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Views from the Choir Loft

Jeff Ostrowski • Article Archive

A theorist, organist, and conductor, Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He completed studies in Education and Musicology at the graduate level. Having worked as a church musician in Los Angeles for ten years, in 2024 he accepted a position as choirmaster for Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Michigan, where he resides with his wife and children. —Read full biography (with photographs).

Jeff Ostrowski · May 6, 2020

Blog Contributors Speak About A “Favorite” Piece

This is a good way to get to know several contributors a little better!

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 5, 2020

“Pange Lingua” translated into English • Hymn by Saint Thomas Aquinas

I predict this smooth harmonization will go down in history—it fits the voice perfectly.

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 2, 2020

The best 5 seconds in Gregorian Chant…

“No concession should ever be made for the singing of the Exultet, in whole or in part, in the vernacular.” — Fr. Augustin Bea

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 2, 2020

Being Too Hard On Priests?

I’m usually a stickler when it comes to making sure priests sing their chants correctly, especially when priests often substitute a Perfect Fourth for the Minor Third in the famous Triple Alleluia on Holy Saturday. But I just found out the 1575AD Missale Romanum has a skip of a Perfect Fifth! So perhaps I need to […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 30, 2020

Can Sacred Music Be Saved? • (How exactly?)

I know of no greater composition than this one—and it was written by a devout Catholic priest.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 28, 2020

For Shame! • Collegeville blog says looking at Crucifix “skirts the edge of idolatry”

The Roman Missal explicitly tells the priest to look at the Crucifix at various times during the Holy Mass.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 27, 2020

“Virtual Mass Is Not The Same” • Sermon by Father Mark Ostrowski

On 26 April 2020, Fr. Ostrowski explained an unintended “Covid-19” consequence—from which we can learn.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 23, 2020

Can Ordinary Form Masses Be “Enriched” By The Extraordinary Form?

Do we truly believe the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity becomes present at Mass? Is this how we treat the Sanctissimum?

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 22, 2020

Dealing With Calumny

All of us have probably been the victim of calumny. Calumny can be especially painful if the person telling lies is someone you helped. Next time this happens in your life, try an experiment: Write the person’s name on an Index card, place it on your shoulder, and flick it to the ground—meaning you will […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 22, 2020

“Christ The Lord Is Risen Today” • (Hymn #697)

…including several captivating attempts to translate “Victimae Paschali Laudes.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 20, 2020

Rehearsal • “Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest”

Including information about a *fabulous* liturgical book from the 1950s.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 20, 2020

From “Vexilla Christus Inclyta”

Non ille regna cládibus, | Non vi metúque súbdidit: | Alto levátus stípite, | Amóre traxit ómnia.—“It is not by combat or force or fear that Christ subdues nations but lifted up upon the tree, he draws all things to himself by love.” Servat fides connúbia, | Juvénta pubet íntegra, | Pudíca florent límina | […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 20, 2020

As Seen On Facebook…

This Covid-19 crisis has caused results I never expected; and not in a good way.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 16, 2020

Yikes! • More Plagiarism from Boise’s Bishop

I did some digging—and the results aren’t pretty. I hope Bishop Christensen will immediately retract his directive, which contains false statements.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 14, 2020

PDF Download • “Victimae Paschali” Organ Accompaniment (Nine Versions)

Organ Accompaniments for “Victimae Paschali Laudes” • Some people love it; others hate it. Regardless, Mocquereau never backed down, and we must admire his tenacity!

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Citation Needed” • Dom Foote of ICEL
    Father Basil Foote, OSB, was organist at WESTMINSTER ABBEY MISSION (British Columbia, Canada). In 1984 he published an article called “Chanting in the Vernacular.” Twenty years later, it was republished by ADOREMUS—and that’s how it came to my attention. In that article, Dom Foote makes a claim I consider somewhat outlandish. At the very least, his statement with regard to the Latin accent needs some sort of citation. He has served on the Music Sub-Committee of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • “Corpus Christi” (Year A)

    The 28-page Singers’ Booklet is included. Our children’s choir will join us for this Mass.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Rubric Challenge”
    The feast of Corpus Christi is special for TLM altar boys. On that day, two of us thurifers got to walk backwards while using the THURIBLE. (That American custom, if memory serves, is not strictly described in the rubrics.) A few weeks ago on the CCW Facebook Page we posted this screenshot from a 1915 Roman Catholic hymnal. The challenge is to guess what the rubric says, which we blocked from view with a red box. So far, nobody has guessed correctly. Feel free to guess! Our email address is listed at the bottom of each page. UPDATE: The answer has been revealed as of 8 June 2026.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Time and Again We Are Asked…
    John Baptist Singenberger (d. 1924) was a central figure of Catholic Church music. In this utterly fascinating excerpt (Single-Page PDF), Singenberger writes: Time and again we are asked: “Is the Gregorian chant to be accompanied by the organ?” As a young student in Saint Gall, Singenberger befriended SEBASTIAN GEBHARD MESSMER, the future Archbishop of Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The two graduated together in 1861. The school they attended (Saint George’s Seminary) was a “seminary”—but in the older European sense. In other words, it provided a classical education without necessarily leading to ordination. Singenberger remained a layman his whole life, but Messmer was eventually made archbishop—by Pope Saint Pius X—of the very archdiocese in Wisconsin where Singenberger would spend his American career, giving him a powerful ecclesiastical ally.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of June (2026)
    On a daily basis, I speak to people who don’t realize we publish a free newsletter (although they’ve followed our blog for years). Since we were founded in 2006, not one of our board members has ever accepted any remuneration whatsoever—not a penny. We have no endowment, no major donors, no savings, and refuse to run annoying ads. As a result, our mailing list is crucial to our survival. It couldn’t be easier to subscribe! Just scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Thee” + “Thou” + “Thine”
    Few musicians realize that various English translations of Sacred Scripture were granted formal approval by the USCCB and the Vatican for liturgical use in the United States of America. But don’t take my word for it! Here are four documents proving this, which you can examine with your own eyes. Some believe the words “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee” were forbidden after Vatican II—but that’s incorrect. For example, they’re found in the English translation of the ‘Our Father’ at Mass. Moreover, the Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) mentioned in those four documents employs “Thine” and “Thou” and “Thee.” It was published with a FOREWORD by Westminster’s Roman Catholic Archbishop (John Cardinal Heenan).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It was thought important that the song should actually accompany the distribution of Communion. A Carolingian explanation of the Mass remarks that during the Communion “soft melody should touch the ear [of the faithful] so that hearing this sound they would busy themselves less with distracting thoughts and … their hearts would be moved to humble love for that which they receive.”

— Father Josef Andreas Jungmann

Recent Posts

  • Time and Again We Are Asked…
  • “Citation Needed” • Dom Foote of ICEL
  • “Should the People Sing in Parts?” • Weighing the Case for SATB Hymnals in the Pews
  • Revealed • “Answer to the Riddle”
  • Music List • “Corpus Christi” (Year A)

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