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Views from the Choir Loft

PDF Download • Brief Polyphonic “Asperges Me” for SATB by Father Guerrero (d. 1599)

Jeff Ostrowski · September 20, 2022

ORE THAN FIVE YEARS AGO, I decided to stop 1 composing music—and I can still remember the very day it happened. Dr. Calabrese was visiting Los Angeles, conducting the KYRIE from Father Guerrero’s Missa Beata Mater. Hearing that brief piece with only four voices, something powerful struck me. I realized Guerrero was composing “on a different level.” What I heard was the RESULT of a genuine genius—from boyhood immersed in the world’s most powerful music—composing in a way that makes the human voice sound as magnificent as it can in this world.

Physically Present • Recordings don’t count here. Nor do notes on a page. It’s all about being physically present and hearing Father Guerrero’s pristine counterpoint, his manipulation of overtones, his astounding use of imitation, his uncanny control of dissonance & consonance, and his incomparable rhythmic mastery. It required 400 years of musical experimentation all across Europe to produce the polyphonic miracle of Francisco Guerrero. I realized my efforts at composition were akin to demanding that I play alongside Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Michael Jordan.

A Tiny Piece • The following is not even a real piece. Rather, it’s a brief excerpt of a very long composition by Father Guerrero. Nevertheless, I find it utterly captivating, and here’s my attempt at recording all the voices myself (to approximate how it sounds):

*  PDF Download • “ASPERGES ME” (Father Guerrero)

M Rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #47772.

Sadness: Most readers won’t click on the individual voice parts, and that makes me sad. When we post a “scandalous” liturgical video, we get 40,000 views. I wish we could garner as many views for the rehearsal videos because it’s incumbent upon us to revive authentic sacred music!

1 Technically, I have not completely stopped composing, but the small things I do compose—such as Gregorian accompaniments and short antiphons—are not “composing” in the sense of writing large-scale works (such as symphonies). Once in a blue moon, I still compose a larger work, but always under a fake name. I find that when I use my real name, people don’t tell me the honest truth vis-à-vis their feelings about my compositions. But when they believe somebody else wrote the piece, their praise (or criticism) tends to be more sincere.

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

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Francisco Guerrero Composer Last Updated: September 20, 2022

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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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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“To me it is a most inspiring reflection that, while empires and kingdoms have tumbled down, while language and custom of every kind have changed beyond recognition, still day by day the humblest Catholic priest in the remotest mission stands at his altar dressed in the garb of old Rome.”

— Father Adrian Fortescue (8 February 1912)

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