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 · October 8, 2018

Live Recording Snippet • Vespers at Saint Vitus

We’ve made a very good start, and things will get better and better!

Jeff Ostrowski · October 2, 2018

PDF Download • SATB Christmas Carol by Peter Lejeune • “Jam Désinant Suspíria”

I recorded all the voices, to demonstrate how it sounds…

Jeff Ostrowski · September 28, 2018

19th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

Then he saith to his servants, “The marriage indeed is ready, but they that were invited were not worthy.”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 26, 2018

Scott Hahn: “Thomas More & John Fisher”

Saint John Fisher (d. 1535) tutored King Henry VIII when he was a boy—but Henry VIII eventually murdered him and placed his head on a stake.

Jeff Ostrowski · September 25, 2018

2015 Review • “American Catholic Hymnbook”

“Hymns that are directed to the Trinity should not be used, no matter how familiar they may be.”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 20, 2018

18th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

“O God, Who, through the august communication of this sacrifice, dost make us partakers of the one supreme divinity…”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 19, 2018

Can You Say “Theft” ??

Robert Campbell is an excellent translator of the Breviary—but even the best steal.

Jeff Ostrowski · September 18, 2018

Ronald Knox • His Actual Voice!

A fascinating radio address by Msgr. Knox covering topics related to the Incarnation.

Jeff Ostrowski · September 11, 2018

17th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

“We implore Thy majesty, O Lord, that the holy mysteries we are celebrating may free us of past and save us from future sins.”

Jeff Ostrowski · September 10, 2018

A Dramatic Moment

The Bells, Gloria, and Organ all return at once.

Jeff Ostrowski · September 4, 2018

“The Story Of The Adoremus Hymnal”

Dr. Kurt Poterack served as chairman of the editorial committee.

Jeff Ostrowski · September 3, 2018

16th Sunday after Pentecost (Extraordinary Form)

“When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place, lest perhaps one more honorable than thou be invited by him…”

Jeff Ostrowski · August 30, 2018

Simple Mass Propers (1909)

When choirs cannot sing the proper properly…

Jeff Ostrowski · August 27, 2018

PDF • Scottish Catholic Hymnal (453 Pages)

“Authorized by the archbishops and bishops of Scotland for use in the Scottish dioceses.”

Jeff Ostrowski · August 22, 2018

“Adoro Te Devote” • A Bad Translation in Hymnals

How can people claim this is a translation of the hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas?

“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