Bach FAQ 101
The Ave Maria: Did J.S. Bach Compose the Ave Maria?..
“Hail Maria”: the Hail Maria. It was painted by Fra Angelico, an Early Italian Renaissance painter from Vicchio near Florence, between 1423 and 1424.
The Ave Maria. Was it created by the composer from Eisenach, Germany? Or did Schubert compose it? Complicated, complicated.
On a website about the famous Thomas Cantor from Leipzig, Johann Sebastian Bach, we need to dig a little deeper ... so to speak. Perhaps the reason you’re having these thoughts – and asking one of the questions above – is this: You’re familiar with the Ave Maria. Sung by Beyoncé ...
... by Helene Fischer, ...
... by Andrea Bocelli ...
... or performed by André Rieu.
Or Sarah Connor sings it.
Luciano Pavarotti performed it ...
... or even Maria Callas, when you're around 70. But still a child at heart. Okay, to the question: So this Ave Maria was initially just a text. It's just one “mix of all the ingredients” that harmonize together in the piece. But: Let's start from the very beginning..
German singer Sarah Connor: She sings it ... © Info.
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... and Paul Potts: both sing the Ave Maria. © Info..
1 The Prayer Ave Maria..
First of all, the Ave Maria is a prayer. Both words are Latin and mean “Hail Maria (... Mary).” At the same time, it is also known as the fundamental prayer of the Catholic Church, addressed to Maria, the mother of Jesus Christ. “Ave” is originally Phoenician-Punic, a language spoken in Carthage on the northern edge of Africa. And back then, it meant “Hail!” Okay, so the Hail Mary (... Hail Maria) is a prayer. A very special one..
As early as in the 11th century, the first part of this Ave Maria was recited during devotions as part of the so-called Liturgy of the Hours. It actually consists of two parts. It was not until some 500 years later that Pope Pius V added a section, namely, the plea for assistance at the hour of death..
Incidentally, the Hail Mary is one of the most frequently recited prayers in Christianity. After the Lord’s Prayer, of course. It is also part of the “Angelus” and the “Rosary.” Two distinct versions have developed: the Eastern Church version and the Western Church version. This means there are two different texts: one in Latin and one in Greek. Consequently, the German and the English translations naturally differ as well..
You can find out more here, and, above all, get a more detailed explanation, right to the point, along with plenty of additional background information about this prayer..
2 Bach Accomplishes Part 1..
Johann Sebastian Bach initially composed the first part of the piece that would later become known as “Ave Maria.” This took place around 1722. It is the Prelude in C major from the first volume of The Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach wrote it as part of a collection of didactic piano pieces that systematically explore all keys and combine musical virtuosity with compositional order..
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He too composed heavenlike music, which bases on works by Johann Sebastian Bach. But of course, there's so much more. But not? Right, the Ave Maria..
3 The Ave Maria and Charles Gounod
There is no question that what the composer Charles Gounod, that French master, added here to Johann Sebastian’s foundation, so to speak, is the best-known, indeed the most famous Ave Maria today. Just how enthusiastic Gounod was about the creativity of the Thomas Cantor and his works is demonstrated by the quote from the Frenchman about Johann Sebastian Bach (“Bach Quotes”, Part 3, roughly in the middle). You can read it by clicking on the link. By the way, Gounod added a few bars. Then he composed his own work over this melody by Johann Sebastian Bach with pinpoint precision.
This very piece of music, still completely without lyrics, is thus the work of two of the greatest composers of their time. A few years later – seven years, to be exact – it would become the “Ave Maria” as we know it today. In music and among music connoisseurs, this is referred to as a hybrid composition. “Gounod feat. Bach” is what we’d probably call it today, that just sounds cooler.
Charles Gounod, one half of the "music dream team Bach/Gounod". For the Ave Maria, as we know it today, however, it took one more artist. If we want to listen to it sung..
The Ave Maria of Bach/Gounod..
What do people mean today when they refer to Bach’s Ave Maria in the context of Classical Music? Actually … Bach’s Ave Maria doesn’t really exist at all! There are many fans of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music who, when asked whether the Ave Maria is actually his composition – or not – answer with a clear, though not entirely accurate, “No.” So: No, the Ave Maria is not from Bach. And in a way, they’re right.
At first, the piece Ave Maria, as we know it today, was not yet complete. After all, back then – in 1852, incidentally more than 100 years after Bach’s death –no one had sung it yet. Nor did anyone refer to this piece of music as the Ave Maria. What Johann Sebastian Bach and Charles Gounod had created together was initially purely instrumental. It was not until 1859 that what we now know as the Ave Maria was completed. Namely, the text – which is not particularly important to us today – was added. However, it does begin with the two words Ave Maria. This gave the entire work its name starting in 1859. The compositions by the two composers, Bach and Gounod, and finally the text, resulted in the title Ave Maria from that moment on, when publisher Jaques Léopold Heugel supplemented the melody with the well-known Latin prayer as we know it today. Nellie Melba is said to have been one of the first popular singers of the time to perform it. No one knows that name anymore today! But the artist name Enrico Caruso ... you may have heard that one before..
In André Rieu’s interpretation, it’s easy to tell what’s by Bach and what’s by Gounod. Quite simply: piano = by Johann Sebastian Bach. Violin = by Charles Gounod. It is the combination of these two pieces that gave the title “Ave Maria” its name in 1859. And today, it is performed again without lyrics as “Ave Maria.” Strangely enough, this piece was only called “Ave Maria” with the lyrics starting in 1859. However, it is still called that even when the lyrics are omitted in a performance. Just like with Rieu. Or in the Paris Metro, for example. © Info..
The Ave Maria: Our Goose Bumps in the Paris Métro ... Our Very Personal Experience..
Do not stone me now. What you experience in this little video is not of great artistic appeal. But for my wife and myself, it meant very, very much, and it was, a long time ago, like an omen to the project "Bach on Bach". Read more in the text below ...
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At the very beginning of this project "Bach über Bach" (... that is the German "Bach on Bach"), so in the year 2012, I still thought that there is actually only one picture of the genius from Eisenach, namely the oil painting by Haußmann. Rudimental the paintings of Ihle and Rentsch added. But for my project, I needed more pictures, also modern ones and at least one cool portrait. And because you do not always find what you're looking for on the Internet, and that was so important for me, we went by car to Paris to have one "own" portrait of the Thomas Cantor painted behind by a street artist right behind the church of Sacré Coeur. So far so good.
On the way to this place, we were lost in the Métro. So not like Hansel and Gretel in the forest. But we just did not get where we wanted. The orientation in the Paris metro is actually not problematic. And as we turned around the corner to one of these long tunnels, the Ave Maria sounded. Both of us thought we could not trust our ears. And if you are so busy "in the matter of Johann Sebastian" like we both were at that time then, then it is clear why we both got goosebumps. When "our artist" was almost finished with "his" performance, I noticed that I had my film camera and a tripod with me – as we wanted to film at the Montmartre, too. But initially, I did not get the idea of making a video of him.
Not really mind-minded, I asked the "musician" if he would play this piece for us again. I asked him, of course, if I could tape it, and I asked him if I could spread it on the Internet. For a small payment of course. He agreed, wondered a little, and then he "performed" the Ave Maria a second time just for us. And you are now able to watch it and to listen to it. Exclusively. In the Paris Métro. Now finally you can click above. And below is the caricature and a photo "behind the scenes". The one we finally had made.
In 1825, Franz Schubert composed a song that began with the words Ave Maria of all words. Later, other musicians arranged new versions of his composition. They called it because the first words were so much more catchy than the actual title, simply Ave Maria. With that the chaos was pre-programmed. That is why this song is also often referred to as "Schubert's Ave Maria". Schubert certainly would not have wanted that. His song was not the setting of the prayer, but his song was "The Lady at the Lake" or "Princess of the Lake". But maybe the girl's name back then was ... Maria.
A cartoon of the compositeur for my project. Johann Sebastian Bach painted on the Place du Tertre behind the confectioner church of the Sacré Coeur in Paris. For us. Released for publication, purchased with all "the whole nine yards". However, this caricature has really little to do with our "musical work of art" video in the Métro.
The making of two times Johann Sebastian Bach on the easel, one Bach on the ground. Yes, to take good photos, I give it all. Did you recognize the composer from Eisenach in Thuringia twice in the photo?
Sure, he liked to paint it for us. And of course we bought the motif with copyright, and we asked him if we could publish these pics with him. This is what we consider good manners.
It's Possible Even More Complicated
Franz Schubert composed "Ellens third chant". This was the title of the work which we now know under the name "Ave Maria" by Schubert. He composed this title already a quarter of a century before Gounod pinched into Johann Sebastian's work in 1852. Again, it is a product of several artists because it is based on the poem by Walter Scott, which first had the English name "The Lady of the Lake" and then became the German "Fräulein am See". Via a click here you just can check, but a note is important before you click. So please read the next paragraph.
Let's say you're really excited about Gaga, Bieber or Swift. Or for a star or a group, how hundreds come and disappear later. And for classical music – let's not say – not. Or actually not yet really. If this is so – and I was that way, honestly – then the Ave Maria of Johann Sebastian and of Charles and that of Franz might sound quite similar. Even I actually confused it initially.
And if now the one Ave Maria is not from the Thomas Cantor, and the other Ave Maria of Schubert is not really called Ave Maria, then there is a very nice chaos created. Hopefully, I was able to clarify this with my page on my website for you once and for all. So Ave Maria is therefore not equal to Ave Maria. So, please be careful, slippery ice!
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1 + 1 + 1: Finally the Ave Maria Comes Into Being – Finally ... After Whole Endlessly Long 150 Years
More artists now come into play. So to speak. So Gounod had composed a part of the melody, which is sung in the three following videos. But we also clearly hear the foundation of Johann Sebastian Bach. Meanwhile, a third artist has created the text. It is now possible to identify crystal clear the part of the work that Gounod has so fantastically composed. And a fourth artist performs the creative combination. 1 result, 4 artists. Just check it out. This is – as always – with a click on the links below.
Helene Fischer, a superstar in Germany, sings the Ave Maria in German. And it is not the Ave Maria of Schubert. © Info.
Paul Potts: his Ave Maria thrills "anyway". And again it is the combination of the Thuringian and the French. By the way, Paul Potts is allowed twice on this page: Who can last so long ... © Info.
Jackie Evancho: born in the year 2000 and she sings really cool. And if you want little goose bumps after her "Ave Maria", then there's an add-on: Jackie at the age of nine. © Info.
Here you get – if you like this young, cute artist – even two more performances. One, of course, is the "Ave Maria", performed by Jackie Evancho, meanwhile with 2 million clicks. And after that one more performance, when she was nine years old.
Bach/Gounod Minus JSB = Beyoncé: There Is Always Another Increase!
So, now we had the "combination Bach plus Gounod plus singer" and in the last section three singing artists. But there is a little different option, too. Let's make the performance of Beyonce are a perfect sample, briefly explained. She sings the melody that Gounod "invented", better composed. What she sings, is Gounod's art. But if you listen carefully to the background, you realize that it is not the prelude from the well-tempered piano of Johann Sebastian. In the background, there is a completely different melody. So that this version is a further development of the collaborative work begun by Johann Sebastian, which in his era was not even called Ave Maria. Here you get to Beyoncé's gig.
Beyoncé blurs Johann Sebastian completely. And yet her Ave Maria is supernatural. Even on a website about the world famous Thomas Cantor. © Info.
Your Ave Maria: Thank You So Much, JSB
Without our genius from Eisenach, Gounod would certainly not have been inspired to create his melody. And all the artists on this page would never have ever performed such works of art. So ... thank you, Johann Sebastian.
Between all the cool, hip and young artists like Gaga, Fischer & Beyoncé J.S. doesn't always want to be presented in the uncool Haußmann oil painting. But anyways, It's now and forever clarified, who actually created "The Ave Maria".
Even More Information in the Matter of "Ave Maria"
More background on the prayer Ave Maria can be found here.
A little more detailed information about the origins of the common Ave Maria here.
And whoever wants to read exactly, what's about the Ave Maria von Schubert, which is not even called "Ave Maria", may read that here.
To the pilgrimage church with the Kapuzinerkloster Ave Maria (... capuchin cloister) in Deggingen, Germany in the district of Göppingen near Stuttgart: just click on the link above.
And finally – not quite seriously – you'll "get" a community named Ave Maria in the US State of Florida. Click above.
A total of six films were produced with the title "Ave Maria" and that is between 1910, the first two were silent films, and 1956. If you are strongly interested now, you may simply click here.
More "Ave Maria" is almost simply not possible.
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