In this arrangement from PlentyMusic of the Bach - Gounod “Ave Maria” for violin and classical guitar Gounod’s melody is played by the violinist at the higher octave whilst the Bach Prelude No.1 is played by the guitarist. There is no definitive edition of the work and there are countless melodic variants so do expect to hear the movement played differently particularly in respect to the last four bars. Gounod’s arrangement has an extra bar (bar 27) than Bach’s original Prelude in C which has a total of 35 bars. In Gounod’s arrangement the first 4 bars are repeated making it 40 bars long without a repeat. There are two guitar accompaniments currently available on the PlentyMusic website for the classical guitarist to play. The accompaniment that features in this arrangement is a transcription of Bach’s Prelude copied as literally as possible from the original J.S. Bach score although a competent guitarist may choose to edit this when it is appropriate. Rhythmically the accompaniment needs to be played on the classical guitar in an even and as controlled way as possible. There are many different interpretations of the Gounod arrangement particularly as to how the dotted notes are played and the pickup or anacrusis notes in the section from bar 23 to bar 28. Guitar accompaniments are also available as mp3 downloads playing at 63, 66, 68, 70 and 72 beats per minute (bpm). Pitch is at A = 440 hertz and the recording quality is 256kbps which will allow the recordings to be amplified and used in performances. The guitar accompaniments available in are essentially a copy of the piano accompaniment. Originally published as a Meditation on Prelude No. 1 by J. S. Bach the music appeared in 1859 with a text setting of the Latin prayer “Ave Maria” which has become widely known and performed both as an instrumental and vocal solo. Whilst Bach is a baroque composer Gounod, a French composer, known particularly for his operas belongs to the romantic period in music history. The movement is frequently performed at weddings and funerals as well as being an excellent concert piece. As this movement is so familiar to audiences performers cannot afford to even go near playing a wrong note never mind actually playing one
