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E-SCORE PDF VERSION
Ave Maria is a very simple, very internalised prayer for four female voice lines. (These may be solo or choral - perhaps the musical ideal would be a small choir.)
The chording (or harmony, to use a technical term) aims for simplicity, marked by a feeling of "expanded tonality" or of modality, as well as by an ever-present fondness for dissonance. Furthermore, there is an absence of brutality or vocal outbursts, the dynamics remain gentle throughout (from "pp" to "mf"). The melody proceeds by small intervals, in the spirit of confident entreaty that is implied by the text. Short passages of vocalise underline certain essential words ("peccatoribus", "mortibus", "ora").
Some moments of silence at the end of this short piece accentuate the earnestness of the prayer. The final "Amen" is in the form of an imperfect cadence, only partially resolved.
