"Ave Maria" is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria, originally published in 1853 as "Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach".[1] The piece consists of a melody by the French Romantic composer Charles Gounod that he superimposed over an only very slightly changed version of Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of his The Well-Tempered Clavier, 1722. The 1853 publication has French text, but it is the 1859 version with the Latin Ave Maria which became popular.
Gounod improvised the melody, and his future father-in-law Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann transcribed the improvisation[2] and in 1853 made an arrangement for violin (or cello) with piano and harmonium. The same year it appeared with the words of Alphonse de Lamartine's poem Le livre de la vie ("The Book of Life").[3] In 1859, Jacques-Léopold Heugel published a version with the familiar Latin text. The version of Bach's prelude used by Gounod includes the "Schwencke measure" (m.23), a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a "faulty" progression, even though this sort of progression was standard in Bach's music.[4]
Alongside Schubert's "Ave Maria", the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria" has become a fixture at funerals, wedding Masses, and quinceañeras. There are many different instrumental arrangements including for violin and guitar, string quartet, piano solo, cello, and even trombones. Opera singers, such as Nellie Melba, Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti, as well as choirs have recorded it hundreds of times during the twentieth century.
Later in his career, Gounod composed an unrelated setting of Ave Maria for a four-part SATB choir.
Compositionedit
Ave Maria
Arrangement for cello and piano, performed by John Michel
Ave Maria
Arrangement for violin and piano (1st time) and voice, violin and piano (2nd time), performed prior to 1930
Gounod based the work on Bach's prelude, which is a study in harmony in broken chords. He used the first four measure for a prelude, repeating them for the first entry of the voice. He used Bach's composition, in the version with an inserted measure after the original 22, the so-called Schwencke-measure which was common at the time. To this measure, the voice has a repeated expressive "Maria!". He added a tempo marking, Moderato, pedal markings for the pianist, and dynamic markings.
^"[Méditation sur le 1er prélude de piano de S. Bach. CG 89a". Bibliothèque nationale de France Catalogue Général. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
^"La musique religieuse de Charles Gounod". Musica et memoria (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2014.
^"Score: Gounod Bach". Gallica. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
^Barber, Elinore (1970). "Questions to the editor". Bach. 1 (1): 19–22. JSTOR 41639775.
^"Noa performs Ave Maria at Vatican City with Pope John Paul II (1994) | Performing for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican all those years ago, the first Jews to ever do so, was a life-changing moment for Gil Dor and myself.... | By Noa (Achinoam Nini)", Facebook, retrieved 2023-12-29
^"Erasure - Solsbury Hill Album Reviews, Songs & More", AllMusic.com, retrieved 2023-12-29
^"Yo-Yo Ma Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-12-29.
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Ave Maria is a popular and much recorded setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria originally published in 1853 as Meditation sur le Premier Prelude de Piano de S Bach 1 The piece consists of a melody by the French Romantic composer Charles Gounod that he superimposed over an only very slightly changed version of Bach s Prelude No 1 in C major BWV 846 from Book I of his The Well Tempered Clavier 1722 The 1853 publication has French text but it is the 1859 version with the Latin Ave Maria which became popular Ave MariaArt song by Bach GounodCharles Gounod in 1859Native nameMeditation sur le Premier Prelude de Piano de S BachKeyC majorTextAve MariaLanguageLatinBased onBach s Prelude No 1 BWV 846Published1853 1853 French text 1859 1859 Latin text Scoringvoicepiano Contents 1 History 2 Composition 3 Recordings 4 References 5 External linksHistory editGounod improvised the melody and his future father in law Pierre Joseph Guillaume Zimmermann transcribed the improvisation 2 and in 1853 made an arrangement for violin or cello with piano and harmonium The same year it appeared with the words of Alphonse de Lamartine s poem Le livre de la vie The Book of Life 3 In 1859 Jacques Leopold Heugel published a version with the familiar Latin text The version of Bach s prelude used by Gounod includes the Schwencke measure m 23 a measure allegedly added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke in an attempt to correct what he or someone else erroneously deemed a faulty progression even though this sort of progression was standard in Bach s music 4 Alongside Schubert s Ave Maria the Bach Gounod Ave Maria has become a fixture at funerals wedding Masses and quinceaneras There are many different instrumental arrangements including for violin and guitar string quartet piano solo cello and even trombones Opera singers such as Nellie Melba Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti as well as choirs have recorded it hundreds of times during the twentieth century Later in his career Gounod composed an unrelated setting of Ave Maria for a four part SATB choir Composition edit nbsp Ave Maria source source Arrangement for cello and piano performed by John MichelAve Maria source source source Arrangement for violin and piano 1st time and voice violin and piano 2nd time performed prior to 1930 Problems playing these files See media help Gounod based the work on Bach s prelude which is a study in harmony in broken chords He used the first four measure for a prelude repeating them for the first entry of the voice He used Bach s composition in the version with an inserted measure after the original 22 the so called Schwencke measure which was common at the time To this measure the voice has a repeated expressive Maria He added a tempo marking Moderato pedal markings for the pianist and dynamic markings Recordings editAlessandro Moreschi one of the last castrato singers performed Ave Maria and several other pieces on recordings for the Gramophone amp Typewriter Company in the early 1900s Noa Achinoam Nini performed her own lyrics for Ave Maria for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1994 5 In 2003 synthpop duo Erasure did a cover of the song which was released as a B side to their Solsbury Hill single 6 A rendition by Yo Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin from their album Hush was used as the main theme in the 2017 Palme d Or winning Swedish film The Square 7 The piece also features as a recurring theme during Disney s A Christmas Carol 2009 References edit Meditation sur le 1er prelude de piano de S Bach CG 89a Bibliotheque nationale de France Catalogue General Bibliotheque nationale de France Retrieved 28 October 2022 La musique religieuse de Charles Gounod Musica et memoria in French Retrieved 5 October 2014 Score Gounod Bach Gallica Retrieved 5 October 2014 Barber Elinore 1970 Questions to the editor Bach 1 1 19 22 JSTOR 41639775 Noa performs Ave Maria at Vatican City with Pope John Paul II 1994 Performing for Pope John Paul II in the Vatican all those years ago the first Jews to ever do so was a life changing moment for Gil Dor and myself By Noa Achinoam Nini Facebook retrieved 2023 12 29 Erasure Solsbury Hill Album Reviews Songs amp More AllMusic com retrieved 2023 12 29 Yo Yo Ma Songs Albums Reviews Bio amp More AllMusic Retrieved 2023 12 29 External links editAve Maria Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Free sheet music for voice and piano on Cantorion org Free scores of the Ave Maria in the Choral Public Domain Library ChoralWiki Free scores of the SATB setting of the Ave Maria in the Choral Public Domain Library ChoralWiki Portal nbsp Classical Music Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ave Maria Bach Gounod amp oldid 1219122119, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
