投稿者: Gounod’s Ave Maria is one of the most beloved pieces in the classical repertoire, known for its quiet prayerfulness and beautiful melodic line.
The work is based on the Prelude No. 1 in C major from Book I of J. S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier. Gounod added a new melody above Bach’s flowing harmonic foundation, creating a music of deep calm, tenderness, and prayer.
I arranged this piece so that it can be performed by two flutes alone. In this version, one flute sings the vocal-like melody, while the other follows the harmonic flow derived from Bach’s prelude. My aim was to create a quiet space of prayer shared by two players.
1. The charm of the original work
The beauty of Ave Maria does not lie only in its melody.
Gounod’s melody is certainly graceful and immediately memorable. It has a natural singing quality that enters the listener’s heart with ease. Yet what supports this melody is the calm and continuous harmonic movement of Bach’s prelude.
In Bach’s prelude, the broken-chord figures continue without interruption. Rather than dramatic emotional changes, the music gives the impression of clear water flowing steadily and quietly.
When Gounod’s melody is placed above this harmonic stream, the music becomes more than a beautiful tune. It gains a depth that feels close to prayer. The melody should not be sung too grandly; it moves forward as if speaking gently and inwardly.
One interesting detail in this piece is the so-called “Schwenke measure” in Bach’s prelude. This measure is not part of Bach’s original text, but is said to have been added later by Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwenke. It appears between measures 22 and 23 of the Prelude No. 1 in C major, and was transmitted through 19th-century editions. This added measure was also inherited in the version of the prelude that Gounod used for his Ave Maria.
In that sense, the Bach/Gounod Ave Maria we know today is not simply Bach’s original prelude with a melody placed above it. It is also a work shaped by the way Bach’s music was received and transmitted in the 19th century.
The beauty of this piece is not found in brilliance or virtuosity, but in clear sonority, long breath, and an expression that seems to arise naturally from within.
2. What I wanted to express with two flutes
In arranging this piece for flute duet, the most important point was the relationship between melody and harmony.
If one looks only at the melody of Ave Maria, it may not appear technically difficult. However, once we begin to think about tone color, expression, and resonance, the difficulty becomes much greater.
The flowing sixteenth notes in the 2nd flute part are also quite demanding on the flute. One of the main challenges is breathing: in a continuous stream of notes, there are very few natural places to take a breath.
For that reason, in this arrangement I changed some of the continuous motion into eighth notes in selected places, so that the player can breathe without disturbing the musical flow.
However, the role of the 2nd flute is not simply to play a sequence of notes. The player must feel the harmonic changes within the moving line and support the melody through that harmony. The 1st flute can sing naturally only when it is supported by this harmonic flow.
In this arrangement, I did not want the two flutes to be separated merely into “melody” and “accompaniment.” By bringing their tone colors close to each other, I wanted the two players to share one prayerful musical space.
When the two sounds blend naturally, Gounod’s melody and Bach’s harmony can rise together as a single sonority.
3. Range, breath, and balance
When performing this piece as a flute duet, the most important elements are long breath and subtle changes of tone color.
The 1st flute part has a vocal character. It should not be played as a series of carefully placed individual notes, but as a long line, like a song with words.
The 2nd flute, on the other hand, carries the harmonic flow. If the sound is interrupted too often, or if each beat is emphasized too strongly, the quiet atmosphere of the music is lost.
The continuous notes should not be played mechanically. It is important to feel the movement of the harmony and allow that awareness to shape the line.
In this work, neither player is simply the main part or the secondary part. The music becomes richer when Gounod’s melody and the harmonic flow derived from Bach work together.
In this arrangement, I transposed the piece from the commonly used key of C major to F major. This makes the register more natural for the flute, allowing both the melody and the harmonic line to sing more comfortably.
4. What to keep in mind when performing
The first thing to keep in mind when performing this piece is harmony.
Because the melodic line of Ave Maria does not contain many notes, it can easily be played too casually. But when the player sings the melody while feeling the changes of harmony underneath, the prayerful meaning of Gounod’s line begins to emerge.
This piece has a beautiful melody, but if it is sung too romantically, the transparent quality of prayer can be lost.
What matters is not to express emotion too outwardly, but to keep a quiet expression within the sound itself.
The 1st flute should not only sing the melody beautifully, but also feel the harmony flowing underneath it. The 2nd flute should not simply remain in the background as an accompaniment; it has the important role of maintaining the breath, atmosphere, and prayerful space of the whole piece.
Ave Maria is not a piece for displaying technique. It is a work in which the beauty of sound and the depth of breathing become the music itself.
In a flute duet performance, it is not enough for the melody to be beautiful. The two players need to create one quiet prayer together.
5. Sheet music
This flute duet arrangement of Gounod’s Ave Maria can be performed by two flutes alone, without piano accompaniment.
I arranged it with the aim of preserving Gounod’s beautiful melody and the harmonic flow derived from Bach, while allowing two flutes to create a natural and prayerful musical space.
It is suitable for recitals and concerts, and also as a rewarding piece for developing tone color, breath, balance, and musical sensitivity between two players.
Sheet music is available here:
Bach/Gounod: Ave Maria for Two Flutes