Mozart continues to amaze.  I’m not positive my interpretation is entirely right; I have some sympathy for those who want to stay in equal temperament, it’s much easier.   But play measure 37 on your piano or organ: it will not sound good.  That third in the bass, as sung, is much flatter and correctly flatter than the keyboard third. 

Score:

k618_aveverum_ex4

The descending commas in the bass voice, bar 39, may be gratuitous, but they seemed right to me. In bar 35, last beat, I chose an out of tune vertical sonority in order to keep the perfect melodic intervals perfect.

Audio:

I’m also working on Tallis, “If ye love me”: much less satisfying than Mozart. With Wolfgang, one knows that the music is great and the interpretation had better live up to it; with Thomas, one is much less sure about the quality, one has less fun interpreting, and the work begins to seem like dreary labor.