Written by French Romantic composer Charles Gounod in 1859, his Ave Maria consists of a melody superimposed over the Prelude No. 1 in C major from Book I of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 846), composed by J. S. Bach some 137 years earlier. (Gounod adds one bar so as to smooth out a rough change in harmony in the prelude.) Ave Maria Gounod's Ave Maria arranged for piano and cello.
There are many different instrumental arrangements of the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria, including for violin and guitar, string quartet, piano solo, cello, and even trombones. It is often performed in Christian wedding ceremonies. Many pop and opera singers like Renata Tebaldi in have recorded it during the twentieth century.
Great Ms. Tebaldi:
