The "Four Sacred Pieces" for chorus are Giuseppe Verdi's (1813-1901) last compositions and were first performed in April, 1898. Ave Maria, the first of the "Four Sacred Pieces" was composed for four-part unaccompanied chorus. It is based on a scale that Verdi called "Scala enigmatica." Unlike any of the scales we recognize, it is composed of an unusual series of steps and half steps: C, D-flat, E, F-sharp, G-sharp, A-sharp, B, C. The F is natural when the scale descends. This forms the basis of the composition. In the choral version, it is a setting of the Hail Mary prayer, and that text states best the mood of this beautiful and unusual composition. This arrangement for developing band has been completed by Barbara Buehlman.