Schubert F.  |  Ave Maria  arr. flute & classical guitar
Channel: PlentyMusic
Date: 06/04/2023

#AveMaria is one of the most beautiful melodies from the romantic era composed by #Schubert. This #flute arrangement with #guitar accompaniment is available from PlentyMusic as a free digital #sheetmusic download with accompaniments link: https://plentymusic.uk/short/?c=S5N3Mwr 

This song was composed by Schubert in 1825 as part of a song cycle based on Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake. Many performances that are sung make use of the text of the Latin prayer “Ave Maria.” The work is identified as Schubert’s Opus 52 No.6 D.839

As an instrumental arrangement of Ave Maria the barring of the melody has been made appropriate for instrumentalists to read. In this particular arrangement the movement has been transcribed to the key of A. If the chord voicing in the accompanying guitar part needs editing please advise the PlentyMusic office. Scores are available with and without TAB. On the repeat the flute player has the option of playing the melody at the octave. One of the greatest challenges in music is playing a repeat simply because playing the same music again requires greater concentration. A varied repeat like this at the octave one in some ways does make the piece easier to play. 

Whilst the melody and accompaniment does sound very on the ear and suggest that it is an easy piece of music to play there are several technical and musical challenges to be overcome before Schubert's Ave Maria can be played both competently and confidently. 

The playback tempo in the realisation is 36 quarter note (crotchet) beats to the minute (bpm) whilst the music editor suggests that it is probably best to learn the movement with an awareness of an eighth note or quaver pulse played as triplets. The tempo marking in Schubert’s score is Sehr langsam which means very slow. Singers do frequently take a slower tempo than instrumentalists. The tempo indication in the PlentyMusic instrumental arrangements is Largo.

Instrumentalists need to have a clear understanding and intention as to how the melody is to be played particularly from the rhythmic point of view. The cross rhythms, dotted notes, triplet figuration and ornaments all present challenges. The melody itself needs to be played in a legato or singing style. Players need to be always conscious and aware of the triplet figuration played in the accompaniment. The ornaments have been written out in the video score but are indicated as symbols in the sheet music scores available as pdf download from PlentyMusic. In bars 4 and 5 the third beat melody notes can be played as quarter notes (crotchets) and the challenges of playing the short essentially ornamental notes can be added later

When a movement involves reducing the score, as is the case in this arrangement, it means that some aspects of the music score are omitted.It is worth studying a full vocal score which may clarify some of the challenges that need to be addressed by the arranger. The approach for the violinist  should be to keep the melody wherever possible and when appropriate rhythmically independent of the triplet figuration of the accompaniment.

Guitar accompaniments are available playing back at 32, 36 and 40 quarter note (crotchet) beats per minute (bpm). They are available with and without repeats. Players not playing the repeat will need to remember to take the second ending because the repeats are indicated in the sheet music score. If you have any feedback to give about the score or require an accompaniment with a different tempo please contact PlentyMusic either by email or LiveChat. Accompaniments are recorded at 256kbps.pdf sheet music scores and mp3 accompaniments can be downloaded from the PlentyMusic website. Improve music practice routines with PlentyMusic accompaniments.  Beginner, improver, intermediate and advanced level sheet music scores are available for many different musical instrument combinations. Music scores are written and presented in staff notation.  Free scores are also available. Many different performing styles are represented on the PlentyMusic website from early times through to classical and popular.