A cappella This beautiful variant of the Ave Maria text has been set to music only occasionally, most notably by the Renaissance composer Gesualdo. This setting calls for three brief solo passages and one set of finger cymbals. The opening antiphon presents the full text in chant, accompanied by the finger cymbals. The first line of text is then sung in chordal fashion and continued in imitative polyphony, including a brief reference to a motive from Gesualdo's setting. "O Maria, flos virginum..." is ecstatic and rapturous, leading to a return of the quiet and meditative opening, the concluding "Alleluia" and the reprise of the opening antiphon, with finger cymbals. This modern a cappella work incorporates a flavor of the Renaissance with compelling effect!