John Rutter (b.1945)

John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador. John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.

"As with the majority of his choral work, John Rutter's Ave Maria features plenty of fluent and lyrical melodic writing, underpinned with generally reassuring harmonies that are intensified through emotive key changes. Although a 5/8 time signature prevails, the material is largely instinctive and stepwise, and should be appealing for a wide range of performers. . . The edition is clean and clear." - Tom Wiggall, Music Teacher July 07

"It is a beautifully moving piece, with a tranquil, 5/8 rocking theme heard in various different keys. It culminates in a descending chain of overlapping phrases on 'benedicta tu', before what can only be the voice of the angel in the form of a solo soprano sings a final 'Ave Maria'." - Church Music Quarterly June 2007