Ave Maria

Jacob Handl, also known as Jacobus Gallus (1550–1591), a significant Slovenian composer of the Renaissance, was active primarily in the Habsburg territories during his lifetime, including Vienna, Olomouc, and Prague, which is why he is also regarded as an Austrian musician. He composed mainly sacred music, including more than 300 motets, 20 masses, and madrigals. I am not aware of any compositions for organ by him. His “Ave Maria” was long attributed to the Spanish composer Tomás Luis de Victoria. The arrangement for organ is a transcription of the SATB motet. Handl beautifully embeds the Latin prayer text in passages featuring counterpoint, duple and triple meters, as well as homophonic sections, and leads the contemplative mood of the piece into an extended “Amen.” The small organ of the fortified church in Gelence, Transylvania, in the Székely Land, with its 7 stops, offers an incredible variety of sounds for this harmony-filled music.

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