This ever-popular piece is often performed at weddings, funerals and many other solemn

ceremonial events. It has always been a favorite among instrumental players and often used in

recitals or concert encores. In 1853, the well-known French composer Charles Gounod added his

own melody over a rippling keyboard accompaniment which was a slightly adapted version of the

Prelude No. 1 in C major, BWV846, from Book I of J. S. Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier,

published in 1722. The title of the “combined” piece was Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de

Piano de S. Bach. Gounod’s original arrangement transposed Bach’s keyboard part from C major

into F major and it was scored for violin (or cello), organ and piano. In 1859, the French

music publishing company Jacques-Léopold Heugel brought out a vocal version based on the

familiar Latin text. Ave Maria (Hail Mary) is a traditional Catholic prayer addressed to the

Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The version of Bach's prelude which Gounod used included the so-called "Schwencke measure" (m.

27 in this arrangement), a measure (bar) allegedly added by the German composer and pianist

Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke (1767-1822) in an attempt to correct what was considered

a harmonic weakness in the original. Whether there actually was a “harmonic weakness” (or

possibly an error in the manuscript) remains a matter of conjecture but the fact remains that

the most familiar-sounding version of this piece, recorded countless times by both singers and

instrumentalists includes this Schwencke measure. It is therefore included in this arrangement.
Some published arrangements show minor inconsistencies in the rhythm of the melody. This

arrangement uses the familiar rhythm of the Ave Maria version as it appeared in the 1859

edition.