The Hail Mary (Ave Maria):
Its Glorious Story in Art and Music
One of the two most revered and repeated prayers in all of Christendom, especially in the Catholic and traditional religions, the Hail Mary prayer and its story come in a lavishly illustrated hardback book accompanied by a beautiful music CD. The collection is one of the most unique about this much-beloved prayer
The book describes the origin of the prayer, cites Biblical sources, provides translations in different languages (mostly Western European), and includes brief background material about the composers and artists and their interpretations of the prayer.
The magnificent color plates illuminate the works of world-renowned artists, including Renaissance masters such as Botticelli, Fra Angelico, and Rogier van der Weyden, as well as nineteenth-century artists Carl Bloch, James Tissot, and Edward Burne-Jones.
The New Testament themes of The Annunciation and The Visitation are central to the story.
The sacred and operatic music takes the listener to celestial heights as it flows from glorious motets and classical works by Palestrina, Victoria, Bach/Charles Gounod, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, and other noted composers.
A Valuable Resource!
In the educational realm, The HAIL MARY (Ave Maria): Its Glorious Story in Art and Music is an excellent primer about the more familiar art and music genres. Without getting bogged down with overly technical issues – sculpture, mosaics, oil painting, motets, polyphony, etc., are briefly defined with artistic examples of the prayer’s essential Biblical scenes by the giants of Western art and music, the latter mainly in its liturgical Latin.
This richly illustrated volume is a must-read for students or adults who know little about art or music.
The HAIL MARY (Ave Maria): Its Glorious Story in Art and Music is a valuable resource for catechists and evangelical programs of the traditional religions in the same way Best-Loved Christmas Carols has proven to be for the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, and its efforts to re-invigorate fallen-away parishioners or to attract recruits.
In this day of heightened sight and sound and with a vast array of offerings about the “Ave Maria” on the Internet, mostly music, The HAIL MARY (Ave Maria): Its Glorious Story in Art and Music stacks up as one of the more enterprising, and highly affordable volumes of its kind.
Features
- A concise history of the “Hail Mary” prayer.
- Impressive collection of 42 color plates, including magnificent works by Botticelli, Peter Paul Rubens, El Greco, and church mosaics, stained glass, sculpture, and exquisite manuscript illuminations.
- Reverential 15-track CD, including works by Bach/Gounod, Palestrina, Mozart, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Verdi. etc.
- The prayer in 25 different languages.
