Ave Maria - Anton Bruckner (Sopran's Guide)
Ave Maria (Hail Mary), WAB 6, is a sacred motet by Anton Bruckner, a setting of the Latin prayer Ave Maria. He composed it in Linz in 1861 and scored the short work in F major for seven unaccompanied voices. The piece, sometimes named an Offertorium, was published in Vienna in 1867. Before, Bruckner composed the same prayer in 1856 for soprano, alto, a four-part mixed choir, organ and cello, WAB 5. Later, he set the text in 1882 for a solo voice (alto) and keyboard (organ, piano or harmonium), WAB 7.
Bruckner composed the motet, also known as Ave Maria II, in 1861. He did this after completing five years of studies with Simon Sechter. The motet was first performed on 12 May 1861 as Offertorium of a mass in the Linz Cathedral (now the Old Cathedral). Bruckner was their organist and was also from 1860 director of the Liedertafel (choral society) "Frohsinn" who performed the motet to celebrate the anniversary of its founding. Bruckner wrote in a letter about the reception in a letter dated 3 October 1861: "I was, in the end, splendidly applauded by my choir—twice."
The manuscript is lost, but copies are found in the archive of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek and the Abbey of Sankt Florian. The piece, sometimes named an Offertorium, was published together with Tota pulchra es by Emil Wetzler in Vienna in 1867. It is put in Band XXI/20 of the Gesamtausgabe.
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