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 · February 28, 2016

Musical Resources • 3rd Sunday of Lent (EF)

“…free us from all sins and dangers, as Thou dost grant us to be sharers in this great mystery…”

Jeff Ostrowski · February 23, 2016

Rehearsal Videos • A Resplendent “Agnus Dei” You’ve Never Heard

Can you hear the Canon between Soprano & Tenor?

Jeff Ostrowski · February 22, 2016

PDF Download • “Latin in the New Liturgy” (1976)

“The use of Latin in celebrating the new Mass Rite will be encouraged as it has been in the old; Latin expresses the nature of the Church as international and timeless.”

Jeff Ostrowski · February 20, 2016

A Roman Catholic Cleric’s Noble Robes

The Archbishop of Kraków was (for a short time) Senator of the Second Polish Republic.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 20, 2016

Funeral Mass • Justice Antonin Scalia

You can download the program or view the full Mass online.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 18, 2016

PDF • Two Nice Versions of “Attende Domine”

A good piece for Lent.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 16, 2016

Something That Would Fix So Much … But Nobody Mentions It

Is this “tacit” approval really “imaginary” approval?

Jeff Ostrowski · February 15, 2016

“Credo for Two Voices” • Gustaaf Nees (d. 1965)

This simple setting of Gregorian Credo IV uses organ, men’s voices, and women’s voices.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 14, 2016

Canon Van Nuffel’s Setting Of Smoke Rising

“Smoke rises from the Mountain of Doom. The hour grows late, and Gandalf the Grey rides to Isengard seeking my counsel.”

Jeff Ostrowski · February 14, 2016

Musical Resources • 1st Sunday of Lent (EF)

“We solemnly offer the sacrifice at the beginning of Lent, O Lord…”

Jeff Ostrowski · February 12, 2016

Motet • “Verbum Supernum” by Fr. Carlo Rossini

This SATB setting can be used during any liturgical season and has “O Salutaris Hostia” as one of its verses.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 11, 2016

“Audi Benigne Conditor” • Gregorian Hymn For Lent

The text is by St. Gregory the Great, who was Pope from 590-604.

Jeff Ostrowski · February 10, 2016

Decapitation of an Innocent Meadowlark

Do we remember that people in the pews often lack our musical background?

Jeff Ostrowski · February 9, 2016

Francisco Guerrero • “Hymn To The Sacred Trinity” (SATB with Plainsong)

Are you up for a special hymn challenge?

Jeff Ostrowski · February 8, 2016

What Are You Doing For Lent?

“The phone is our century’s plague. It destroys character, interaction, friendships, families, and our time. We are glued to these devices.”

“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