Monday 8 June 2009
Tune of the Day: Ave Maria
Melody by Charles Gounod, over a prelude by J.S. Bach
Written by French Romantic composer Charles Gounod in 1859, this Ave Maria consists of a melody superimposed over the Prelude No. 1 in C major from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846), composed by J.S. Bach some 137 years earlier. Gounod also adds one bar so as to smooth out a rough change in harmony in the prelude.
It is often performed in Christian wedding ceremonies.