Page 7 - Organ etudes book one

THE COMPLETE CHURCH ORGANIST: ORGAN ÉTUDES BOOK ONE CREATOR ALME SIDERUM
This miniature set of variations on an Advent hymn requires you to read the words first. It’s sometimes listed as Conditor rather than Creator, and often rendered as “Creator of the stars of night”. The plainsong melody is a simple, monosyllabic setting.
Pay close attention to the lengths of notes, using a deliberate release-action, not an untimed letting-go. In verse 1 the quavers should just meet, without blurring or gaps. In verse 2, the blurring effect is deliberate. In verse 3, exchange the registration plan from Verse 1 as a contrast. In Verse 4, use crisp articulation on the chords and create a tough, jagged effect whilst preserving a seamless legato on the theme crotchets. In the last verse the melody notes should just join as you pass them from one thumb to the other but the outside of the texture is staccato. There is a mood of anxiety and fragmentation here, as the undoing of all current things is referenced in the hymn-text. The ending tip-toes out, leaving a faint triad of C major where all this noise was. Allow a little rubato at the half-way point of each verse.
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CCO Organ Etudes 1.indd 7
26/08/2020
09:42