Canadian-born R. Nathaniel Dett graduated from Oberlin College in 1908, going on to study with Arthur Foote at Harvard, with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and at every major center of musical learning in the United States. He earned his Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music at the age of 49—after having been awarded two honorary doctorates.

Dett wrote extensively for voice, keyboard and orchestra, and dedicated the bulk of his career to the expression of Black music in a variety of classical idioms. With Harry Burleigh, Dett was one of the first composers to set down spirituals in choral arrangements, many based on his transcriptions from the famous Hampton Institute sessions.

This original setting of Ave Maria is written in the sumptuous close-harmony language that dominated American choral writing through the 1930s, but with a modal flavor that lends it a poignant devotional character. The material is well within the grasp of most choirs, but note that the vocal range is quite extensive (soprano up to B♭5, tenor from D♭3 to A♭4; the bass ranges down to D♭2 but has +8va alternate notes below F2).

Text

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus,
et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatoribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.

Hail Mary, filled with grace,
The Lord is with you.
You are blessed among women,
And blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.