There is a truth expressed in beauty that transcends the dry arguments of dogmatic theology. Although The Bach/Gounod arrangement is so well known, it’s been overdone. This one (1964) has captured my heart.

Franz Biebl (1906–2001) was a German composer born in Pursruck (Bavaria). He studied composition at the Musikhochschule in Munich and served as Choir Director at the St Maria in München-Thalkirchen from 1932 until 1939. He was drafted into the military beginning in 1943 during WWII. He was a prisoner of war from 1944 to 1946 at Fort Custer in Battle Creek, Michigan. After the war, he served as director of the town chorus in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. Ave Maria was written in 1964.

Ave Maria
Gratia plena
Maria, gratia plena
Ave, ave dominus
Dominus tecum
Benedicta tu in mulieribus
Et benedictus
Et benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tuae, Jesus.
Ave Maria

Ave Maria
Mater Dei
Ora pro nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora mortis
Et in hora mortis nostrae
Ave Maria

Merry Christmas.