Schubert: Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 3 (synthesized)

YouTube Uploaded by ScrollingMusic on Sep 5, 2011

"The third impromptu in the Op. 90 set is one of Schubert's popular and well-known works for solo piano. It is written in G-flat major and in 4/2 time, but when it was first published, the meter was changed to 4/4 and it was transposed up to G. This was done as the publishers thought the accidentals and unconventional meter would discourage students from learning the piece. However, this transposition actually made the piece more difficult to play, and spoiled the flat-key relationship between the impromptus in Op. 90. Today, most current published editions have restored the piece to its original tonality and time. The piece, featuring long melodic lines, showcases Schubert's excellent lyrical facility. Musical tension builds from the calm beginning of the piece to a climax in the middle, then relaxes again as the piece draws to a close.

This synthesized rendition and the scrolling visualization were created by our Matlab synthesizer from a MIDI file. The timbre used for this piece is a combination of two "instruments" from our synthesizer: a subtractive synthesis-based voice for the main melodic lines and an FM/additive synthesis voice (whose sound was actually created by accident) adding shimmery, swirling overtones to the mix."