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 · January 7, 2015

Why Didn’t Anyone Stop This?

Here is an except from a Church bulletin published in December of 2014.

Jeff Ostrowski · January 7, 2015

Was Fulton J. Sheen Ever Wrong?

There’s a discrepancy in this Sunday’s EF Introit.

Jeff Ostrowski · January 7, 2015

Rare Photograph: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen With Father Joseph Ratzinger in 1965

Archbishop Sheen said nary a word about any liturgical reforms following the Council.

Jeff Ostrowski · January 6, 2015

Organ Processionals & Postludes: Suggestions Needed

“So many of the wonderful Preludes & Fugues by Bach—as splendid as they are—do not work as Processional pieces: they’re simply too long.”

Jeff Ostrowski · January 5, 2015

Reflections On Marty Haugen’s “Mass Of Creation” (Revised Version)

Before the revision, Haugen’s Gloria “worked” much better, but I still had serious reservations about it.

Jeff Ostrowski · January 4, 2015

Musical Resources • Most Holy Name Of Jesus

…including a special PDF version (Singer + Organist) of “Corde Natus ex Parentis.”

Jeff Ostrowski · December 31, 2014

PDF Download: “Saint Mark’s Hymnal for Use in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States” (1910)

I bet you don’t own this important historical hymn book!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 30, 2014

“A Pathetic, Unenforceable Patchwork Of Rhetoric” & The Latin Mass

“Many of those who have influenced the reform have no love, and no veneration of that which has been handed down to us.” —Secretary of the Consilium

Jeff Ostrowski · December 29, 2014

UPDATE * Latin Mass Will Remain In Hollywood

The Ancient Form of Mass will be offered indefinitely at St. Victor Church every Sunday at 7:00pm.

Jeff Ostrowski · December 29, 2014

Fr. Jay Finelli Weighs In On The Jogues Missal

“This section immediately brought to mind my mother’s old hand missal.” —Fr. Jay Finelli

Jeff Ostrowski · December 28, 2014

Musical Resources • Sunday Within The Octave Of Christmas

We will NOT be singing “Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer” for Communion!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2014

“Don’t Cross Out Christ On Christmas” — Wrong!

This myth shows great ignorance of ancient (Roman Catholic) manuscripts!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 24, 2014

Musical Resources • Christmas Midnight Mass

We will NOT be singing “Frosty The Snowman” for Offertory!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 23, 2014

PDF Download: Rossini “Parochial Hymnal” (1936)

Your Christmas present from Corpus Christi Watershed!

Jeff Ostrowski · December 22, 2014

Pope Paul VI • “Sacrificum Laudis” (15 Aug 1966)

The most progressive pope imaginable who’s given the Church a new direction? Are they aware of this letter?

“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