This Ave Maria, for which Charles Gounod composed a soaring melody that he then added to the well-known C major prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach, combines in a very pleasing manner the musical splendour of the baroque with a romantically sensitive expressiveness, and has enjoyed unprecedented popularity to the present day. Michael Aschauer's choral adaptation can be performed both a cappella and with piano accompaniment, and in both variants pays sensitive regard to the character of Gounod's original. Ideally suited to a wide variety of occasions, this arrangement can be performed to great effect in concerts, on ceremonial occasions, in religious services and at weddings.