Ave Maria

I was blessed to have 24 years with all of my grandparents alive and well. Unfortunately, my maternal grandmother passed away in April. This happened while I was studying at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, FL. Coincidently, the rector of the seminary, Fr. Alfredo Hernandez, lost his mother during the same semester. Having never lost a close relative or friend, I’m not sure I knew how to grieve. Thankfully I was surrounded by people who I could turn to for support, but my instincts led me to the piano. It was there that I sorted out my feelings.

In the wake of these great ladies’ passing, I wrote an original setting of the Ave Maria. It starts with a lonely Tenor voice calling out for his mother, and in the end he is joined by his brothers in a warm bass ensemble. I made an appointment to see Fr. Alfredo and played the demo of the song dedicated in part to his mother. I did my best to cover the Tenor’s range and the midi voices screeched out their harmonies from my old laptop’s speakers, but my rector appreciated the gesture of commiseration. 

My family appointed me to handle the funeral details with my grandparents’ priest. We programmed the Ave Maria for the Offertory, which meant I had to find singers. Three of my brother seminarians stepped forward and we prepared the song. The funeral took place in the morning all the way up in Ocala, FL, so we woke up at 4:00 a.m., celebrated Mass with an early-rising priest, and drove the four hours to Christ the King Anglican Church. The funeral itself was lovely, and I was humbled to share my contribution to memorialize my grandmother.

Sometimes I wonder about the correlation between the emotions of a song and the emotions of the composer. I wrote a rather uplifting Ave Maria at an extremely low time in my life, and I did it by remembering the wonderful memories of my grandmother. I think that artists must be able to impart themselves onto their work. If the work requires happiness, the artist may recall the euphoria of past pleasures. If the work requires sadness, the artist must be willing to relive whatever painful experience is necessary. Thankfully, much of sacred music comes from a place of positive emotions. After all, we are contemplating God who is love.