An "Ave Maria" from Gustav Holst

The English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) wrote his Ave Maria at the age of twenty-six in memory of his mother. It is a most remarkable choral work for two reasons: first, it is scored for two four-part women’s choruses (eight women’s parts!) and, second, the range of vocal parts is extreme, going from the low Fs of the contraltos to the high B-flats of the sopranos. But it is also for these reasons that Holst’s Ave Maria is an impressive vehicle for professional female voices. After we recorded this piece, we found that it sounds much more satisfying on CD than in live performance. In the reverberant church acoustics, the parts sounded ethereal but blurred together. However, with the careful placement of microphones the voices still sound ethereal, but suddenly the details of each of the eight voice parts are clearly discernible. Because of the voice parts needed, you’re not likely to hear this gem anywhere very often! Indeed, Voices has only performed it once, right before we made this recording in 1993!



– Dennis Keene