Ave Maria by Schubert, recomposed by Liszt #2

This is a realization of Ave Maria by Schubert, as re-composed by Franz Liszt. It’s a very familiar tune; it is often performed as Schubert wrote it, for tenor and piano. Liszt decided that he could play it all by himself. It’s devilishly difficult, as you have to play the melody with alternating thumbs of each hand, while playing thick chords and arpeggios above and below. It’s also a challenge to transcribe for Csound, since each measure contains up to 100 different notes. One measure (3:20 into the piece) took me an hour and a half, with most requiring at least 30 minutes. That compares to Standchen, which I could transcribe each measure in about five minutes.

The tuning is Carl Lumma’s VRWT temperament transposed to B flat.
Lumma temperament

The piece is realized using Csound on Prent’s Microtonal Slide Bosendorfer.

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Ave Maria #2
Ave Maria first page

Published by

Prent Rodgers

Musician seduced into capitalism.