Here is my attempt of a most ancient and popular hymn – Ave Maria.

The Ave Maria (or ‘Hail Mary’) is one of the most widely recited prayers among the world’s devout Christian population, especially Catholics. It has been chanted by the faithful both in private and in public for centuries. The prayer contains two parts. The first part derives from the Gospel of Luke. A recent research has proved that the second half of the prayer – the sinner’s direct plea to Mary—dates considerably earlier than commonly thought by historians.

I have rendered this hymn in three parts – the first in its ancient Aramaic version (believed to be the language that the Virgin Mary spoke at the time when the archangel came to her to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus and also the language that Jesus Christ spoke when He lived here on earth), the second in the Syriac version (which is a sub-dialect of Aramaic – the Western Syrian or the Palestinian variety) and the third in its later Ecclesiastical Latin version.

Aramaic is a dialect belonging to the Semitic family which also includes Canaanite languages such as Syriac, Hebrew and Phoenician. Dating back to the 10th or 9th century BC, Aramaic is one of the oldest languages of humanity and it had started evolving at the same period when Vedic Sanskrit was developing in the early Aryan settlement of Sindhu river valley.

Aramaic was the day-to-day language of Israel in the Second Temple period (539 BC – 70 AD), the language that Jesus Christ probably used the most. The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum in Galilee, where Jesus spent most of his time, were Aramaic-speaking communities. The Aramaic script was widely adopted for other languages later and is ancestral to both the Arabic and Hebrew.

Latin is an ancient Italic language originally spoken by the Italic Latins in Latium and Ancient Rome. It was later promulgated as a universal language by the Roman Catholic Church for its documents and liturgies.

I learnt all these portions of the hymn – the Aramaic from the version of Magda El Roomy, the famous Lebanese soprano singer, the Syriac from the hymn of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and the last – Franz Schubert’s Latin version of Ave Maria after listening to Andrea Bocelli, the noted Italian singer – all courtesy YouTube posts!.

It is just an experimental attempt of one of the most sacred hymns of mankind in three non-native languages and also absolutely alien music genres! So I request you all to give due weightage to all the limitations that I possess in attempting this adventure. (All the voices in the chorus and harmony are mine only.)


Ave Maria – A Trilingual Rendition (in Aramaic, Syriac & Latin)

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BLOG »» https://www.paoline.it/blog/liturgia/300-musica-liturgia-idee-e-suggerimenti-per-cantare-la-fede.html

Adeste fideles, di Marco Frisina

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- (AGNI PARTHENE) By Nikodimos Kavarnos

Theophany Hymn

Archimandrite Panteleimon Farah, the former abbot of Hamatoura Monastery (Lebanon), spiritual son of Elder Issac, a disciple of St Paisios the Athonite.

The Gospel of John(15: 17-27; 16: 1-2)-By Fr. Panteleimon Farah

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A journey to Christmas like nothing before, through the vioice of the world's top Byzantine chanter, Kabarnos.

At a state-of-the-art theater in Beirut, Lebanon, Kabarnos's voice soared against the background of stuning visuals, a mesmerized sold-out venue, and a choir that was the vocal canvas for his ethereal voice. 

Concept: Kabarnos/Habib Dagher
Producer: Habib Dagher
Blue Taurus Projects

Ave Maria – A Trilingual Rendition (in Aramaic, Syriac & Latin)

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