Michael Chapdelaine - Ave Maria Duet

Ave Maria arranged for and played on 2 guitars by Michael Chapdelaine,
This famous melody was composed by a French composer Charles Gounod from the romantic era on top of Prelude in C Major by J.S. Bach (BWV 846). Gounod considered Johann Sebastian as the “Master of masters.” In 1852, Gounod used to spend several evenings at his Paris home to play accompanied by his fiancée Anna Zimmermann. Anna’s father, Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann was a famous composer and pianist who had taught at the Paris Conservatory for many years. One evening, Gounod improvised melody over Bach’s Prelude in C and was overheard by Zimmermann. Pierre rushed into the room and asked Gounod to play it again, and subsequently scribbled down the piece in musical notations. In 1853, Gounod’s works were published under the name “Meditation on the First Prelude of Sebastian Bach.”
Charles Gounod added words to his composition after 1859. However, the first wordings that were utilized was not “Ave Maria,” but a short poem by Alphonse de Lamartine, titled “Vers écrits sur un album.” Gounod selected this poem as the text for “Meditation,” and also gifted a copy to his student Rosalie Jousset. However, Rosalie’s mother-in-law suggested an alternative text under the original poem. It was the text of the popular Latin prayer “Ave Maria.”
Gounod never considered “Ave Maria” to be a significant part of his whole life’s work. He didn’t even mention it in his autobiography. With time, “Ave Maria” has become a common fixture at social events, funerals, masses, and weddings. It also has several different instrumental arrangements, for trombones, cello, piano solo, string quartet, guitar, and violin.