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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 9, 2020

Wedding Homily (7 min) by Fr. Valentine Young

“The late Archbishop Sheen once pointed out how the Greeks in their language had three different words for love…”

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 7, 2020

Stunning Harmonies! • “Hail, Holy Queen Enthroned Above” (Hymn #783)

This has been called the “incomparable and indispensable” hymnal for Catholics.

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Jeff Ostrowski · May 6, 2020

What is the “Ordinary” of the Mass?

A few years ago—during the Sacred Music Symposium—I suggested to the audience that the “Our Father” and the “Alleluia” should be considered part of the Ordinary of the Mass (for the Ordinary Form). In my own settings, such as Mass of the English Martyrs, I treated the “Our Father” accordingly—and here in Los Angeles, we […]

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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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President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)
    Dutch organist, teacher, and conductor HERMAN STRATEGIER (d. 1988) studied under Hendrik Andriessen. He composed this unison setting with organ accompaniment for the LORD’S PRAYER (“Our Father”) which a children’s choir would find both within reach and worthy of the effort. The whole thing fits neatly on a single page. Strategier eventually became organist of Saint Catherine’s Cathedral in Utrecht. He also taught at the “Dutch Institute for Catholic Church Music” (Nederlands Instituut voor Katholieke Kerkmuziek).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)
    Monsignor Franciszek Walczyński (d. 1937) was a Polish composer. If you play the pipe organ, I encourage you to try out this ORGAN INTERLUDE FOR MANUALS ONLY (1-page PDF) which he composed. Walczyński taught plainsong at the seminary in Tarnów (about 50 miles east of Kraków). With his brother Stanisław—also a Catholic priest—he initiated the Saint Adalbert Society for the Support of Church Music, which ran annual workshops for their diocese. In July of 1894 (more than a decade before the appearance of the Editio Vaticana) Walczyński lectured on “congregational singing and Gregorian Chant.” On top of all that, Monsignor Walczyński founded an organists’ school in Tarnów and the SAINT ADALBERT CHOIR at the cathedral.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Eucharistic Prayer No. 2 on Sundays?

    Highlighted in yellow (on this single-page PDF file) is documentation concerning whether the 2nd Eucharistic prayer may be used on Sundays.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

    You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up
    We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    ‘Ould’ But Not Good
    Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Today the Church has made a big mistake, turning the clock back 500 years with guitars and popular songs. I don’t like it at all. Gregorian Chant is a vital and important tradition of the Church and to waste this—by having guys mix religious words with profane, Western songs—is hugely grave, hugely grave.”

— Maestro Ennio Morricone (10 Sept 2009)

Recent Posts

  • The Vanishing Art of Knowing Hymns • We Seek a Hymn “Expert” (Not Just a Hymn “Enthusiast”)
  • Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)
  • PDF Download • “Our Father” (1 page)
  • Composer Isabella Quintana: “Christ my teacher, Christ my healer, Christ my Savior.” • (Guest Article)
  • PDF • “Organ Interlude” (Manuals Only)

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