Ave Maria (Biebl)
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Ave Maria is a 1964
motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...
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 FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...
prayer, which contains the
Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...
(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.


History

Biebl was the organist and choir master of a parish in
Fürstenfeldbruck Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, 32 kilometres west of Munich. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base. Geography F ...
, 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. It was written for men's chorus, and this version was published by Wildt's Musikverlag in 1964. However, it was not performed often, since German men's choirs generally did not perform religious music. 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 (; "Bavarian Broadcasting"), shortened to BR (), is a public broadcasting, public-service radio and television broadcaster, based in Munich, capital city of the Bavaria, Free State of Bavaria in Germany. BR is a member organization of the ARD (b ...
and responsible for choral music. Conductor Thomas A. Sokol received several of Biebl's compositions, which he performed in the U.S. When the Chanticleer vocal ensemble made ''Ave Maria'' part of their repertoire, it gained popularity. They first performed it in a charity event on 4 December 1989 at the
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
in San Francisco, then presented it in subsequent Christmas concerts and included it in their tour program the next year. The work is now considered a standard of the choral repertoire. Biebl wrote arrangements for mixed choirs in 1985 and 1998. It was published in the U.S. by Hinshaw Music in 1992, and became one of the publisher's best-selling items, the four versions selling over 670,000 copies between 1992 and 2016.


Text

The text is the beginning of the Latin
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
liturgical
Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...
prayer, three verses based on biblical sources, with the
Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...
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.


Music

The original composition was in
D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
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 C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
. The verses from the Angelus are recited by one voice in chant-like fashion in free tempo. 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. The choral singing is marked once at the beginning "Ruhig fließend" (Quietly flowing), in
common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...
. 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. Biebl wrote arrangements for SATB/SAT (in B flat major which is probably the most popular), TTBB/SAA, and SSAA/SSA choirs. Aside from the TTBB/SAA arrangement, the three-part choir can be sung by a trio of voices.


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. All or parts of the information in this note are commonly cited by choirs recording or performing the piece. 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. 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. 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.'' : ve 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.'' : ve 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.'' : ve 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.'' : ancta 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 and the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps 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 The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
. 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 The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * Distric ...
upheld the school district's actions. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, but Justice
Samuel Alito Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. ( ; born April 1, 1950) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was Samuel Alito Supreme Court ...
issued a rare written opinion dissenting from the Court's decision.130 S. Ct. 1937 (2010), ''available'' at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/09-671.pdf In a footnote, Alito described Biebl's setting of the ''Ave Maria'' text as "relatively obscure" in comparison to settings by
Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
,
Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...
, and other more well-known composers.


References


External links

*
Index of Biebl's principal works
(Archive from 16 July 2011)
The Fascinating Backstory on Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria"
behind-the-music.com *
Ave Maria-Franz Biebl–Cornell University Glee Club's 150th anniversary performance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ave Maria Biebl Compositions by Franz Biebl 1964 compositions Motets Marian hymns