Ave

Description

for string quartet

by Dante Muscas

The first notes of the song want to recall the word “Ave” pronounced by the Angel Gabriel in the Annunciation. Sounds that repeat lightly and sweetly, like an echo, which in the eighth and ninth bars change into a very short ascending melody, imagining the celestial name of Mary.

The piece starts in a minor key to highlight Maria’s initial disorientation, with the violins gently clashing in an insistent dissonance as if they wanted to stop time: that moment that surprises and amazes, and at the same time arouses an inner joy in the Mother of God.

Perform these first eight measures very delicately and as if in contemplation.

The harmonic succession from the 12th to the 15th bar in a major key aims to highlight the phrase “Full of Grace”.

Play this part with enthusiasm and tonal clarity

Subsequently, the melodic-harmonic progression from bar. 16 to 29 are intended to remember the phrase “You are blessed among all women”.

The pianissimo of bars 23, 24, 25 must be performed with one sound

“impalpable”; the crescendo and cadences from the bar. 25 at bar. 34 must be performed with a lot of enthusiasm.

From the bar. 34 at bar. 45 the quartet, performing a gradual diminuendo that brings it back to the initial situation, slowly summarizes an almost contemplative sound.

In the second part, although appearing similar to the first, the harmonic procedures develop above all in a major key and with different cadences of deception, to create a positive atmosphere, imagining Mary who finally understands the special mission to which she is called and explodes in an irrepressible inner joy. The final part of the song recalls the initial one, as Mary, although aware of God’s gift, leaves her shaken by the great responsibility entrusted to her.

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