I was BLOWN AWAY when I discovered this choral piece... Has anyone performed this before
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Ave Maria - Jacob Arcadelt

    I was struck with how ahead of its time this piece sounds. It doesn't sound like anything else I have performed from this period. A hidden gem in my opinion!

    Matt Curtis
    ChoralTracks.com
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    It's a good old chestnut, normally my choir sings it annually. But with more forward drive, arsis and thesis inflections, like this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pZba9igpsM
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    I should add that the Arcadelt has come to be associated, in my aural networks, with Stravinsky's setting:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6GTdcUeIug
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Bravo! Beautifully done.

    Yeah, it struck me as being similar to Franz Biebl's setting in some ways. I wonder if he was influenced by it. I think that my bias to performing the Biebl 50 times a year caused me to interpret the Arcadelt that way. I like your interpretation very much too, however.

    Matt Curtis
    ChoralTracks.com
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,092
    I should clarify, my choir is not featured above. It's just that I chose a handy example.
  • SamuelDorlaque
    Posts: 318
    I believe the "Ave Maria" text was attached to this Chanson in the 19th century. Even Liszt wrote an "Ave Maria zum
    Arcadelt" for organ. What I don't know, though, is whether the good Abbe had a hand in the adaptation.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    Yes, I wonder about the authenticity of this piece actually. Is there any scholarship on this?
  • Jeffrey MorseJeffrey Morse
    Posts: 203
    I love this Ave Maria.... Nothing brings me back to Catholic school years more than this piece, #200b(I'm pretty sure, unless memory fails me)from the St Gregory's hymnal. It was featured in the opening credits of the film TRUE CONFESSIONS from the early 80's. You can hear it at the :55 mark here- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPjcBl48dwU&feature=related This was part of the "soundtrack" for High Masses from my earliest memories- that is, until the Kumbaya years.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,192
    The Arcadelt is an arrangement by Louis Dietsch (1808-1865) of Arcadelt's 3-part chanson "Nous voyon que les hommes" (1554, for female voices) - in particular the bass line is entirely due to Dietsch. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful adaptation. there are several editions of the Ave Maria available at CPDL.
    archadelt_nous_voyons_que_les_hommes.pdf
    33K
    Arcadelt_-_Ave_Maria.pdf
    66K
  • Patricia Cecilia
    Posts: 400
    Straight out of the good old St. Gregory...the version of the Arcadelt/Dietrich arranged by Fr. Montani as well as "Cor Jesu, salus in te sperantium" (another real gem) were two of the first three pieces we learned as a schola right after we formed. There are some real gems in that book!

    (The third piece was the Victoria "Genitori, Genitoque" with the first verse (Tantum ergo) in chant before it.)
    Schultes Cor Jesu, salus in te sperantium.pdf
    63K
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    It's one of the Ave Marias in The Catholic Choirbook Anthology 1. Very popular piece. It has suffered over the years by people singing very short phrases and breathing and slowing down before taking the breaths. Matthew's interest may resurrect it!
  • AngelaRAngelaR
    Posts: 319
    Hooray for free editions!!! I've been planning to teach this piece to my children's choir for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. :)
  • mjcurtis
    Posts: 62
    Very interesting everyone! Thanks for all of the info.

    Matt Curtis
    ChoralTracks.com
  • francis
    Posts: 10,817
    We all love this setting!
  • Mark P.
    Posts: 248
    I performed the Ave Maria of Arcadelt many, many times. We used the Arista edition, which was supposed to be Dietsch's original arrangement.
  • Steve CollinsSteve Collins
    Posts: 1,022
    The St. Gregory Hymnal version works very well also as simply a congregational hymn. We often use it for the Offfertory hymn at Marian EF Low Masses.
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,232
    I have it in McLaughlin & Reilly motet book, SATB.

    If you uptempo it a bit, the phrasing is much easier for singers to accomplish.
  • marajoymarajoy
    Posts: 783
    mjcurtis-
    yes, I've definitely always thought that the Biebl is reminiscent of it!
  • Blaise
    Posts: 439
    Arcadelt Ave Maria----

    Excellent piece, though we sing it SATB instead. On that note, I'll admit, that the TTB version you posted was a little hard for me to discern, since as I have just noted, we sing it SATB instead.

    That being said, we also use the Arcadelt tune to "O Lord our God to Thee, do we lift up our Soul (?)".
  • Patricia Cecilia
    Posts: 400
    Matt and Marajoy--I've always thought that both the Biebl and "Finlandia" sound much like it...hmm...

    We've become accustomed to the St. G version with the full text, but without the over-the-top Romantic dynamics!
  • francis
    Posts: 10,817
    st. g rox
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