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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Rehearsal Videos • A Resplendent “Agnus Dei” You’ve Never Heard

Jeff Ostrowski · February 23, 2016

URING the 1950s, Pope Pius XII added a special feast in honor of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 1 The antiphon for the Magnificat—“Beata Mater”—was not invented during the 1950s. It’s a very ancient chant, and Francisco Guerrero wrote an entire Mass based upon it. Throughout the various movements, Guerrero uses the CANTUS FIRMUS in clever ways, demonstrating his mastery of the “architecture” of large musical forms. 2 For example, the entire CREDO is a Canon between Soprano & Alto.

Can you hear what Guerrero does with the CANTUS FIRMUS (“Beata Mater”) in the final movement of this Mass? Do you see how he creates a perfect Canon between Soprano & Tenor?

    * *  PDF Download • AGNUS DEI • Guerrero “Missa Beata Mater”


REHEARSAL VIDEOS :

EQUAL VOICES : YouTube   •   Mp3 Audio

SOPRANO : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO I : YouTube   •   Audio

ALTO II : YouTube   •   Audio

TENOR : YouTube   •   Audio

BASS : YouTube   •   Audio




NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   He did so by means of a special document, explaining why this feast was added.

2   Guerrero’s teacher, Cristóbal de Morales, was also brilliant when it came to such things.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Francisco Guerrero Composer, Missa Beata Mater Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

23 May 2022 • FEEDBACK

From a reader: “I wasn’t looking for it. But, I stumbled across your hand-dandy arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon. Jeff, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread! I had to play a wedding on Saturday. The bride requested the Canon. There were 11 bridesmaids! The organ loft is a football field away from the communion rail. It’s so difficult to play and keep checking the mirror. Your arrangement is absolutely genius. One can skip and choose which variations to use. The chord names are handy so that when my eyes are off the music, I always know where I am at. A thousand times thank you for sharing this arrangement!”

—Jeff Ostrowski
19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“When we force a boy to be a mediocrity in a dozen subjects we destroy his standards, perhaps for life.”

— C. S. Lewis

Recent Posts

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  • PDF Download • “A Canon Choirs Love!”
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