The French composer Charles Gounod published what we now know as Ave Maria in 1853 as Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach. Gounod composed the melody and superimposed it over Prelude #1 in C Major from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, written 137 years earlier.
The words that generally accompany the song are the complete Catholic prayer called Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or in Latin, Ave Maria.
Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum,
Benedicta tu in mulieribus Et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.
Sancta Maria, sancta Maria, Maria, Ora pro nobis, nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae
Amen, amen.
And here is the English translation:
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen, amen.
A few years ago, one of the songs I was learning was Bach’s Prelude #1 in C Major, right before I needed to start working on the next track for my musical Christmas card that I did every year. That, together with listening to the excellent Carpenter’s version of this song prompted me to choose it.
You can get (or hear) the album at:
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
- CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
- Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188
It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.
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