“Angelus ad Virginem” (“The Angel to the Virgin Came”) is a carol dating to the Medieval era whose text is a poetic paraphrase of the “Ave Maria” (“Hail Mary”) and the account of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary found in the first chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke. It is thought to be Franciscan in origin and to have been brought to Britain by Franciscan friars in the 13th century. So popular was the song by the time of Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) that he mentions it in “The Miller’s Tale”: “Playing so sweetly that the chamber rang; / And Angelus ad virginem he sang…”
This arrangement of the lively tune evokes both the ancient and the modern and includes parts for tambourine and bodhran (for which a tenor drum may be used).
View a performance by the Westminster Brass, Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Score, parts (Bb tpt. 1, Bb tpt. 2, F horn, tbn, tuba, tambourine, bodhran) — $12.99
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