Catholic Marian music

Roman Catholic Marian music shares a trait with some other forms of Christian music in adding another emotional dimension to the process of veneration and in being used in various Marian ceremonies and feasts. Marian music is now an inherent element in many aspects of the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholic Mariology.

Throughout the centuries Marian music has grown and progressed, and witnessed a resurgence along with the Renaissance, e.g. with the composition of the Ave Maria motet by Josquin des Prez. The tradition continued with a number of great composers up to the late 19th century, e.g. with Giuseppe Verdi's Ave Maria in 1880 followed by his Laudi alla Vergine Maria.

One of the oldest Marian intonations is credited to Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-374). The Church names an ancient liturgy after him (Ambrosian Rite), which is actually older but nonetheless traditionally attributed to him. Some 870 parishes in the diocese of Milan still use the ancient Ambrosian rite. Several Ambrosian rite Marian texts were intonated, for example the famous Gaude:

Marian hymns by Ambrose include the Confractorium from the Christmas liturgy and in a poetic creation of Saint Ambrose celebrating the Mother of God: Intende, qui Regis Israel.

One of the earliest medieval Marian compositions is the popular Salve Regina in Latin from a Benedictine monk at the Reichenau Island (Lake Constance), which exists in several Gregorian versions. The liturgy of the hour includes several offices to be sung. At the close of the Office, one of four Marian antiphons is sung. These songs, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Ave Regina Caelorum, Regina Coeli, and Salve Regina, have been described as "among the most beautiful creations of the late Middle Ages."

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