Views from the Choir Loft

Patrick Torsell • Article Archive

Patrick Torsell is the Director of Music and Organist at Mater Dei Latin Mass Community in Harrisburg, PA, an apostolate of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. He began playing the organ at age 8, and has held organist and choirmaster positions across the nation.—Read full biography (with photographs).

Patrick Torsell · June 2, 2023

“Colorado Sacred Music Conference” August 9-10 (2023) • Highlands Ranch, CO

The Mass celebrants include Bishop James Golka of Colorado Springs!

Patrick Torsell · August 26, 2020

(Installment #1) “Catholic Hymnals” • Patrick Torsell

Five tips for rousing, inspiring hymn playing!

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Patrick Torsell · April 2, 2020

Repeating Repertoire? • Patrick Torsell

The Church’s patrimony of sacred music is so rich, so replete with material for most any occasion, that it seems on the surface we ought not need to repeat. But there are good reasons to repeat repertoire tastefully.

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Patrick Torsell · March 29, 2020

8 Tips • “Improving Live Stream Audio Quality”

Many churches have turned to live streaming during these difficult times. But getting the audio quality right is challenging. Here are some tips!

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Patrick Torsell · February 10, 2020

Youth Choristers – Formation Beyond Singing

If we want young people to help restore and promote sacred music, we must get beyond the “what” and the “how” and dig in to the “why.”

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Patrick Torsell · January 25, 2020

The Organ Postlude: Distraction, or Powerful Aid to Devotion?

The organ postlude is a powerful way to cultivate dispositions of rejoicing, thanksgiving, and awe before the greatness of God at the conclusion of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

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Patrick Torsell · January 14, 2020

Youth Choristers: Get Them While They’re Young

Here’s how our parish is working to fill the ears, hearts, and minds of the youth with truly sacred music from a young age.

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Patrick Torsell · January 14, 2020

Biography • Patrick Torsell

Patrick Torsell began playing the organ at age 8, and has held organist and choirmaster positions across the nation…

“Entrance Chant” • Christ the King

Download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the Solemnity of Christ the King (24 November 2024). It mimics the Mode III Latin version in a truly spectacular 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

“Music List” • (33rd Sund. Ordinary Time)

This coming Sunday—17 November 2024—is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. 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. For the record, our opening hymn is particularly beautiful. So is the Mode 6 ENTRANCE CHANT.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Lectionary Errors

If you look at the official Responsorial Psalm (PDF) for this coming Sunday, you’ll notice the current Lectionary has the wrong refrain. Why is this a big deal? Why even mention such a thing? Everybody makes mistakes, right? Here’s why it matters. The USCCB—which makes money by selling the sacred liturgical texts—has historically been ruthless when it comes to such matters. When various publishers point out errors to them, their response has been: “If you dare to correct the error, we’ll sue you.” These errors are not a matter of nuance; e.g. sometimes the previous (English) edition of the Lectionary got them right! Bottom Line: mandatory, indulgenced, liturgical texts shouldn’t be sold; they should be freely available to all Catholics.

—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