Ave Maria

Trio (TTB), TTBB, Bass & Tenor Solo a cappella

By Franz Biebl

We’ve got 7 guys who will be singing this in church the Sunday before Christmas. It honors Mary, the mother of Jesus. We’re all pretty experienced singers. The rhythms are simple and the tempo, quite gentle. The arrangement itself is astonishingly beautiful. This printed edition is very clearly...

laid out and legible.

The music is only advanced because of the Latin; this takes some work by singers not used to singing Latin and untraining of singing American English. It is a beautiful arrangement and only those not appreciating harmony will not like this. Challenging, but one of the most beautiful a capella...

pieces our group has ever done--and we sing a capella all the time. Needs to be sung for performance in a large hall to bring out it's resemblance to Gregorian chants, which this piece evinces.

The Biebl Ave Maria is quite simply the best in men's choral music. When performed with careful intonation and subtle rises and falls in phrasing, it quite simply takes your breath away. It is not as difficult as it sounds when Chanticleer does it, and can even be performed...

by a good high school choir. Arranged with a chorus and trio, it actually sounds much better if all seven parts are reasonably balanced. Too large a group can add clutter and imprecision. Keep it simple and it will result in initial silence from your audience, followed by thunderous applause and great reviews.

Piece in the old tradition, based on gregorian chant, but written in a special romantic idiom. Suitable for small groups as well as a bigger choir.

This is challenging song but very beautiful when performed with the Trio/TTBB voices.