Liszt - Ave Maria, S20/2 (I Vocalisti)

Ave Maria is the salutation given by the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation ("Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee", Luke 1:28). To these words many additions have been made, both as prayers addressed to the Blessed Virgin (such as that prayed in The Rosary) and as musical texts. This work, originally written in 1846 and revised in 1852 (before finding its way into the S173 Harmonies poétiques et religieuses as the 2nd piece, transcribed for piano), reflects the lesser-known, deeply spiritual side of Liszt-the man who fought tirelessly to raise the standards of sacred music, setting aside all notions of popular esteem to remain faithful to his vocation as a true church musician. Expertly performed by Hans-Joachim Lustig's chamber choir I Vocalisti.

[@jerry_moo]

That choral writing, absolutely transcendental. It has everything, the simple devoted praise to Mary-to the deep, passionate pathos of the “ora, pro nobis” section. Sublime. Liszt's compositional range should be more known.

[@jahman514]

Enchanting. Liszt's choral works are seldom performed, and undeservedly so.

[@gergelykiss]

One of Liszt's happiest and most blissful settings. Which makes the "nunc et in hora mortis nostrae" music towards the end all the more powerful - but even this departure from assured tranquility is delicate. Personally I tend to prefer Liszt's choral music without organ - here I also wish he had indicated the organ part to be ad lib. I think there might exist such a version of this Ave Maria in his catalogue, actually. But in any case: fantastic work gorgeously performed - mulțumesc for the upload!

[@abraxasstone]

Simply beautiful. A saint deserves something like this.

[@theodorebralla]

I’ve been reminded as to why I love music. Thank you 🙂

[@iianneill6013]

I love the quotations from Chopin's Nocturne Op 62, No. 1, that Liszt weaves into the piano version.

[@DanielFahimi]

It is really sad that Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies are his most famous works. Liszt is arguably the best composer in the Romantic era (Excluding Beethoven and Schubert). Thank you, brother. Thank you for sharing this great and brilliant man's compositions. Your channel is just as gold as Liszt's compositions. No Liszt, No Wagner.

[@otakuxgirl6]

Why don't you like Schubert????

[@FreakieFan]

@@otakuxgirl6 He means Excluding as in, Schubert and Beethoven are better.

[@tailleferrestan]

@@otakuxgirl6 Perhaps they consider Beethoven and Schubert classical composers, not romantic ones, so they exclude them.

[@JakobSpindler]

Hungarian rhapsodies are amazing pieces of music that surely deserve the fame.

[@p-y8210]

Divine

[@manuel-et4he]

The organ version is also incredible

[@treesny]

And the version in the definitive HARMONIES POETIQUES ET RELIGIEUSES cycle (for piano) is also lovely, especially the way it then can lead directly into the next piece, BENEDICTION DE DIEU DANS LA SOLITUDE.

[@nyc88s]

This is lovely.

[@kirionj.a.w1147]

This is truly the choral setting to the Ave Maria from Liszt's Religious and Poetic Harmonies. I don't exactly know the title of the work, sorry for any mistakes. But I have played the Ave Maria from that collection and its more or less the same!

[@tekashiii]

The tenor tho 🔥🔥

[@marcalexandrefontenay9801]

Cet ave Maria beaucoup moins connu que celui de Gounod, n’en est pas moins émouvant du Liszt tant imprégné par la religion !

[@lukasmiller486]

I’m so glad you’re uploading choral works for a change. Do you think you could upload Christus or The Legend of Saint Elizabeth as well?

[@AndreiAnghelLiszt]

I've thought about scoring Christus in the past, but I'm not sure how well the large score would fit on the screen, and wether it would even be visible if you were on a mobile. I'll definetly score his piano transcriptions from Christus at some point though

[@lukasmiller486]

Thank you. I recently recorded the piano transcriptions from the Hungarian Coronation Mass. You can find them on my channel if you look hard enough.

[@lukasmiller486]

Andrei Cristian Anghel, follow this link, click on “Vocal Scores” and then Parts 1-3 by Ralph Theo Misch. You’ll find a piano reduction of Christus with the vocal parts. imslp.org/wiki/Christus,_S.3_(Liszt,_Franz)

[@AndreiAnghelLiszt]

@@lukasmiller486 Thank you so much for that. What recordings of Christus would you strongly recommend ?

[@lukasmiller486]

I haven’t heard them all but the Antal Doráti and Miklos Forrai recordings are excellent.

[@lukasmiller486]

Which version of this hymn do you like best? S. 20/1 or S. 20/2?

[@AndreiAnghelLiszt]

Hmm, I would say the S20/2 feels more refined to me.

[@elionthekeys]

1:58

[@jinglemeow]

@explore

[@AndromedaCripps]

I don’t feel the setting of the text quite fits here. The lyrics feel layered on top of a pre-existing music, and while that music is well-written, displaying a depth of understanding of the human voice and choral writing, and is quite beautiful and clever in its modulations, it just feels off to me since the text feels so… separate. It’s not the prosody that’s off, that’s all well paid attention to. It’s just that the way the text is used, it does not feel as if the music properly conveys what the text is saying when it is saying it. Just a poor setting, sadly, despite the beautiful music.

[@yummy-crunchy-bees2548]

I agree. The syllabic emphasis and beat accents don't line up. That's something I struggle with as a composer, as well, so I understand. It is a shame, but I love the harmonies nonetheless.