Bach, JS; Gounod, C :: Ave Maria

Musicians Publications presents Ave Maria arranged for woodwind quartet by Bill Holcombe. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, this flexible quartet also includes an optional bass clarinet part to replace the bassoon when necessary. This arrangement is intermediate-advanced in difficulty. It includes 2 versions; one originally composed by Bach-Gounod in E-flat major and one originally composed by Franz Schubert in B-flat.

French composer Charles Gounod, is probably best known for creating a melody that eventually was to become an Ave Maria that was to be sung over Johann Sebastian Bach s 'C Major Prelude from the Well-Tempered Klavier . Fanny Mendelssohn who was the sister of the famous composer, conductor and music historian (particularly on Bach) Felix, introduced the music of Bach to Gounod, who quickly became enamored with the old music. - Jay Fishman

Schubert wrote this piece in the spring summer of 1825, with words taken from one of the poems in the epic, The Lady on the Lake by Walter Scott (1771-1832). Schubert set seven poems in this epic to music and Ave Maria was the 6th. It is a prayer of a maiden named Ellen asking for forgiveness of her father of her father s sin as she kneels down before an image of the Virgin Mary set up on the rocky hill by the lake. The German translation of the poem was made by Adam Storg. The song is written in the strophelied form consisting of three sections, with the tempo designated as lento . The quiet and pious melody in slow tempo is rendered with a piano accompaniment imitating a harp. The song moved the hearts of many people when it first appeared and Schubert loved to sing it. Today it is a world wide favorite thanks to a German violinist, AF.V. Wilhelmi (1845-1908) who arranged it as Violin Solo in C major. - The New York Symphonic Ensemble, 1991