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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 12, 2022

“Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended?”

A wonderful passiontide hymn is #692 in the Brébeuf hymnal. It works especially well for Communion. Here is a live recording from last Sunday, sung by the fabulous female singers in my volunteer parish choir.

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 11, 2022

PDF Download • SATB “Refrain” for Good Friday

Is it “traditional” to receive Holy Communion on Good Friday?

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 10, 2022

PDF Download • “Palm Sunday Hymn”

During the procession on Palm Sunday, the 1962 rubrics allow alius cantus in honorem Christi Regis—“a hymn or song in honor of Christ the King.” A simple yet beautiful Gregorian hymn you might consider is Te Sæculorum Principem, which was composed for the feast of Christ the King by Father Vittorio Genovesi (d. 1967). The […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 7, 2022

“Schizophrenia” • Pius XII Annihilated Tenebræ

I know of no author who has attempted to reconcile, explain, or justify the (obviously contradictory) “schizophrenia flaw.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 6, 2022

“Victimæ Paschali Laudes” • Nineteen (19) Organ Accompaniments

Including a remarkable musical setting by Father Adrian Fortescue (d. 1923).

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 5, 2022

Free Organ Accompaniment • “Vexilla Regis”

During Passiontide, the hymn at Vespers is the mighty Vexilla Regis Prodeunt of Bishop Venantius Fortunatus. In 2015, I composed an organ accompaniment for this hymn with each verse written out. This comes in pretty handy on occasions when the organist must “lead the hymn from the organ bench.” Please feel free to download my […]

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 2, 2022

“Hymn To Saint Joseph” • (Rec. 4/2/2022)

Certainly the only “Eucharistic” hymn to Saint Joseph I know!

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Jeff Ostrowski · April 1, 2022

Gregorian Chant • “Its True & Authentic Rhythm”

For this coming Sunday (Passion Sunday), there’s only one “MMV” singers must observe—and I placed a little arrow above it.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 31, 2022

Cardinal Schönborn Consecrates “IKEA Altar”

When Father Fortescue was diagnosed with cancer, he was seen to kiss devoutly the Altar on which he had so frequently celebrated Mass before going to the hospital to die.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 25, 2022

PDF Download • “Missa Philomena” (Philippe Verdelot) — Part 1 has been added.

We already released Part 2; today we release Part 1.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 24, 2022

“Extraordinary Form” • Is This Name Still Allowed?

Fulton J. Sheen reminded us: “Many a pontiff goes through life without making a single infallible decision … not one.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 20, 2022

“Ah, Holy Jesus” • Lent + Passiontide Hymn

Mr. Currie complained about hymn lyrics that “unduly emphasize the human nature of the Savior.”

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 20, 2022

Names Have Been Revealed!

The clinicians for Sacred Music Symposium 2022 have been officially released! You can see them by downloading this PDF file. Please help us spread the word. Thank you!

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 15, 2022

“Three Hymns for Lent” • (Rec. 03/10/2022)

Sometimes what goes without saying must be said.

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Jeff Ostrowski · March 13, 2022

PDF Download • “Audi Benigne Conditor” (Organ Accompaniment)

Finding the “perfect” accompaniment for hymns can be challenging. Here’s my attempt.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Holy, Holy, Holy” transposed lower

    A simple setting based on a work by Canon Jules Vyverman.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music List • (27th Sund. Ordinary Time)

    Readers have expressed interest in examining my “music list” for this coming Sunday: 4 October 2026

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    A Mystery! — Re: the “Liber Usualis”

    Even after all these years, nobody has been able to explain this.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Preface of Saint Joseph (added by the pope)

    You can see the “Præfatio de Sancto Joseph” inserted directly into the priest’s missal.

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    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Predictable Rhymes?” • A Follow Up
    We received considerable correspondence regarding my article, Two Ways to Defile a Hymn. More specifically, what really raised certain people’s hackles was its follow-up article dealing with the keyboard accompaniment for the CHRIST THE KING HYMNAL. But to quote Eliza Doolittle: “Have I said anything I oughtn’t?” Please examine this PDF file and see whether you agree. Were the editors of the BRÉBEUF HYMNAL incorrect to insist upon sophisticated and clever rhymes, rather than mind-numbingly predictable rhymes?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    ‘Ould’ But Not Good
    Dom Samuel Gregory Ould (note the spelling) was a Benedictine monk at FORT AUGUSTUS ABBEY in Scotland. As musician, organist, and composer, Dom Ould was highly regarded. Moreover, he was considered an authority on Gregorian Chant. But not everything found in an old book—or, in this case, an “Ould” book—is necessarily praiseworthy. Consider this page from Dom Ould’s hymnal. Do you see the rhymes? They offend severely by ABR (“Abuse By Reuse”) and are utterly predictable. In my recent article—Two Ways to Defile a Hymn—I addressed this topic.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

A hymn verse need not be a complete sentence, but it must have completed sense as a recognisable part of the complete sentence, and at each major pause there would be at least a “sense-pause.” Saint Ambrose and the early writers and centonists always kept to this rule. This indicates one of the differences between a poem and a hymn, and by this standard most of the modern hymns and the revisions of old hymns in the Breviary stand condemned.

— Fr. Joseph Connelly

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  • “Holy, Holy, Holy” transposed lower

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