Maria durch ein' Dornwald ging

🎹 Piano Challenge 2025 – 38/40: Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging - Traditional German Christmas Carol
👉 Explore my PC2025 playlist:    • Variation VIII - Ah vous dirai-je maman  #...  

For this piece, I selected the traditional German Christmas carol “Maria durch ein’ Dornwald ging,” arranged by my piano teacher Volker Söhl. His assignment inspired me to experiment with multiple instrument layers across the different verses, using my Roland RD-2000, Pianoteq 8, and Shreddage 3.

The first verse is a pure piano rendition following Volker’s arrangement. In the additional verses I added an acoustic guitar from Pianoteq, an organ from Organteq, an 80’s lead guitar from Shreddage 3 Stratus, a Jacob Collier–style choir from Kontakt 8, and a jazz organ from the Roland RD-2000. All tracks were recorded with the AKAI MPC One.

Playing with a metronome at 75 bpm worked well for most of the piece, but the ritardando at the end fell slightly out of sync across the different instruments. This turned out to be more challenging than I expected. Another area I want to improve is the balance between left and right hand, as Volker keeps reminding me that my left hand is still too loud.

The visuals were created with ChatGPT 5.1. While I like the atmosphere they create, the character consistency between scenes is something I still want to refine.

🎧 Played on my Roland RD-2000 / Pianoteq
🎼 Arrangement: Volker Söhl

0:00 Verse 1 – Piano
0:39 Verse 2 – Acoustic Guitar, Choir & Organ
1:14 Verse 3 – Lead Guitar, Choir & Jazz Organ

If you enjoy this piece, feel free to check out more from my Piano Challenge series!

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