December 19, 2024 | Author: Dominic Nicholas | Category:Discover
6 Composers who set Ave Maria
There always been an aura of magic to the Ave Maria. Recited three times a day by committed Catholics, the text addresses itself to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is devotional and highly personal, giving the worshipper a very real sense of connection with the divine. It’s small wonder then that it has been a huge source of inspiration to composers down the centuries, resulting in some fine works of classical music. Many of these are hugely popular with our members on 8notes, but there are also a few you might not have heard of that deserve your attention. Here are our favourites.
Let’s start with the one most people think of first, the Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. The setting is so familiar, so perfect, and yet… Schubert didn’t intend his music to be used for an Ave Maria at all. It was actually part of his setting of seven songs from Walter Scott’s poem ‘The Lady of the Lake.’ The Ave Maria text was later applied to the music and has stuck ever since. We think it works really well and have 45 (and counting!) versions of it for you to choose from!
A close runner-up for the title of ‘Most famous Ave Maria,’ this piece has an even more complicated history than that of Schubert. It started life as a work by Bach, his sublime Prelude No.1 in C major from Book I of the The Well-Tempered Clavier. Over this, in 1853, French composer Charles Gounod superimposed a vocal melody, initially in French, but later, in 1859, with the Ave Maria text in Latin. Smooth, lush and subtly sophisticated, it has been popular ever since.
Not so well-known as the top two, but as captivating as either of them, this Ave Maria is not actually by baroque composer Giulio Caccini, but by modern composer Vladimir Vavilov. It was original published by the composer as an ‘anonymous’ work, the credit to Caccini being wrongly given after Vavilov’s death. Despite this the Caccini angle has stuck. The haunting effect of this piece is achieved through its use of a minor key, frequent crunchy seventh chords and that gorgeously floaty solo line.
Anton Bruckner—3 Ave Marias (1861 & 1882)
A church musician all of his life, Bruckner was also a devoted Catholic, composing a large catalogue of choral works. He wrote three lovely Ave Marias, WAB 5 (1861) for choir and organ, which is quite varied, featuring passages of counterpoint, homophony and an alto solo. There is also WAB 7 (1882) for a solo voice, which also makes a lovely piece for solo instruments. The most ravishingly lovely, however, is his WAB 6 (1861), for unaccompanied choir. A warm hug for your soul, it takes you on a journey from its angelic opening to the climatic and harmonically lush middle section and finally to a hushed close.
The Ave Maria by one of England’s finest composers, William Byrd, consists of sinewy and sophisticated counterpoint that still manages to feel light and graceful. Listening to it piece will make you feel like you’ve dropped into an ornate gothic cathedral on an autumn day.
Byrd deftly managed to navigated the trouble religious times he lived in, writing for both the Catholic and Anglican faiths. This Ave Verum forms part of his larger Catholic output, which includes other masterpieces such as his Mass for 3,4 and 5 voices.
Saint Saëns—Ave Marias (1860, 1865 & 1914)
Like Bruckner, Saint Saëns left us three lovely Ave Marias. The first was written in 1860 for two voices (but also works well for two-part choir). It features a rippling accompaniment that recalls the Bach/Gounod version. His 1865 version is for solo voice in A major. It is naive and direct in style, with a darkly contrasting minor central section. His last, Op. 145, is a mature work, written in 1914 for choir and organ. It is the loveliest of the three, a work of subtlety, restraint and sophisticated simplicity—the very essence of prayerfulness.
