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 · June 21, 2015

Musical Resources • 4th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

The organist will play softly at the Offertory.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 17, 2015

SATB “Agnus Dei” by Verdelot with Rehearsal Videos

Who wouldn’t welcome a brief-but-beautiful piece like this?

Jeff Ostrowski · June 17, 2015

Does Having Children Preclude Service As A Catholic Musician?

Here are some thoughts, but I can’t promise they make sense.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 16, 2015

Top Six Liturgical Quotes By Robert Cardinal Sarah

Is the “Reform of the Reform” dead? Bishop Serratelli and many others disagree!

Jeff Ostrowski · June 12, 2015

Musical Resources • External Solemnity of the Sacred Heart (1962 Missal)

Some EF communities will celebrate the “External Solemnity” of the Most Sacred Heart on Sunday.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 10, 2015

Video • “Three Approaches To A Catholic Hymn”

Including a special version of the “Tantum Ergo” by Fr. Adrian Fortescue.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 10, 2015

Solesmes Monastery & Latin Accents

I suspect that in a long melisma it’s hard to know “where you are”…

Jeff Ostrowski · June 9, 2015

PDF Download • “A Manual For Church Musicians” (1964) — 130 pages

A generous reader sent me copies of this extremely rare book.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 9, 2015

Video • Disrespect For God’s House

Is Consecration by the words of Institution “de fide” ??

Jeff Ostrowski · June 8, 2015

USCCB: “Revised Grail Psalter” Will Be Revised Again

“I cannot understand why a private family can be made worldwide agent for the official prayers of the Church.” —Dr. Jerry Galipeau

Jeff Ostrowski · June 7, 2015

Message From A “Traditional” Priest

“Believe me we had some long offices back in those days.”

Jeff Ostrowski · June 7, 2015

Musical Resources • 2nd Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

Some EF communities will celebrate the “External Solemnity” of Corpus Christi today.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 6, 2015

On This Day . . . In 1944

Soldiers attending Mass during World War II.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 5, 2015

Eerie Silence After Cardinal Sarah’s Testimony

Cardinal Sarah has committed an “unforgivable sin” in the opinion of progressive liturgists.

Jeff Ostrowski · June 4, 2015

Order of Worship • “Mass VIII” — High Resolution Images

It seems many wish to include Mass VIII in their program booklets.

“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