Ave maris stella
Gregorian chant
Recording
Chœur des moines de l'Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, Dom Richard Gagné
- Album
- Liturgie latine
- Year
- 2002
- Length
- Period
- Gregorian chant
- Listen
Painting
Master of Rubielos de Mora
The Coronation of the Virgin with the Trinity, c. 1400
The piece
Ave maris stella is the hymn at Vespers on feasts of the Virgin Mary and survives in manuscripts from the ninth century. Its seven short stanzas greet Mary as star of the sea and gate of heaven and close with a doxology to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The recording
The monks of Solesmes, whose abbey prepared the modern editions of the chant books, sing it under their choirmaster Dom Richard Gagné. It was recorded in the abbey church in 2002 for Liturgie latine, a set of chants drawn from the Liber cantualis.
Other recordings
Victoria's 1600 setting, which alternates verses of the chant with polyphony, is recorded by Westminster Cathedral Choir under David Hill on Hyperion.