French composer Charles Gounod’s Ave Maria only reached its final form after several trials.  Its standing as a sacred song to the words of the Latin prayer Ave Maria began in 1853.  Gounod first successfully introduced his melody as a Meditation on the First Prelude for piano by Bach.  This was a purely instrumental piece for violin (or cello) solo and piano, with organ ad libitum – built upon the first of Bach’s ‘48’, the Prelude in C, BWV 846 (c1715-22, rev]. Later in 1853, Gounod introduced it as a song, with words by French romantic poet Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869).  But it is with the words of the Latin prayer that Gounod’s melody found its enduring fame when published as a sacred song in 1859.