ES, IT’S ONCE AGAIN TIME to start thinking about Advent! We begin with a splendid Advent hymn: Creátor alme síderum. The original title was Cónditor alme síderum, but four Jesuits working for Pope Urban VIII (d. 1644) wrecked most of the Breviary hymns—causing endless confusion. Correct accentuation is crucial since CÓNDITOR means “maker” whereas CONDÍTOR means “pickler.”
The famous tune can be played on this Woofer Guitar:
Before you listen to the full version by Guerrero, explore the Tenor and Soprano only:
Do you see the beautiful counterpoint with just two voices? In real life, one hears clearly the different vocal sections, and the counterpoint sounds awesome. In a YouTube version, however, the voices sound “flattened.”
I couldn’t resist recording it, even though my voice singing all the parts never sounds quite right:
* * PDF Download • “Cónditor alme síderum”
REHEARSAL VIDEOS :
The reason I couldn’t resist is because this composition is so powerful. It’s not even music anymore … Guerrero has here created a force of nature.
By the way, the tempo could probably be slightly slower, but I don’t recommend taking it so slowly that the plainsong in the Soprano line becomes difficult to recognize.
