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 4, 2015

PDF Download: Organ Accompaniment to “Et Valde Mane” • 1955 Easter Vigil

A thing desired by many!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 4, 2015

Rough PDF • Rubrics & Music, Holy Saturday (1962)

I don’t usually release “rough cut” PDF files, but this one is so valuable…

Jeff Ostrowski · April 3, 2015

Rubrics • Good Friday (Pius XII Holy Week Revisions)

Even Solesmes makes errors from time to time.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 2, 2015

An Essential & Unique Thing For Holy Thursday

…and a look at Holy Thursday from the 1965 Missal.

Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2015

Musical Resources • Holy Thursday (1962)

Bells are rung and the organ played at the “Gloria”—but then stay silent until the Easter Vigil “Gloria.”

Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2015

Judas Iscariot & Religious Freedom

Some have criticized Christ for making Judas part of his special group of friends.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 31, 2015

What Happened To Our Catholic Artists?

From what I can tell, a trend toward *ugly* artwork in Church publications began in the late 1950s.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 30, 2015

Is This Where It All Began?

Why do so many traditional priests have an aversion to Pope Pius XII’s revision of Holy Week?

Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2015

Musical Resources • Palm Sunday (1962)

There are two ways to distribute palm branches in the Extraordinary Form.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 29, 2015

Palm Sunday Outline • Extraordinary Form

During the procession, all or some of the following selections may be sung…

Jeff Ostrowski · March 26, 2015

“O Sacred Head Surrounded”

An easier organ accompaniment, provided by Dr. Eugène Lapierre, teacher of Roger Wagner.

Jeff Ostrowski · March 26, 2015

Diversity Of Thought

When it comes to reforming the liturgy, they want “all voices heard.”

Jeff Ostrowski · March 25, 2015

Video • Vocation Story Of Bishop Robert C. Morlino

“Scranton is a very Catholic town. Every guy, growing up considered the priesthood.” —Bishop Morlino

Jeff Ostrowski · March 25, 2015

Free PDF • Polyphonic Gloria With Practice Videos

Uses Gregorian chant with polyphonic _Falsibordone_ by Caesare de Zachariis (†1594).

Jeff Ostrowski · March 24, 2015

Do You Know The Hymn Of Saint Casimir?

The *original* meter & rhyme scheme were miraculously kept in English, Polish, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian!

“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