Decapitation of an Innocent Meadowlark
Do we remember that people in the pews often lack our musical background?
Jesus said to them: “I have come into this world so that a sentence may fall upon it, that those who are blind should see, and those who see should become blind. If you were blind, you would not be guilty. It is because you protest, ‘We can see clearly,’ that you cannot be rid of your guilt.”
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).
Do we remember that people in the pews often lack our musical background?
Are you up for a special hymn challenge?
“The phone is our century’s plague. It destroys character, interaction, friendships, families, and our time. We are glued to these devices.”
We’re approaching capacity—if you’re interested, we need to hear from you soon!
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First published in 1901 by Emile Dethier, organist at the Grand Seminary in Liège, Belgium.
We are not allowed to sing Tropes in the Extraordinary Form, so I added that text in italics.
“Grant, we humbly beseech Thee, almighty God, that those whom Thou refreshest with Thy sacraments…”
Composer David Haas posted a striking proclamation on his Facebook page.
Yet the laborer called at the eleventh hour does not taste the joy reserved to one who has “worked and suffered without reckoning the hours.”
Only one word describes Guerrero’s musical genius: fearsome.
“Sanctify, O Lord, the gifts we offer, and purify us from the stains of our sins…”
Then the Pope declared that it was the motet’s words—not its melody—which annoyed him.
By the French Roman Catholic composer, Raphaël Mercier (d. 1953).
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