Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)

Lore & Background

The piece is a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria, first published in 1853. It combines a melody by the French Romantic composer Charles Gounod with a slightly altered version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of *The Well-Tempered Clavier* (1722). Gounod improvised the melody, which was transcribed by his future father-in-law, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman. The 1853 publication featured the melody for solo violin, but the 1859 version arranged for voice with the Latin text became the popular standard. The prelude used by Gounod includes an inserted measure after the original twenty-second, known as the “Schwencke measure,” added by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke to correct what was mistakenly thought to be a faulty harmonic progression, though such progressions were typical in Bach’s music. The composition is a study in harmony built on broken chords; Gounod used the first four measures as a prelude, repeating them for the voice’s first entry. At the Schwencke measure, the voice repeats the word “Maria!” expressively. Gounod added a *Moderato* tempo marking, pedal markings for the pianist, and dynamic markings. Alongside Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” this piece became a fixture at funerals, weddings, and quinceañeras. It has been arranged for many instruments, including violin and guitar, string quartet, piano solo, cello, and trombone. Opera singers such as Nellie Melba, Franco Corelli, and Luciano Pavarotti, as well as choirs, recorded it hundreds of times during the twentieth century. Later, Gounod composed an unrelated setting for four-part SATB choir. Notable recordings include one by castrato Alessandro Moreschi in the early 1900s, a version by Richard Clayderman on his 1980 album *Les Musiques de l’amour*, a performance by Noa (Achinoam Nini) for Pope John Paul II in 1994, a cover by synthpop duo Erasure in 2003, and a rendition by Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin used as the main theme for the 2017 film *The Square*. The piece also recurs as a theme in Disney’s *A Christmas Carol* (2009).

Reader's Guide

The piece originated from a melody Charles Gounod improvised, which was then transcribed by his future father-in-law, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman. In 1853, Zimmerman arranged the melody for violin or cello with piano and harmonium, and it was first published with words from a poem by Alphonse de Lamartine. The familiar Latin text of the “Ave Maria” prayer was added for a version published in 1859. Gounod’s melody was superimposed over a slightly altered version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C major from Book I of *The Well-Tempered Clavier*. The version of Bach’s prelude used includes an extra measure after the original twenty-second, known as the “Schwencke measure,” which was inserted by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke to correct what was mistakenly thought to be a faulty harmonic progression, though such progressions were standard in Bach’s music. Gounod treated Bach’s prelude, a study in broken-chord harmony, as a foundation, repeating its first four measures as a prelude before the voice enters. To the inserted Schwencke measure, the voice sings a repeated, expressive “Maria!” Gounod also added tempo, pedal, and dynamic markings. The piece has been recorded hundreds of times, including by the castrato Alessandro Moreschi in the early 1900s, and has appeared in films such as *The Square* and Disney’s *A Christmas Carol*.

Did You Know?

• Alessandro Moreschi, one of the last castrato singers, performed 'Ave Maria' on recordings in the early 1900s.