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 17, 2015

Simple Yet Beautiful Easter Piece You Might Want To Sing This Sunday

The verses come from an Easter poem found in numerous ancient manuscripts.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 17, 2015

Resources • 2nd Sunday after Easter (1962 Missal)

Including a lovely Easter piece from the middle ages called “Vita sanctorum.”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 16, 2015

Is This The World’s Greatest Cry Room?

An usher approached me, tapping on my shoulder. This was the last straw.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 14, 2015

Should Church Singers Be Paid?

Practice Videos for KYRIE “Impleta Sunt”—based on a piece by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 13, 2015

Cardinal Dolan Vested In Ferriola?

Can someone who knows about vestments confirm this?

Jeff Ostrowski · April 13, 2015

Don’t Tell Me What You Can Do: Show Me

Directing a choir is extremely difficult. The obstacles often seem insurmountable.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 13, 2015

Nixon, Watergate, & Singing The Mass Propers

Ehrlichman, Haldeman, Dean, Nixon, and others made tons of money writing and speaking about Watergate.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 12, 2015

Musical Resources • Low Sunday (a.k.a. “Divine Mercy Sunday” or “Quasimodo” or “White Sunday”)

The organ is back!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 9, 2015

First Look Images! • “Proper Of The Mass” By Fr. Samuel F. Weber

This 1,292 page book is much thinner than I had anticipated.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 9, 2015

Easter Vigil Readings With Dancer • St. Patrick Catholic Church (Seattle, Washington)

I was surprised to see composer David Haas comment on facebook in support of this.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 8, 2015

Fascinating Videos From 1958 • Mass Sung In English!

A “Dialogue” Low Mass with singing (c. 1958) by choristers of St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 7, 2015

It Has Arrived! • “Proper of the Mass” (Ignatius)

You will notice that Fr. Weber’s version sounds quite similar to the authentic Latin chant.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 7, 2015

Photographs • FSSP Holy Triduum in Los Angeles (2015)

Notice how the priest, dressed in cope, is engulfed in darkness at the beginning of the Easter Vigil—except for candles burning.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 6, 2015

Jaw-Dropping Liturgical Manuscripts (7,055 Pages)

Catholics can now *see with their own eyes* the antiquity of our liturgy.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 6, 2015

Can You Love Liturgy Too Much?

Should we assume malice on the part of those who denigrate the Traditional Mass?

“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