Ave Maria |
Now available on Sheet Music Plus!
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for SATB choir with soprano solo, a cappella
Duration: ~3'
Premiere: May 1, 2016 by San Francisco Choral Artists; Magen Solomon, director, SFCM's 10th Biennial Choral Composition Competition, San Francisco, CA
Program Note:
Being a non-religious person, I’ve always enjoyed the idea of setting well-known sacred texts. As this was my first attempt at setting a sacred text, I felt a creative license by choosing something as popular as “Ave Maria.” Because of all the different renditions by Schubert, Gounod, Biebl, and others, I had no specific attachment to any of these predecessors. I often feel that most poetry doesn’t lend me this flexibility to explore musical tastes because of a particular emotional attachment we create as readers.
My setting takes on a ternary form built around the prayer’s three sentences (“Ave Maria…”, “Benedicta…”, “Sancta Maria…”). As I am always inspired by jazz harmony, I primarily use a pandiatonic palette with brief modulations. My intention was to develop a harmonic language that fuses choral music with inflections of jazz without overtly drawing from it.
Duration: ~3'
Premiere: May 1, 2016 by San Francisco Choral Artists; Magen Solomon, director, SFCM's 10th Biennial Choral Composition Competition, San Francisco, CA
Program Note:
Being a non-religious person, I’ve always enjoyed the idea of setting well-known sacred texts. As this was my first attempt at setting a sacred text, I felt a creative license by choosing something as popular as “Ave Maria.” Because of all the different renditions by Schubert, Gounod, Biebl, and others, I had no specific attachment to any of these predecessors. I often feel that most poetry doesn’t lend me this flexibility to explore musical tastes because of a particular emotional attachment we create as readers.
My setting takes on a ternary form built around the prayer’s three sentences (“Ave Maria…”, “Benedicta…”, “Sancta Maria…”). As I am always inspired by jazz harmony, I primarily use a pandiatonic palette with brief modulations. My intention was to develop a harmonic language that fuses choral music with inflections of jazz without overtly drawing from it.
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Text:
Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen. 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 in the hour of our death. Amen. |
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