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 · April 24, 2016

Our Lady’s Royal Ancestry • Gregorian Chant

“Richer than I you can never be—I had a Mother who read to me.”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 24, 2016

Musical Resources • Fourth Sunday after Easter (Extraordinary Form)

“…grant Thy peoples that they may love what Thou commandest and desire what Thou dost promise…”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 23, 2016

Dazzling Canon • “Adoremus in Aeternum”

John Paul II: “For compositions of liturgical music, I make my own the general rule of St. Pius X…”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 22, 2016

Shocking Parallels By Guerrero

I’ve seen similar passages by Orlando Lassus.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 20, 2016

Benedictus & Hosanna • “Missa Beata Mater”

My friend was in charge of picking music for papal Masses under Pope St. John Paul II.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 19, 2016

“Catholic Choirmaster” • Fascinating Photo Taken 29 August 1964

CMAA was formed the same year “Inter Oecumenici” was issued by the Vatican.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 18, 2016

In Memoriam • Sister Clare Crockett

She passed away when the community’s house collapsed during the earthquake that hit the Ecuadorian coast on 16 April 2016.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 18, 2016

“No Time For Cowardice” • A Letter To Liturgy Columnists

Too many columnists focus endlessly on minutiae while leaving untouched a crucial issue.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 16, 2016

Feeding Our Children Liturgical “Garbage”

Some of you know I’ve been extremely ill for more than two years…

Jeff Ostrowski · April 16, 2016

Musical Resources • Third Sunday after Easter (Extraordinary Form)

“O God, Who dost show the light of Thy truth to them that go astray…”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 15, 2016

Picture • Pope Pius XII in St. Peter’s (Low Mass)

With a lovely chasuble!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 11, 2016

Sacrament of Confirmation (EF) • “Fully Notated Confirmation Prayers”

You Will Want To Download These! • Written-out (“notated”) sheets for the Rite of Confirmation in the Extraordinary Form.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 10, 2016

Ven. Pope Pius XII Singing The Preface

We normally sing the way we heard the priest singing as a child…

Jeff Ostrowski · April 8, 2016

“Tantum Ergo” • Eleven (11) Harmonizations

Do you know what the “Tantum Ergo” means, word for word?

Jeff Ostrowski · April 7, 2016

“Et Cum Spiritu Tuo” in the 1961 Fulton Sheen Missal

What Fr. Philip Caraman does may surprise you…

“Entrance Chant” • Immaculate Conception

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Immaculate Conception (9 December 2024). It’s in the third mode—which some consider the most beautiful of all—and mimics the authentic version in a laudable way. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, I attempted to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.

—Jeff Ostrowski

How Sharp Are Your Eyes?

Just around the corner is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The GREGORIAN MISSAL (Solesmes Abbey, 1990) is an utterly gorgeous book—there’s no question about that. But several typos did creep in. Can you spot the major typo for the ENTRANCE CHANT on the feast of the Immaculate Conception? How sharp are your eyes? If you succeed, send me an email letting me know.

—Jeff Ostrowski

“Music List” • (Christ the King Sunday)

This coming Sunday—24 November 2024—is Christ the King Sunday (a.k.a. “Final Sunday in Ordinary Time”). 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. You’ll notice we’re learning Moreau’s “Congregational Polyphonic Enhancement” for the OUR FATHER. And the the Mode 3 ENTRANCE CHANT is utterly sublime.

—Jeff Ostrowski

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

Principles vs Preferences

I ran into this idea recently: principles vs. preferences in planning out a curriculum or music lineup. In this idea, it is imperative to not misconstrue personal preferences into principles—that the music (or subject matter) is great because: “I have good taste, and I like it.” De gustibus… Education, study and docility to the Magisterium of the Church on matters of liturgical music must be present in those who make the music at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Hours. Who knows? Maybe you might start to prefer the music that is fitting according to the principles Catholic Sacred Music?

—William J. Fritz

Liquescent Notes in the Official Edition

The official edition—the EDITIO VATICANA itself—is somewhat inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes. If you wish to see a perfect “apples-to-apples” comparison, click here. Such “inconsistency” was not owing to ignorance on the part of Abbat Pothier: the manuscripts themselves are inconsistent when it comes to liquescent notes.

—Jeff Ostrowski