November 7, 2006

Ave Maria by JS Bach

I received a note saying someone was desperately trying to find history of the JS Bach “Ave Maria” and was not finding anything online.

Bach never wrote the Ave Maria. Aha! It was Gounod that took a prelude by JS Bach, and then put a melody on top with lyrics to the Ave Maria.

JS Bach was an unwitting partner in the collaboration. Charles Gounod was a French composer who lived from 1818-1883. Read the Wikipedia Page on Charles Gounod. So google “Gounod Ave Maria” and you’ll find it readily available from most sheet music suppliers.
Here’s a bit of the music to refresh your memory:

Photo of composer Charles Gonoud

Musical settings of the Ave Maria

The Ave Maria has been set to music numerous times. Among the most famous settings is the version by Charles Gounod (1859), adding melody and words to Johann Sebastian Bach’s first prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier. AntonÃn DvoÅ™Ã¡k’s version was composed in 1877. Another setting of Ave Maria was written by Giuseppe Verdi for his 1887 opera Otello. Russian composer CÃ©sar Cui, who was raised Roman Catholic, set the text at least three times: as the “Ave Maria,” op. 34, for 1 or 2 women’s voices with piano or harmonium (1886), and as part of two of his operas: Le Flibustier (premiered 1894) and Mateo Falcone (1907).

This text was also very often set by composers in the Renaissance, including Jacques Arcadelt, Josquin Desprez, Orlando di Lasso, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Before the Council of Trent there were actually different versions of the text, so the earlier composers in the period sometimes set different versions than the ones shown above. Josquin, for example, himself set more than one version of the Ave Maria. Here is an example of a text set by Josquin which begins with the first six words above, but continues with a poem in rhymed couplets:

November 7, 2006May 1, 2007

Forum Images

Images to use on forums to express various moods. 🙂

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November 7, 2006November 7, 2006

Seussical the Musical – Last weekend to see the show

This is your last weekend to see META’s production of Seussical the Musical at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernon, WA). Shows open to the public are Thurs, Fri, Sat 7pm shows and closing Sunday 2pm matinee (November 9-12, 2006).

Many people have asked me if it’s a fun production. The answer is yes, it’s WAY fun. Our 20 piece orchestra is fantastic and it’s a blast to conduct it. So, be there or be square.

Here’s a photo of my setup for the show. I also play keyboards. My favorite setup is using three keyboard arrays in a “U” shape. I usually have one main keyboard in front so I have easy access to scores, batons, etc. For this show I just use one keyboard on either side. To my right I use a B3 replica synthesizer by Korg, and to my left is a Yamaha keyboard triggering my laptop computer. I use Kontakt by Native Instruments and program a custom sound bank for special effects and pre-show music. I think it’s much better to time the sound effects live with the action, rather than relying on compact discs. It also allows me to overly multiple effects where needed in real time. In addition to my keyboards, we have FOUR more keyboardists. Keyboard heaven!

Lighting booth at McIntyre Hall preparing cues.

A photo during tech week while setting the stage for Seussical. The hat is flown.

View of Seussical stage from the sound room. For this production we use 18 wireless microphones and an extra mixing board for a total of 40 channels between vocalists and orchestra.

Backside of the Seuss tree and added reinforcements.

Looking at the sound booth.