Gounod, Charles François, 1818-93, French composer, studied at the Paris Conservatory and received the Grand Prix de Rome in 1839. His fame rests chiefly on his operas Faust (1859) and Romeo and Juliet (1867), marked by their richly lyrical romantic music. One other opera, Mireille (1864), had some success. His oratorios La Rédemption (1882) and Mors et Vita (1885) and his funeral cantata, Gallia (1871) are worthy of note. He spent some years in the study of theology and greatly admired the church music of Palestrina.

"Ave Maria" is a popular and much recorded mélodie.

It was composed by Charles Gounod in 1859 during the romantic era, based on the harmony and texture of J.S.Bach's Prelude No.1 in C Major from Well-Tempered Clavier Book I (BWV 846). It is a setting of the standard Latin Ave Maria text.

The piece is played calmato, perhaps at andante (walking pace). There are many different instrumentations of the Charles François Gounod version, the most popular are: violin and guitar (giving a more baroque feel), string quartet, piano solo and even trombones. Through all of these however, it maintains its familiar relaxing melody.

See also

• Ellens dritter Gesang also known as the Ave Maria by Franz Schubert.