Andrew Westgate

Dr. Nichols
MUS 344
3/8/16
Biebl, Ave Maria (Arr. Robert Cameron)

Broad Description
o Choral work arranged for band
o Sacred work
o Solo Euphonium/Horn or Solo Voice
Type/Genre Label
o Chamber Choir
Background Information (including additional instrumental information)
o Franz Biebl (1906-2001)1
o Famous German composer
o Fought in World War II, was a POW in Michigan. Fused American folk songs and
spirituals with German choral works2
o Wrote in both Neoclassical and Romantic Styles
o Use of old Christian Hymn (Ave Maria) redone with new harmonies and 20th
century writing style
o Written in 1964 for a choir of Firemen3
o This piece was almost completely forgotten about, and was not actually made
famous until Chanticleers performance of the piece in the 90s
o Robert Camerons arrangement made the piece accessible to Wind Band in 19934
o The piece underwent many battles in court over whether or not schools should be
allowed to play it, because of its religious theme. Thankfully, the court ruled the
right to play the piece as freedom of speech and is being played today all over the
country5
o Solo Euphonium, Solo Horn
Elements of Music Form, Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Timbre, Texture, Expression
(one paragraph per element addressing the questions on pgs. 10-11)
o Form
The structure of this piece is that of a ternary form. The piece starts with a
solo, then goes to the A section, repeating that A section. It then moves to a
new B section, then reintroduces the A section to close the song. This

1 Quercus (Biebl Bio)

2 Quercus (Outstanding)
3 Quercus (Ave Maria)
4 Cornerstone
5 Nurre vs. Whitehead

piece uses oratorio for the solo sections, with the soloists passing a lone
melody until they are rejoined with the A sections again. This piece also
uses Chorale, with many interweaving lines and suspensions.
o Rhythm
The primary rhythm consists of a rest on beat one, followed by three
quarter notes, followed by two half notes. This rhythm is passed around
the band from the first measure the full band plays, and makes its way all
the way to the last measure in the trumpet voice for the final cadence. This
piece is very straight forward in terms of rhythm, since it is essentially a
chorale, however the soloist should pay special attention to their rhythms,
since they can be as expressive and rubato as they wish to be.
o Melody
The shape of the theme definitely flows in and out throughout the piece.
The climax of the melody being in the B section, then into the
recapitulation of the A section. The melody is mostly major, except for a
slight change in the bassline and melody in the B section, which quickly
changes back to major shortly after. The melodic motive is the tonic, a half
step down, back to the tonic, then a minor third down. This is repeated and
passed throughout the piece to the different sections.
o Harmony
Because this is basically a chorale, the harmony moves at the same pace as
the melody. There are many suspensions and dissonances throughout that
are quickly resolved, then created again only a few beats later. Its like a
knot that unties, but ties in a new place, thn by the time tht knot unties, the
original knot ties itself back up again.
Timbre
The song should be as dark as possible. The trumpets distract the dark tone
with slight interjections, almost adding little sparkles of color throughout.
I think the horns add the tension to the piece, being the voice that is the
most dissonant and has the most suspensions. The timbre locks in this
sacred, slow, and flowingly beautiful piece of literature.
o Texture
This piece is mostly polyphonic. While the rhythms are all pretty unison,
the voicing is tightly woven and complex. Biebl uses the solo voices to
break the textures up, giving the piece a sort of tradeoff between oratorio
and full ensemble, but this piece uses mostly monody, and the density of
the texture is quite unison.
o Expression
Slur everything. This is a chorale. The tempi vary when the soloist is
playing, but the piece should essentially be the same tempo the whole
time, slowing only before the cadences before the repeated solo sections,
and the end of the piece.
The Heart of the Music
o This piece is incredibly important to me personally. I played it in high school with
our top band, and played it here at UIUC in the Wind Orchestra. With each run-

through, there is always something new brought to light while listening to or

playing the piece. While this song is very chorale-like and does not waver much
in tempo or style, the general flow of the piece is one of my favorite feelings of
any piece I have heard. Sitting back and listening to the solo euphonium and horn
is always quite relieving. This piece teaches me to not rush through things that
need to be savored. Every note in this song has a purpose, and our jobs as
musicians and teachers is to identify that purpose and let no note go to waste.
Being a tuba player, we do not get much in terms of melody, but this piece gives
some great rewards to good intonation, and the climax of the piece is just about as
dark and powerful as it gets in wind band literature, plus dropping the last note
down an octave always has its rewards as well.
Concepts that can be taught using this composition
o Intonation
o Listening around the ensemble for tension and release
o Expression
o Soloistic playing in a full band setting
o Good full dark tone
o Historical significance
Visual Score Representation
Using the musical elements outlined on pgs. 10-11 of OTooles-Chapter 1: Analysis
create a visual map of the score.
Examples of formats:
Song of the Blacksmith from Second Suite by G. Holst in Garafalo-The Score: Nucleus
for Teaching and Learning, p. 38.
Example 14: Master Flow Chart Irish Tune
Jagow: Developing the Complete Band Program pgs. 173-176

Bibliography:
Cantus Quercus. (n.d.). Biebl bio. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
https://web.archive.org/web/20110716141427/http://www.cantusquercus.com/biebl.htm
Cantus Quercus. (n.d.). Ave Maria program note. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132345/http://cantusquercus.com/ave.htm
Cantus Quercus. (n.d.). Outstanding Features of Franz Biebl's Works. Retrieved March 08, 2016,
from https://web.archive.org/web/20110716141225/http://www.cantusquercus.com/features.htm

Hal Leonard. (n.d.). Ave Maria, Windependence Master Level. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.action?itemid=48007045
Cornerstone Minnesota State University. (n.d.). In-Depth Analysis and Program Notes on a
Selection of Wind Band Music. Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
http://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1195&context=etds
Google Scholar. (n.d.). Nurre vs. Whitehead, Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit 2009. Retrieved
March 3, 2016, from https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16640877058818770540
Ave Maria by Franz Biebl arr. by Robert Cameron. (n.d.). Retrieved March 08, 2016, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoroSiushg0