Ave Maria (Biebl)

Last updated
Ave Maria
Sacred motet by Franz Biebl
Illuminated human alphabet.jpg
Key C major
Text Angelus
Language Latin
Published1964 (1964)
ScoringDouble choir (different arrangements)

Ave Maria is a 1964 motet by Franz Biebl, composed for double choir, a large four-part choir and a three-part choir which can be performed by soloists. It is a setting of part of the Latin liturgical Angelus prayer, which contains the Ave Maria (Hail Mary) as a refrain. The composition was originally written for men's chorus, but the composer wrote arrangements for mixed choir and women's choir. The work and arrangements were published by Wildt's Musikverlag, first in 1964. The piece first became famous when a U.S. group, the Cornell University Glee Club, included it in their Christmas programs, and more famous when the Chanticleer ensemble made it part of their regular repertoire. It was published in the U.S. by Hinshaw and became one of the publisher's best-selling items.

Contents

History

Biebl was the organist and choir master of a parish in Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria, and of a men's chorus there, for which he composed many works and arrangements. He composed Ave Maria sometime before May 1959, when it was performed in a Maiandacht. [1] :14 It was written for men's chorus, and this version was published by Wildt's Musikverlag in 1964. [1] :15–16 However, it was not performed often, since German men's choirs generally did not perform religious music. [1] :16 On a 1970 tour in Germany, the Cornell University Glee Club from the U.S. met Biebl, who was working for the broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk and responsible for choral music. Conductor Thomas A. Sokol received several of Biebl's compositions, which he performed in the U.S. [2] When the Chanticleer vocal ensemble made Ave Maria part of their repertoire, it gained popularity. [1] :2 They first performed it in a charity event on 4 December 1989 at the City Hall in San Francisco, then presented it in subsequent Christmas concerts and included it in their tour program the next year. [1] :33 The work is now considered a standard of the choral repertoire. [1] :ii

Biebl wrote arrangements for mixed choirs in 1985 [1] :16 and 1998. [1] :17 It was published in the U.S. by Hinshaw Music [3] in 1992, [1] :2 and became one of the publisher's best-selling items, the four versions selling over 670,000 copies between 1992 and 2016. [1] :40

Text

The text is the beginning of the Latin Catholic liturgical Angelus prayer, three verses based on biblical sources, with the Ave Maria as a refrain. In Biebl's setting, the Ave Maria refrain contains only the first half of the Ave Maria prayer, the benediction of Mary and the fruit of her womb, Jesus. The second half, praying for Mary's intercession, is delivered as a conclusion, deviating slightly from the liturgical text by addressing Mary as Holy Mother twice, asking firstly for intercession with "us sinners", and secondly for "in the hour of our death", while the Ave Maria prayer combines both requests in one. The prayer is closed by Amen. [4]

LatinEnglish

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae
et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.

  Ave Maria, gratia plena,
  Dominus tecum,
  benedicta tu in mulieribus,
  et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

Maria dixit:
Ecce ancilla Domini
Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
 
  Ave Maria ...

Et verbum caro factum est
Et habitavit in nobis.

  Ave Maria ...
 
  Sancta Maria, mater Dei,
  ora pro nobis peccatoribus.
  Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis
  nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
  Amen.

The Angel of the Lord announced to Mary
And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

  Hail Mary, full of grace,
  the Lord is with thee:
  blessed art thou amongst women,
  and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
 
Mary said:
Behold the handmaiden of the Lord.
Do to me according to your word.

  Hail Mary ...

And the Word was made flesh
And dwelt among us.

  Hail Mary ...

  Holy Mary, Mother of God,
  pray for us sinners.
  Holy Mary, Mother of God,
  pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
  Amen.

Music

The original composition was in D major for men's choir, with a four-part choir TTBB and a three-part choir TTB. When it was published, it was transposed to C major. [1] :15–16 The verses from the Angelus are recited by one voice in chant-like fashion in free tempo. [4] The refrain is sung by the choirs, with the four-part choir beginning and the three-part choir following one measure later, in an alternating pattern kept throughout the piece. The final choral setting, Sancta Maria, is intensified in vocal range and dynamics, concluding in Amen set in a similar pattern. [4] The choral singing is marked once at the beginning "Ruhig fließend" (Quietly flowing), in common time. The choirs operate in different rhythm: the four-part choir begins with three quarter-notes towards a long note in the second measure, while the three-part choir begins on the first beat in measure two. [4]

Biebl wrote arrangements for SATB/SAT (in B flat major), TTBB/SAA, [1] :16 and SSAA/SSA choirs. [1] :17 The first narration from the Angelus is meant to be sung by basses, the second by second tenors, and the third by first tenors. The three-part choir can be sung by solo voices. [4]

Program note

Wilbur Skeels – who published some of Biebl's other works – prepared the following information about the piece for use in choral program notes. [5] All or parts of the information in this note are commonly cited by choirs recording or performing the piece.

Herr Biebl told me that when he was organist/choirmaster and teacher in the Fürstenfeldbruck parish near Munich he had in his church choir a fireman. It was common for companies, factories, police and fire departments, etc. to sponsor an employees' choir, which often would participate in choral competitions and festivals with other similar choirs. This fireman asked Biebl to please compose something for his fireman's choir for such an occasion. The result was the Ave Maria (double male choir version).

The piece gained practically no attention in Germany for many years. However, when Biebl was the head of choral programs for the Bayerischen Rundfunk (Bavarian Radio) he made a habit of inviting American choirs to come to Munich and sing on the radio and with other German choirs. One of these choirs was introduced to his Ave Maria and brought it back to the US, where it became increasingly popular. When Chanticleer recorded it, it became a hit, not only in the US but in Germany too, which now considered the piece must be special as it was such a hit in America! Biebl did arrangements for other voicings, and the seven-part mixed choir arrangement is now probably the most popular.

The source of the text is the thrice-daily devotional exercise called the Angelus in the Catholic Church. It is cued by the ringing of the "Angelus" bell, sometimes referred to as the "Peace Bell." It consists of a thrice-repeated "Hail Mary," each with an introductory versicle based on the Gospel, followed by a concluding versicle and prayer.

Biebl uses the source text of the traditional Angelus nearly exactly, adding the words "Maria dixit" to the beginning of the second versicle, and omitting the second half of the first two Hail Mary's. [6]

The text sung in Biebl's composition is as follows:

Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae
The Angel of the Lord announced to Mary

Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
And she conceived by the Holy Spirit.

[Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.]
[Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.]

Maria dixit:
Mary said:

Ecce ancilla Domini
Behold the handmaiden of the Lord

Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Do to me according to your word.

[Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.]
[Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.]

Et verbum caro factum est
And the Word was made flesh

Et habitavit in nobis
And dwelt among us.

[Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.]
[Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.]
[Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.]
[Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.]

According to normal practice in classical sacred composition, Biebl has not set the text of the closing versicle and prayer of the 'Angelus' to music.

Instrumental arrangements

The San Francisco Renegades [7] [8] and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps [9] arranged the work for brass band. Specifically, the San Francisco Renegades, an all-age Drum and Bugle Corps, first adapted sections of Biebl's Ave Maria in their 2003 show: "Red Skies At Night". In 2005 they played the piece as the opener to their show, "The Days of Future Past". In 2006 the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps, an International World Class Corps based in Rockford, Illinois, used the piece in its 2006 field show "Faust," further expanding awareness of Biebl's arrangement. Both drum and bugle corps continue to perform Franz Biebl's Ave Maria as part of their yearly repertoire.

Several transcriptions and arrangements of the Biebl "Ave Maria" have been written since 2010. One transcription is by Jerry Brubaker, horn player and arranger for 30 years with the US Navy Band, done after hearing the piece sung at a Navy funeral. It has been performed by the Navy Band horn section and the NIH Community Orchestra Horn Club on numerous occasions. In 2018 Triplo Press of Minneapolis, Minnesota, published an arrangement of the work by James Olcott for 12 trumpets.

Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps uses Franz Biebl's Ave Maria as their corps song.

US First Amendment litigation

In 2009–10, an arrangement of the Ave Maria for wind ensemble was the subject of litigation that reached the United States Supreme Court. At issue was whether a school district was justified in prohibiting an instrumental performance of the piece (without lyrics) at a high school graduation ceremony due to its underlying religious nature. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the school district's actions. [10] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, but Justice Samuel Alito issued a rare written opinion dissenting from the Court's decision. [11] In a footnote, Alito described Biebl's setting of the Ave Maria text as "relatively obscure" in comparison to settings by Franz Schubert, Charles Gounod, and other more well-known composers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hail Mary</span> Traditional Catholic prayer

The Hail Mary or Angelical salutation is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary and Mary's subsequent visit to Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. It is also called the Angelical Salutation, as the prayer is based on the Archangel Gabriel's words to Mary. The Hail Mary is a prayer of praise for and of petition to Mary, regarded as the Theotokos. Since the 16th century, the version of the prayer used in the Catholic Church closes with an appeal for her intercession. The prayer takes different forms in various traditions and has often been set to music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vespers</span> Sunset evening prayer liturgy

Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran liturgies. The word for this prayer time comes from the Latin vesper, meaning "evening".

Ave verum corpus is a short Eucharistic chant that has been set to music by many composers. It dates to the 13th century, first recorded in a central Italian Franciscan manuscript. A Reichenau manuscript of the 14th century attributes it to Pope Innocent

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelus</span> Christian devotion

The Angelus is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ. As with many Catholic prayers, the name Angelus is derived from its incipit—the first few words of the text: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ. The devotion is practised by reciting as versicle and response three Biblical verses narrating the mystery, alternating with the prayer "Hail Mary". The Angelus exemplifies a species of prayers called the "prayer of the devotee".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ave Maria (Schubert)</span> 1825 song by Franz Schubert

"Ellens dritter Gesang", in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Op. 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's 1810 popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regina caeli</span> Medieval hymn to Mary, mother of Jesus

"Regina caeli" is a musical antiphon addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is used in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church during the Easter season, from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. During this season, it is the Marian antiphon that ends Compline and it takes the place of the traditional thrice-daily Angelus prayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salve Regina</span> Medieval Catholic hymn to Mary, mother of Jesus

The "Salve Regina", also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. The Hail Holy Queen is also the final prayer of the Rosary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O magnum mysterium</span> Religious text for Christmas

O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas.

The Ave Maria is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus.

Franz Xaver Biebl was a German composer of classical music. Most of his compositions were for choral ensembles.

Dominic of Prussia was a Carthusian monk and ascetical writer. He is credited with a popular early form of the Rosary which focused on meditation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic devotions</span> Catholic traditions

Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as "expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one's own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ". Devotions are not considered part of liturgical worship, even if they are performed in a church or led by a priest, but rather they are paraliturgical. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feast of the Annunciation</span> Celebration commemorating the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Annunciation, in Greek, Ο Ευαγγελισμός της Θεοτόκου, contemporarily the Solemnity of the Annunciation, and also called Lady Day, the Feast of the Incarnation, or Conceptio Christi, commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is celebrated on 25 March each year. In the Catholic Church, if 25 March falls during Holy Week, it is transferred forward to the first suitable day during Eastertide. In Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism, it is never transferred, even if it falls on Pascha (Easter). The concurrence of these two feasts is called Kyriopascha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)</span> Composition by Bach and Gounod

"Ave Maria" is a popular and much-recorded setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria, originally published in 1853 as "Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach". The piece consists of a melody by the French Romantic composer Charles Gounod that he superimposed over an only very slightly changed version of Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV 846, from Book I of his The Well-Tempered Clavier, 1722. The 1853 publication has French text, but it is the 1859 version with the Latin Ave Maria which became popular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Hail Marys</span> Roman Catholic Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Three Hail Marys are a traditional Roman Catholic devotional practice of reciting Hail Marys as a petition for purity and other virtues. Believers recommend that it be prayed after waking in the morning, and before going to bed. This devotion has been recommended by SS. Anthony of Padua, Alphonsus Liguori, John Bosco and Leonard of Port Maurice. Two saints, Mechtilde and Gertrude the Great, are said to have received revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary regarding this practice.

Rihards Dubra is a Latvian composer. Many of his works are religiously influenced, including a Te Deum and an Alma Redemptoris Mater for soprano saxophone, choir, and organ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church</span> Roman Catholic veneration of Mary

The veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church encompasses various devotions which include prayer, pious acts, visual arts, poetry, and music devoted to her. Popes have encouraged it, while also taking steps to reform some manifestations of it. The Holy See has insisted on the importance of distinguishing "true from false devotion, and authentic doctrine from its deformations by excess or defect". There are significantly more titles, feasts, and venerative Marian practices among Roman Catholics than in other Western Christian traditions. The term hyperdulia indicates the special veneration due to Mary, greater than the ordinary dulia for other saints, but utterly unlike the latria due only to God.

Roger Rossi is an American pianist, accompanist, vocalist, bandleader, published author and composer born Roger Rossitto, in Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of concert violinist Vincent Rossitto, who graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Bellini in Palermo, Sicily and performed on many of the great stages of Italy including Teatro Massimo.

<i>Ave Maria</i> (Bruckner)

Ave Maria, WAB 6, is a sacred motet by Anton Bruckner, a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria. He composed it in Linz in 1861 and scored the short work in F major for seven unaccompanied voices. The piece, sometimes named an Offertorium, was published in Vienna in 1867. Before, Bruckner composed the same prayer in 1856 for soprano, alto, a four-part mixed choir, organ and cello, WAB 5. Later, he set the text in 1882 for a solo voice (alto) and keyboard, WAB 7.

<i>Ave Maria</i>, WAB 5

Ave Maria, WAB 5, is a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria by Anton Bruckner.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Oltman, Matthew (July 2017). The Iconic One-Hit Wonder: The History and Reception of Franz Biebl's Ave Maria . Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  2. Michael Slon, Songs from the Hill – A History of the Cornell University Glee Club.
  3. "Ave Maria". Hinshaw Music. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Ave Maria (Angelus Domini) (in German). Dortmund: Wildt's Musikverlag. 1964.
  5. ChoralNet Forums Archived 23 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (visited 5 March 2012). Wilbur Skeels (1938–2011) was a pastor, accompanist, composer, and music publisher who knew Biebl and published some of his works through Skeels' Cantus Quercus Press. See H. Wilbur Skeels online obituary (visited 5 March 2012) and Cantus Quercus Press (visited 5 March 2012 – website now largely defunct, except for downloadable catalog with section on Biebl's works)
  6. https://theangelusprayer.com/angelus-prayer/
  7. "2003 Renegades VHS". renegades.org. 2003. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  8. "More California Drum Corps Events". worldofpageantry.com. 11 June 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  9. Blair, Tom; Clark, Jeff; Drum and Bugle Corps; Santa Clara Vanguard (2006), Drum Corps International 2006 world championships, August 8-12, Madison, Wisconsin. Volume 1, Drum Corps International, OCLC   150686042 , retrieved 2019-12-11
  10. Nurre v. Whitehead, 580 F.3d 1087 (9th Cir. 2009), available at https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16640877058818770540
  11. 130 S. Ct. 1937 (2010), available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-671.pdf Archived 27 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine