Student’s Guide to

Ave Maria

 

By Franz Schubert

Arr. Frank Ticheli

 

Created by Amanda Jolly

 

Kansas State University

Dr. Frederick Burrack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Goals and Objectives of this unit:

 

1. To give you, the student, a basic background about Franz Schubert, the original composer of Ave Maria.

2. To give you a good idea of the history of the Catholic Church in connection with one of the most famous cathedrals in the world, Notre Dame.

3. To give you a firm understanding of the different rhythmic elements used in this piece and how those rhythms are associated with the melodic and harmonic structure.

4. You should be able to recognize where the melody is located in the piece and who is playing it.

5. You should be able to represent the melodic shape by drawing the general form of the melody.

6. You should recognize the two types of cadences discussed below and be able to compose three simple melodies using the information provided.

7. Notate the form given to you in your music

8. Prepare the material in the “Practice Guide” section, and be able to successfully complete a playing test.

9. Develop your aesthetic awareness of the piece by visually and orally stating what and how it makes you feel.

10. Correctly define the terms given to you in the “Terminology” section and know where those terms occur in your music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Composer Information: Franz Schubert was a prolific composer in the early 1800’s whose works remain standard in the repertoire today. For more information about Franz Schubert, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Schubert to help you answer some of the following questions:

 

1. Franz Schubert was an _______ composer. He was born in ______.

 

2.Franz Schubert was a composer during the ________ Era, which lasted from ____ to ____? (What years)

 

3. Franz Schubert composed over 600 of these types of pieces, for which he is best known for.

 

4. Schubert’s formal music instruction began around the age of 5 or 6. What was the first instrument he learned how to play, and who was his teacher?

 

5. What is Schubert’s famous symphony called?

 

Composition: Ave Maria is a Catholic prayer, sung in Latin, as a hymn to Virgin Mary. The prayer itself has existed since the mid 1400’s. Franz Schubert, a Romantic composer, wrote the most well-known musical setting of the hymn in 1825. The original text for Schubert’s piece, called The Hymn to the Virgin, is a German translation which comes from Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady in the Lake. In Scott’s poem, Ellen Douglas, the daughter of powerful Highland clan leader Lord Douglas, sings this prayer to the Virgin before a battle with Scotland’s King James V, asking for her protection.

 

Ave Maria, gratia plena,

Dominus tecum.

 

Benedicta tu in mulieribus

et benedictus fructus ventris tui,

Jesus.

 

Sancta Maria,

Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatoribus

nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.

Amen.

 

*As part of your WebQuest project, you will find an English translation of the text, which is why a translation is not provided here. To hear this piece sung, click here:

 

Historical Background and Cultural Context: The historical and cultural context for this piece is found in the WebQuest. Click on the link to visit the WebQuest page: http://questgarden.com/51/31/1/070508001628/

Rhythm: The following rhythms are important for you to know and recognize. In general, quarter notes and half notes should grow in intensity, and eighth notes or shorter notes need to grow as well.

 

 

These rhythms will be studied in class, especially the example in 3/8 time. You will be expected to know how to count them and sing them as a class. Once the whole class can recognize who plays these rhythms and when, it will be easy to pick out who is playing the melody, countermelody, etc.

 

Melody: You should be able to answer the following questions about the melody.

 

1. From the rhythm examples given above with A being the first line, B the second line, C the dotted rhythms or D the 3/8 example, which one contains the opening melodic line?

 

2. As discussed in class, who plays Melody A in the opening phrase of the piece (after the introduction)?

 

3. Now look at the sheet attached to this unit that contains the melody transposed for your instrument. Draw the shape of the melody using the form provided for you underneath. You can use any sort of line or curve you want-use whatever best represents the melody to you. Just make sure that your drawing matches the melody (ex. the high point of your drawing represents the high point in the melody).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melodic form drawing:

Directions: Each box represents a measure of Melody A, which occurs from measures 5-16. Draw the shape of the melody in the boxes using your transposed melody sheet. Make your decisions based off of the dynamic markings AND the note direction.

 

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

 

 

Now do the same thing for Melody B, which occurs from measures 17-25. Use your melody sheet.

 

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

 

 

 

Harmony: Often in music, we talk about cadence points. The most common type of cadence is the dominant (V) to tonic (I), also known as a perfect authentic cadence (PAC). There are several PAC’s throughout the piece. Another type of cadence found in this piece is the plagal cadence (PC) which involves a subdominant (IV) to tonic (I) progression.

 

*In the concert key of Bb Major, write out the notes to the following chord progressions. In the case of an inversion, write what the bottom note of the chord would be in that inversion.

 

1. I-V-I                        ______ ______ ______

 

2. I-IV-V-I                  ______ ______ ______ ______

 

3. I-V-vi-ii6-V-I          ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

 

Now for each of these chord progressions, compose a simple melody using the notes you just wrote above in the concert key of Bb Major. Make sure the first note in every measure begins with the note in the chord progression-so your first melody will have three measures, the second melody will have four measures, and the third melody will have six measures. For example, your first melody could look something like this:  

 

You can’t use this melody for your first example, but it should give you a good idea of how to complete this part of your unit.

 

We will talk more about this in class, but for right now, here are a couple more things you need to be aware of.

 

-The main cadence points occur in measures 8-9, 16-17, 24-25, 34-35, 41-42, 50-51, and 55-56.

 

-Notice anytime you have a descending line, whether it be in quarter notes or eighth notes. Generally this indicates harmonic motion in inversions which leads to unstable tonality. Since music is about creating tension and release, we want to lean into these “crunchy” notes so the release comes as a relief!

 

Style/Texture/Timbre: We already talked a little bit about Melody A and Melody B. Here is what I am looking for when we play the piece.

 

            Melody A- written in a homophonic style where all parts support the melody. The texture is thick and rich, and instruments should have a dark, open quality to their tone.

            Melody B-written more rhythmically with more of a pulsating eighth note feel. The texture thins out at the beginning of melody B, and the brighter instrumentation allows for the rhythmic differences between the eighth notes and the triplets to be highlighted. As melody B moves back to melody A, the texture thickens back to the original structure.

 

The form of the piece looks like this. You are expected to write this in your part IN PENCIL!

            Introduction 1-4

            Melody A, measures 5-16, made up of three contrasting phrases

            Melody B, measures 17-25, made up of two contrasting phrases, the 2nd being a      variation of the first.

            Melody A’ is a shortened, 2-bar phrase which repeats the first phrase of the             original melody.

            Measures 27-31 is an interlude

            Melody A reoccurs from measures 31-42

            Melody B occurs from 43-50

            Melody A’ is again a shortened two bar phrase from measures 51-53.

            Coda occurs from measures 54-59.

 

 

Practice Guide: See the attached sheet for scale exercises based off of rhythms used in the piece. Also practice Bach Chorales #4-7, emphasizing dynamics. Work for consistent good tone quality, and look for moving notes and the direction they move in. 

 

Visual Examples: The following visual examples are based off of words I thought of as I listened to the recording of Ave Maria. Several of these words are beauty, serenity, and flowing. I chose three pictures to represent these words to enhance my musical understanding of the piece.                                                             AppleMark                           

Beauty                                                                         Serenity

                                

                                 Flowing

 

 

 

 

Now it’s your turn! Listen to the online recording of Ave Maria found here:

http://www.manhattanbeachmusic.com/audio/ave-maria.mov 

After listening to it, choose three words of your own (they can’t be the same as mine) and find three different pictures to represent your word choices. Briefly, in two-three sentences describe why you chose those words and the matching pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terminology to know: The following musical terms will be useful for you to know in order to play this piece in the correct style.

 

Cantabile-

Dolce-

Legato-

Espressivo-

Tutti-

Ritardando-

A tempo-

Lightly-

Lieder-

 

Define each of these terms using either the musical dictionary in the library or ask Miss Jolly if you can borrow hers. What language are these terms in? Then go through your individual part and see if you have any of these terms. Write down the term(s) that you find along with the measure number. Circle the term in your part IN PENCIL so that you will remember to play that part in the indicated style.

 

 

Assessments: You will be assessed the following ways:

 

1. Successful completion of the Student Guide packet

2. Successful completion of the WebQuest

3. Successful completion of announced playing tests.