Ave Maria

Gounod improvised the melody in 1853 over the C major Prelude that opens Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, using the older piece unaltered as accompaniment. It was published first as an instrumental Méditation sur le premier prélude de J. S. Bach; the Latin text of the Ave Maria was fitted to it only in 1859, after which the piece spread through churches and weddings in every possible arrangement. Bach's prelude dates from 1722, so the two halves of the composition stand a hundred and thirty years apart.