In this arrangement of the Bach - Gounod Ave Maria from PlentyMusic for flute and classical guitar Gounod’s melody is played by the flautist while the Bach Prelude No.1 is played by the guitarist. There are two guitar accompaniments currently available on the PlentyMusic website for the classical guitarist to play. The accompaniment in this score has some of the chord voicing altered enabling it to be played essentially without moving up (or at least too far up) the fretboard. Chords are mostly played in what is described as first position incorporating the first 4 frets on the guitar with the odd exception or two. There is a TAB chart available with this score The second accompaniment is a transcription of Bach’s Prelude in as literally as possible from the original J.S. Bach score although a competent guitarist may choose to edit this where it is appropriate. This is available as a separate download. 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. 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 pick up or anacrusis notes in the section from bar 23 to bar 28. Guitar accompaniments are available 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!
