Views from the Choir Loft

Archives for March 2016

Richard J. Clark · March 18, 2016

As the Tension Grows

As Holy Week approaches, the tension is palpable.

Andrew Leung · March 17, 2016

Holy Week — A Week of Love

How can we practice charity during Holy Week?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 16, 2016

Printable Passion Booklets (PDF)

These might be helpful to some!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 16, 2016

Sean McDermott’s “Virgo Dei Genitrix”

Do you agree this “live” recording is sung with excellence?

Dr. Lucas Tappan · March 15, 2016

St. Paul’s Choir School

I would like to share with you an incredible place where such a musician had a great vision, informed by the mind and heart of the Church.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 15, 2016

Brand New • “Saint Paul Hymnal”

Msgr. Andrew R. Wadsworth served on the advisory committee for this hymn book!

Jeff Ostrowski · March 14, 2016

“Liturgy Shaming”

They’re doing the very thing they say they deplore!

Fr. David Friel · March 13, 2016

The Rite of Marriage, Second Edition

The release date has been set. What will be new in the new Rite of Marriage?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 13, 2016

Can You Find The Error Here?

The problem with trying to revise liturgical books too quickly…

Jeff Ostrowski · March 12, 2016

Suzanne Toolan • Missing Verse From “I Am The Bread Of Life” Hymn

Is this for real?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 12, 2016

PDF Download • Spanish Cathedral Music (1961)

“On Holy Saturday in 1545, while the pope and several cardinals were present, two of the oldest choir members flew at each other during the blessing of the new oils…”

Richard J. Clark · March 11, 2016

When the Liturgy Astounds • The Fire of Divine Love

I found these words to be jaw dropping—utterly astounding.

Dr. Alfred Calabrese · March 10, 2016

Has The Church Rejected Her Inheritance?

The richness of liturgy and music should never be abandoned.

Andrew Leung · March 10, 2016

Yes or No? • Accompanying Chant with the Organ

One of the hottest topics in the field: should chanting be accompanied by the organ?

Dr. Lucas Tappan · March 8, 2016

They Lied To Me In Grad School

No matter what anyone else thinks, strive for greatness and never look back!

“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