent covenant established by Jesus Christ between God and men.

Andrew Leung · August 13, 2015

Thoughts on the “Hymn” for the Year of Mercy?

The Vatican has just introduced the official hymn of the Holy Year Of Mercy. Any thoughts?

Andrew Leung · August 12, 2015

John Scott (1956-2015)

Today, the world lost one of the greatest living church musicians, Dr. John Scott.

“Music List” (4th Sunday of Advent, Year C)

This coming Sunday—22 December 2024—is the 4th Sunday of Advent (Year C). Some have expressed interest in perusing my “ORDER OF MUSIC.” If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. The English version of “Roráte Cæli” we’re singing for the ENTRANCE CHANT is magnificent.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Entrance Chant” • 4th Sunday of Advent

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 4th Sunday of Advent (22 December 2024). Set in the first mode—just like the authentic version—this setting manages to capture the “essence” of the Gregorian setting in quite an admirable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Communion (4th Sunday of Advent)

The COMMUNION ANTIPHON (PDF) we’re singing for the 4th Sunday of Advent has a particularly gorgeous melody. The text (from the prophet Isaiah) is also quite beautiful and is cited toward the beginning of Saint Matthew’s Gospel. It certainly seems like most of the Advent antiphons come from the book of Isaiah…

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Lessons and Carols”

Seen online! Dr. Samuel Backman conducted a “Lessons and Carols” service with his choir, and someone produced this lovely vignette.

—Corpus Christi Watershed

Epiphany Proclamation 2025

Each year, without fail, someone asks me to typeset the Epiphany Proclamation, an announcement of moveable feasts chanted each year on the feast of the Epiphany. As a result, you may now find an archive of 23 such proclamations in PDF ready to print HERE.

—Veronica Brandt

The Breviary in the Life of the Laity

Recently I have been enjoying looking through the inaugural (1927) edition of a 20th-century liturgical magazine called Orate Fratres. The July 1927 issue included an excellent article by a Chicago laywoman named Ellen Gates Starr entitled “The Delights of the Breviary: From the Point of View of a Lay Woman.” As we in the 21st century have recently undergone a (blessed!) re-translation of the missal into English, and as we await with joyful hope (please God, before Jesus comes back!) a similar re-translation of the breviary, the opening of her article reminded me of that old saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” Nearly a hundred years ago, she penned words that could just as easily have been written today: “It is indeed a privilege to be allowed any participation, however slight, in the liturgical movement in the Church – the movement to bring back the classics of devotion, the Missal and the Breviary, into general use by the laity. The wonder is that they should ever have fallen into disuse. Nothing can take the place of these great universal prayers of the Church, the prayers of the Mass and the divine Office. One has only to know them to find them indispensable. And alas, how few of the laity know them!” I know that I have been tremendously nourished by regular praying of the breviary as of late, and my wish is that you and I, dear reader, may continue to nourish our interior lives with the official prayer of the Church, which present to us (in the Mass) and extend (in the Office) the fullness of Christ’s greatest gift to us – the gift of Himself – in the Most Holy Eucharist.

—Daniel Tucker