VOCES8: Ave Maria - Franz Biebl
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- VOCES8 sings Franz Biebl's setting of the 'Ave Maria'.
'Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae
et concepit de Spiritu sancto.'
The angel of God visited Maria
and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
'Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.'
Hail Mary, Full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
'Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.
Amen.'
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
Holy Mary, pray for us now and in the hour of our death.
Amen.
****
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I’m a diehard Chanticleer fan. I even had the opportunity to sing this with them 20 years ago as a college student in San Francisco (via their mentorship program). Even so, I was not prepared for this version. It’s the most perfectly executed and I exquisite version of this song I have ever seen or heard. I am in awe. And I’m in tears. I’ll have this on repeat for the next week…
The Chanticleer recorded version is also stunning. Frankly, first tier vocal ensembles only prove the brilliance of this piece of art.
I don't know how y'all do it, but this tough old fireman sits here and baby-cries when y'all sing. This is just so perfect and so heavenly.
This piece was originally written for an all-male chorus of firemen.
@@Ronritdds, that is amazing! I am of Italian heritage and sing a strong baritone, but my fellow fire fighters are decidedly tone-deaf.
@@accousticdecay I have tried to do some research on it. It seems like even the composer didn't seem to have a clear memory on it (you can just look it up on Wikipedia), but the Ave Maria was performed at his parish church, and also by the Fireman's Chorus, around 1959 or 60. I guess at that time, in his area, there were choruses sponsored by the various employers. Fireman's Chorus bring one. Thank you for your service to the community.
After listening to this 10 times, I thought a response was necessary: Perfection...enough said.
My favorite setting of Ave Maria, which never ceases to warm the heart. Surely, this is the most exquisite performance of it I have heard. I only discovered Voces8 a few months ago - being in a monastery I "don't get around much" as they say. But discovering their videos was a truly happy accident. Thank God for their amazing talents and amazing work together. And for Franz Biebl's gift of this musical prayer.
I am weeping at the beauty of the music, words, and vocal quality. What a Divine gift. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
An interesting perspective! However, if this "imaginary friend" were not so popular through so many centuries, this music would not exist at all... whether or not you believe, the magnificent Western musical legacy comes mostly from religiously-inspired composers. That's why it's here for us to listen to!
Try this one, the very first rendition of it I ever viewed on YT, and it bowled me over, still does. th-cam.com/video/3oLukHRPb5g/w-d-xo.html
@bad1dobby so what if it is an imagined God...the way you make your point seems to be in alignment with the very thing that you despise, a tyrannical god that has no respect for individual human achievement. It's quite ironic that your comments appear callous and tyrannical. Let people believe what they want..you 'believe' there is no God, which is still a belief. You believe in something too my friend.
@bad1dobby You're commenting like a fish who says he doesn't believe in water. You start with an article of faith, just like Dom. Only, your starting point is no God instead of God. Another way to put is your starting point is yourself--your thoughts, feelings, desires or will. You have no priviledged position than others, but you can definitely have your personal opinions. Just sayin.
I loved singing this when I was in college, and I still love it to this day. This is how I imagine heaven will sound like.
This and Gregorian chant. - Love to work to it. Love to relax to it. Love to have a go at singing it. Just plain love it.
An arrangement is just paper until it is put to voice. The voices make the music which was imagined when the arrangement was penned. Sometimes great choirs sing bad arrangements. Sometimes bad choirs sing astounding arrangements. In this recording, I am hearing a beautiful match between the arrangement and the vocalization of it. VOCES8 are known for their technical perfection of the choral performance. But in this arrangement, there is intonation and warmth conveyed uniquely by these voices. These 8 have a vocal chemistry that is next to godliness. The piece rises when it is supposed to without becoming pitchy, the harmonies are without fault. The final crescendo moves the piece into park in the most extraordinary way. One does not want the song to end.
On a technical level, the airflow demonstrated by these 8 is just about where it should be. I would like to hear a little more support from the bass, just a bit. One thing I have noticed over and over with all of this group's pieces is their diction. I'm a diction person..and their tongues click and tick at exactly the same time as their counterparts are. The enunciation is divine. The cluster chords are woven together like a fine piece of fabric without so much of a conflict in the intonation. I could write forever, but I want to hear more of their pieces. Kudos and well done VOCES8 for this gift of choral love. I am convinced that in this piece as performed by you that the listener is led to the peace prayer, and reflection intended by its lyrics.
I could not have said it better myself x
Well said; the curse and blessing of a discerning ear is that it is seldom satiated, but when it is - rapture.
Well said! You put into words all that I was feeling. 👌🙏
Couldnt have worded it better myself
okay, I guess? Sounds good anyway.
Stunning. Just stunning. This chorus is as close to perfection as I'll ever hear. This Ave is so richly woven that one just sits, transfixed by the harmony and this group's execution of the work. As a former chorister myself (in my salad days!) I stand in awe of this group.
I have enjoyed Chanticleer’s all-male voice rendering of this for years. The two female voices in this version send the theme and the music high into the rafters of the church and beyond. Superb!🥰👏👏👏
For me, Chanticleer's version is far superior. VOCES8 do a great job, but spreading it out over three octaves has a significant impact on the harmonics and, for me, results in a loss of close harmony and richness of sound. That said, I do wonder what it would sound like if arranged for upper voices only - all female SSSAAA - I bet they'd nail it!
i cant stand the male singing in falsetto. There are plenty of alto singers on the market. "countertenors" your services are not needed. Shame only two women on this recording and they're forced to sound like undeveloped boys.
@@dennisdeemii To each their own. The tenor singing the note on "Sancta" (twice) is the highlight of the piece to me.
If we are made made in God’s image and this is just a taste of what that might look and sound like, I’m ready to move to heaven anytime now. 😊
Peter Ste
It doesn’t pay to argue with someone whose heart is hardened. Better ways to spend your time, I would think. 😊
bad1dobby , she may not care about changing your mind. Go get a hobby. Sitting on TH-cam to argue with religious people is a waste of your time. You need a life. When you’re dead you’re not going to care about this.
bad1dobby , 😂 you’re right!
@bad1dobby I would like to add a little bit to the conversation and maybe bring some clarification to the points you brought up about the Bible and Christian's themselves.
1. You're right in that we do go to doctors and hospitals to avoid death and I can see how that original comment can seem hypocritical, and of course none of us as Christians are perfect but if you injured wouldn't you go to the hospital? It just would make sense for a Christian or any person or creature with a serious injury to just sit there and think "oh well might as well die". No we would seek help that's what we do and how we were created. We want to be helped. Just because we seek out help doesn't mean we are afraid of death I think it just means we just want to fulfill our purpose according to God's word.
2. The Bible says in John 4:24 that God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. Hear the Bible is saying literally that God is a spirit. There are many examples in the Bible where God appears in front of His followers and he appears in many forms. These appearances are scattered out over thousands of years and recorded in the Bible, which was written by several different authors who spoke different languages. In Exodus God's spirit is made manifest as a burning bush where he tells Moses that he must lead the Israelites out of Egypt(Exodus 3: 1-17). In Job God's spirit is made manifest as a storm cloud or whirlwind and He allows Job to see all that He does to maintain the universe(Job 38:1). God appears in front of, at the time Saul where He takes Saul's sight for a time and is later converted to serve God(Acts 9:4-6). There are many other times where God appears in the Bible. God appears as many different things by His spirit. When the Bible talks about us humans it talks a lot about the flesh which is our body and our bodily desires and how it is not of God. It also talks alot about our spirit, our spirit is of God so I believe our spirit is in his likeness.
@bad1dobby You're bringing up some pretty good points and some hard questions so hopefully my answer comes with clarity
First of all when you said " if god is spirit(whatever that means)". It means exactly what it said. Which is that God is spirit. Second when the Bible said that we are created in his image it refers to our spirit reflecting His. The Bible is clear in saying that our body and spirit are two separate things. Here are a few verses to support that.
"For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead"(James 2:26). "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell"(Matthew 10:28)."And the dust(Body) returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it"(Ecclesiastes 12:7) "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,"(Romans 8:16). This last verse that I have listed says explicitly that our human spirit is set to match God's spirit. These verses say clearly that our body and spirit are two separate entities. Right now our our spirit is in our bodies but one day we will shed our bodies but our spirit will remain. Lastly you said that "Claiming that we are 'spirit' inside these meat bags is like saying when you make soup it's 'in your image' because humans are largely comprised of water, and so is the soup you made". While it's a good analogy it's not right because our spirits are set to reflect God's. When you see soup you aren't going to think that "oh soup and I pretty much the same thing", but when you take a Christian
that is actually devout in faith and how he/she acts and then you see the example the Bible has set and then you know right away that person is a reflection of God's spirit.
On the argument why is it normal for Christian to want to prolong death, It's normal because that's how God has created us. It's the nature of things like how birds fly north or south depending on the season it's their nature to do that. I can see that from an evolutionary perspective that they just evolved like that, but from creative narrative perspective it's how God has created the earth. It's in our nature to want to stay alive and also because we have purpose. Look, to put it plainly we dont know when our time is up but until then we will do everything we can to fulfill our purpose. As far as your take on purpose, God's word does refer generally to all Christian's but it also refers to us on a personal level through prayer. Here's what God says is our purpose in Matthew 28:18-20 it says "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". Here He tells us our purpose by saying that we should share the Gospel to all people of all nations. Here is one more verse reemphasizing our purpose. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth"(Acts 1:8).That is the purpose that we should live out until God calls us home and I know it sounds like a fairy tale but it's true. I'm living out my purpose right now by sharing this with you. On a deeper level we determine our actions by what the word says about different situations, through prayer, and by what the Bible says we should act like (Which is Jesus). He is the example that God sent. Btw sorry for such a long post 😂
This is simply the most beautiful singing I have ever heard. It doesn't get any better.
The sopranos are killing it ! Exquisitely divine.
Hervorragende Darbietung!!!
What an amazing gift our human throats have been given to make such wonderful music. This group is simply beautiful.
AMEN.
stumbling upon this group was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. thank you for sharing beauty that cannot be provided by any other source than the human voice. unbelievable piece and ensemble.
First time I heard this was ca. 2006. Beautiful...beautiful...
Never heard such a perfect ensemble before. Unbelievable, voices like from heaven
I've seen many renditions of Biebl's Ave Maria, but I have to say, this one is the best.
This is exquisite! I love the addition of women's voices soaring over this traditionally male voiced masterpiece.
One of the most sublime works in the entire Western choral repetoire.
Muy bonito como suena
I have to agree with Melanie, I have enjoyed many TTBB versions of this. But this performance is possibly the Best. Wonderfully produced and performed. Thank you Voces8 for demonstrating how powerful the full range of SATB voices can be. Bravo!
Perfect voice, perfect song, perfect looks, pretty faces.
*swoon*
jrpeas They look and sound this gorgeous in person, too. And more importantly, they're some of the sweetest, friendliest people you'll ever meet.
exquisite. my favorite choral piece of all time with my favorite ensemble of all time. absolutely everything I could've hoped for.
You sent me to a completely different world.... seriously. God bless all of you.
I come back to this video over and over. It is sublime...a little bit of Heaven on Earth.
Never have I had so many goosebumps and tears at the same time.
Fantastic, technical, perfect harmony, admirable, Save ❤🙏👐👐👐
Certainly one of the most beautiful renditions of Franz Biebl’s Ave Maria.
Words fail me; I can't describe how this makes me feel. I just feel alive and thankful.
Subtle. Humble. Exquisite. Sincere. Unified. This version with these voices is the only one that becomes a prayer for me. Because of it's beauty and because no voices stand out seperately it keeps my focus on praying the Angelus. My new favorite. Thanks be to God they are glorifying Him with the talent He gave them. Bravo. Brava.
Although they did leave out the last 2 parts to the prayer it was still beautiful.
Exquisite indeed but still prefer Chanticleer.
Brings tears to your eyes, it really does. Such a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria.
Oh my goodness!! The harmony at 1:45 gets me every time. That’s my goose bump and “tear up” moment
If you don't get goosebumps all over from this, something's wrong! It's heavenly!
Goosebumps AND tears...
Willemijn De Kock i dont get goosebumps BUT Little did you know That I LOVE ITT
Leaves me breathless.
Hail Mary! Full of grace the lord is with thee ❤️
This is one of my favorite settings of “Ave Maria” , and in this beautiful acoustically perfect setting, the song touches the soul.
LOVE that! My favourite Ave Maria besides the Memley and the Bach.
The overtones and resonance at the end take my breath away every time - you guys truly are a gift. Thank you thank you thank you
2:52 to the end just gets me all kinds of goosebumpy!! Beautiful and sublime as always.
I agree! Perfect!
Warmth from heaven above through the holy spirit of your voices. Thank you so much; I needed to feel this warmth tonight. Love and blessings.
I have sung both the mixed and women's choir versions of this and sung choir 1 and 2. This is one of the best performances, if not the best I have heard. Voces8, keep singing!
Sublime esecuzione. Una contemplazione attraverso il canto.
Love to meet and see this group in person. Fantastic
Such perfection it made me cry. This shimmering sound of voices in perfect harmony opened up the vaults of sadness in my soul and it all rushed out like hot lava. Time freezes when you hear this. Thank you.
Beauty beyond all words !! I think this is one of the most beautiful singing ever of this piece !!!
I can’t begin to find the words to express how magnificently beautiful your performance of this, my absolute favorite piece of music ever, really is. Glorious, ineffable, divine, heavenly - none are adequate.
I was fortunate to perform this piece with the U. Of North Carolina Men’s Glee Club, directed by Daniel Huff, way back in 1994. Ever since no piece of music can fill my heart with such soaring ecstasy, or my eyes with tears of inexpressible joy.
I just learned of Voces8 yesterday from your episode of Performance Today (American Public Radio) and was overjoyed to find that you have already performed this; if you hadn’t, I would have written you a request for you to do so every day until you did. 😁
Thank you thank you thank you!
A simply amazing performance of this particular arrangement of Franz Biebl's 'Ave Maria'. The maturity of the voices in this group belies their age and is a reminder of the power of practice, practice, practice. There are no shortcuts to get to the level of near perfection witnessed here and it's refreshing to see a group get out of an arrangement what the writer put into it. In a sense, this is music theory come to life.
As someone who's been singing for 45 of his 60 years, there's little to fault here. The crescendos/decrescendos are very legato and uniform, the pitches are spot on even in difficult cords, and the emotive voice of the music really comes through. While nearly technically perfect (IMHO), there are a couple of spots where the soprano is a bit too forte (which is easy to do. The soprano voice tends to carry better than other divisi.) but was still lovely and haunting. Also, I noticed a subtle amount of noise from the 'in breath'. I think they're using the sound of the in breath to keep metre, but my voice coaches in the past have made clear to me that if you can hear the in breath, the throat is not fully relaxed which inhibits the ability to take in a fuller breath for longer passages. If each person is on a separate microphone, perhaps post production this could be edited out but if they're doing this performance 'live' using a single omni-directional mic and use the in breath for timing, then bravo! It's just loud enough to hear but not loud enough to distract from a world class performance. I've not been able to sing a capella since the onslaught of the Covid virus but am enjoying hearing the world class sound put out by VOCES8.
Spectacular! BRAVO! Kisses from Rio!
Listening to this beautiful hymn is a trip to Heaven.
just a wonderful example of the purpose of music, how it emotes the soul and the spirit. i am really speechless w/ satisfaction.
I sang this in my old male student choir back in the day... highlight of every christmas concert we did every year... so beautiful... this version is absolutely incredible... thank you so much for uploading this
Simply beautiful, and currently my favourite 'Amen', amazing. This piece reminds me of that wave of effervescent tingling that you get when singing in an ensemble when everything comes together. The music arrangement suiting each voice, that connection to each member, the balance and resonance of the room, combining to give a freedom to sing, that is accompanied by this wave that raises the hairs on your arms, and leaves you with an inexpressible joy and awe.
I have sung this beautiful peace in a schoolchoir. It's like time would stopp for a moment and you can just enjoy the moment. Voces8 of coarse brings it to perfection.
The first time I heard Biebl's arrangement (a cappella) for men (7-part), I had to stop when I heard the "repeal" quartet sing...it was angelic to say the least. I HAD to listen to this version after hearing VOCES8 do Sleep by Eric Whitaker brought me to their page. Less than 45 seconds into this rendition, I was mesmerized. at 1:18, I was already half way through a box of Kleenex and had to stop the video, as I didn't want anyone at work to hear me blubbering like a little baby...but then again...maybe I'll just let it go! My definition of "angelic" has changed. I'm definitely subscribing after this one.
subtle, but strongly touching...
This perfect ensemble gave me feelings of thanksgiving to God.
wow. and to think, I almost made it through the holidays without Biebl's ave maria...and now you've redefined the piece for me. Thank you. You show that there is hope, beauty, and love still in this world.
Find tears falling down my face every time I listen to this. Can't believe I'm seeing you guys tonight at St Judes
Glorious...
The best Choir in the World
This arrangement gave me such chills! Amazing! This is the first time, but I absolutely must add the same song twice to my Spotify playlist of Beautiful Sacred Choral Music I have going.
True story, I was listening to the Chanticleer version (the other arrangement I have on my playlist) on a plane once, and I couldn't help but embrace the beauty of the piece. Chills throughout. At the end when the voices revolve and escalate, I envision a slow rise to heaven. Being in a plane, I both felt it and heard it. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. After the piece finished I paused my phone and just basked in the resonance of the song.
Of course my wife noticed and was like, "are you crying?" and of course I made her listen to the song :)
I have synesthesia. The Chanticleer version, which is pitched slightly higher (apparently set to A440) gave me images of a sunrise with bright pink clouds moving across a bright blue sky. The first time I heard it I was driving my car and had to pull over and park. It would not have been safe to try to navigate through all those colors and images.
In the old days (maybe still today) when Chanticleer did their annual Christmas concert every year at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco, they used this piece to start the second half of the program. During the break they moved from the sanctuary up to the choir loft and turned off all of the lights except for some candles in the sanctuary. They started the second half with the entire Angelus arrangement, with the three Ave Marias separated by Gabriel's annunciation dialogue. I'd be crying at the end and appreciated that they left the venue dark until I could dry off my face... I have dozens of wonderful VOCES 8 pieces on my playlist, but I think Chanticleer does this one best...
I came here not wanting to like this version, because I always loved the Chanticleer version. But now, I'm not sure which one is my favorite. They're both sublime.
What a wonderful piece.
Such a choral gem, first performed by Chanticleer. This new interpretation is most welcome.
This is so, so superb. Never heard a better version.
All you can do is cry it’s too unbelievably magnificent
Powerful in its extreme, delicate sweetness.
Such harmonies...
Heavenly. The blend is perfect. Fell in love with Chanticleer's version of this exquisite piece, but these folks take it to another level entirely. The sopranos soar above with such a clear, unforced, spinning tone. I was transported. Thank you so very much.
Comme c'est beau ,je vous écouterait toute la journée, Bravo à tous et entre autre Sarah. Xxxxx
By far one of my favorite choral works and this is beyond perfect! This came up as a TH-cam suggestion and I've been watching all of their videos. The intonation, timbre and dynamics are so precise I couldn't even imagine singing with such a group or even being in the same room hearing some of this live. Please keep posting videos for us in the USA! Love, love love!
Voces8 Thank You For The Gift Of Your Music 🎶
just put simply......perfection.
A really tender, but shining interpretation. Beautiful!
I am not Christian, but I do love how these performances are shot in these beautiful Churches.. seems to resonate very well with the transcendence which spirituality represents.
Omg those women such Angel's...guys u r awesome too
МОЛОДЦЫ !
Truly enough to move one to tears.
WOW!
Simply gorgeous...
Good on you, sound engineer for keeping in the ring at 3:29. Most would have taken it out, but it is just perfection.
BEAUTIFUL
Más la escucho, más AMO esta obra!! Sublimes Voces8 gracias por compartir tanta armonía & belleza juntas!!
As a always, LOVED IT..LOVE Choral, Harmony, Classical, Bach, Handel and so much more...
The use of very little vibrato makes this piece amazingly beautiful!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
OMG!! I’ve always loved this arrangement but these guys just killed it! Simply beautiful!!!!😩❤️❤️❤️👏🏽👏🏽
Im crying .. so beautiful
Belíssimo. Ave Maria.
absolutely gorgeous and outstanding the perfection of human voices BRAVO
Pure Joy and Love!!!
An astonishing piece of music. And a breathtaking performance. You know it’s awesome when it makes the world stop.
This is now my very favourite recording of my favorite group singing my favorite Ave Maria. Tbank you.
Good God that was astoundingly good! Beautiful.
I love this version. I can feel it go right through me.
My heart just melted
I have listened t o this more than 10 times, and that is just today! So perfect, especially at 2:30+, but all is beautiful! Thank you for posting such talent. Hearing this in church led me here, same rendition.
Many thanks. Such beauty.
Simply beyond what words can express!
‘Discovering’ Voces8 in 2015 in Shaldon, UK was and still is one of the best moments in finding a pitch-perfect but mostly natural, humble and always convincing ensembles. Thank you singers & arrangers for this super Christmas pressie. Wishing you every success and much joy in 2018.
Thank you. This lifted quite a load off my soul this morning.
Dios QUÉ HERMOSURA de voces
Qué bellísimo Tomás Luis de Victoria 🎹🎶🎹🎶🎹🎶
Lovely. Bravo.
What a gift. Thank-you from the depths of my soul.
I would like to pass through this life to the next on the wings of this song and meet my mother and father on the other side. That would be magnificent.
What a beautiful expression of Faith.