Amazon "Ave Maria" TV commercial

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This can’t possibly be Barbara Bonney. It didn’t even sound like her, and the overall quality was beneath her expertise as a professional, classically trainer singer. I have many of her recordings and have seen her live. If this was truly Barbara Bonney, she has really slipped from where she once was, and how disappointing if this is the case.

Whoever was singing had very poor diction and equally poor musicianship. It was like nails on a chalk board. Her timing was quite off from the composition, I’m sure a nightmare for the accompanist. Vocal quality, while there was ability and some promise, was inconsistent. Not a particularly well-trained (or not fully trained) classical Singer. If anything, that rendition, in it of itself, was more of a problem for me prayer-wise, than having it on a commercial. To be honest, it was quite surprising and refreshing to hear a religious piece on secular media. But the mediocre rendering ruined any kind of spiritual prayerfulness of it. What also got me upset was that this was the kind of quality being promoted, rather than something of the highest caliber.

What a shame.
 
I can see both sides - I’m curious to know how Amazon settled on this hymn for their commercial. Then I could decide whether I like the idea or not.

I would imagine that this commercial offends more Catholics than anybody else because of our devotion to Mary.

Makes me wonder - what would the response be like if Amazon had used a musical composition of the Our Father instead?

Just a thought.
 
I LOVE it! Every time I hear the commercial I stop what I am doing, close my eyes and take in that beautiful song which I only ever heard in church. I am not offended at all. It makes me smile.
 
I belong to a Classical Singer on-line group and the classical Singer community was also very offended by it, although mostly for different, secular reasons, namely the lack of musicianship of the singer, as well as inconsistent, mediocre mastery of her instrument (the voice), and the awful diction. In particular, the way she says “Maria”. It was so blatant. In truth, there was much more discussion about it amongst the classical singers on that forum, than among Catholics. Many were also concerned over how the low quality of this singer promoted a dumbing down of classical vocal music.

As I mentioned on my previous post, it was refreshing to hear a Catholic piece of work on the television, especially during a time when Catholicism is looked down upon. However, the poor rendering of it ruined any kind of spiritual prayerfulness I would normally experience with that work or other sacred works.
 
I took it to show that the noise canceling headphones allowed him to enjoy the beauty of that song even though the kids were doing noisy band practice. I, too, enjoy listening to Ave Maria every time the commercial is on tv.
 
I’m having a hard time getting worked up about this. I feel it is a good thing that so many millions are hearing this that may never have otherwise. It may be used for a commercial with a purpose of selling items but that does not take away from its intrinsic beauty
 
It is worth noting that “Ave Maria” was written by Franz Schubert as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott’s popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake. Catholics and Christians in general have no special claim on this piece of music. It was adopted by Christians, but it does not belong to them any more than Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. This appearance in the commercial was not disrespectful. The message it presented was that it is good to listen to this music amidst the noise of daily life, and that listening to it is a peaceful and uplifting experience. What’s not to like? The fact that Amazon offers a means to enjoy this music better is no worse than publishers of a hymnal advertising their wares to churches to facilitate worship.
 
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I agree with you and with those supporting the ad saying that we shouldn’t run and hide our religion. It goes both ways. I don’t think the use is blasphemous. If, say, Virgin Mary appeared in a political ad and say “vote this or that”, or she was saying that this or that product is heavenly and we should buy it, this would be problematic.
I can’t help but notice though - who is most likely to buy the plugs? The father or the kid’s generation? To whom is the ad targeted at? I can’t help but notice… so the father (the older generation) is listening to Ave Maria, while the younger cool one is making noise against it. I may be nitpicking, but if the story was reversed, the dad was listening to say rock music from his younger days and the kid wanted to sing Ave Maria, wouldn’t that have been edgier?
 
I like to think the dad was quietly praying that band practice would end.
 
To add to the original source of this music:

The poem drew on the romance of the legend regarding the 5th century British leader King Arthur, but transferred it to Scott’s native Scotland. In 1825 during a holiday in Upper Austria, the composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) set to music a prayer from the poem using a German translation by Adam Storck. Scored for piano and voice, it was first published in 1826 as “D839 Op 52 no 6.” Schubert called his piece “Ellens dritter Gesang” (Ellen’s third song) and it was written as a prayer to the Virgin Mary from a frightened girl, Ellen Douglas, who had been forced into hiding.
Also, this particular composition was a huge financial success for Schubert!

Schubert’s Ave Maria has also been used in other places:

In the Disney movie, Fantasia --however, the text for this version is sung in English and was written by Rachel Field.

In the 1935 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein , a hermit plays the piece on solo violin, which soothes the Creature.

In the 1943 American musical film, Stage Door Canteen.

And two other prominent occasions for this music:
On September 12th 1953, tenor Luigi Vena sang “Ave Maria” at the wedding of U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier…
And a little over ten years later he performed the song again, this time at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy.
 
My concern is, the Christian faith is in danger of of being consumed by the modern culture. When the sacred becomes common, truth becomes myth.

St. Nicholas has become Santa Claus. What will Mary become?

Why did Jesus drive out the money changers from the temple?
 
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I like the commercial.
HomeschoolDad said:
A non-Catholic in an area such as this might see the commercial, be struck by the beauty of the hymn, and wish to learn more about Catholicism.
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I was thinking the same way except the longer way. Maybe someone will hear the song, learn the words, learn about who Maria was which brings them to the Catholic church.
hvizsgyak said:
Plus in my heart, I feel Amazon only used the song to say “hey, look, we associate with religious things”
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Maybe they didn’t even think of it as being associated with any religion, maybe just being associated with peace. Besides before you mentioned I thought it was a simply beautiful opera song about Mary.
Mary888 said:
I may be nitpicking, but if the story was reversed, the dad was listening to say rock music from his younger days and the kid wanted to sing Ave Maria, wouldn’t that have been edgier?
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I think that would have been AWESOME, cause it would shown that Amazon isn’t stereotyping our children and that the next generation does want beauty, grace, hope, faith, peace, love and God to be heard.

Wouldn’t you love to hear your kids singing “Ave Maria” with their friends… not with a rock beat but done respectfully, maybe.

I think anything that brings you to God in a positive way is, as God thought in Genesis… Good. 🙂
 
Very offended by this commercial. Should never use this song anywhere outside of a church. Amazon hurt me with this one.
 
Noah1 said:
Very offended by this commercial. Should never use this song anywhere outside of a church. Amazon hurt me with this one.
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This is very mild compared to the insults that the media heap upon the Church and upon the Faith every day of the world. I wouldn’t have made this commercial, but the portrayal is not per se irreverent, and it could introduce people to Marian spirituality and traditional hymnody.
 
Yep, agreed.

I would also say…odds are, they didn’t/don’t even know it’s a Catholic Hymn. They picked it because it, like you said, sounds nice.

I’m 41 and was “today years old” when I found out it’s a Catholic Hymn.

Not everything needs to be connected to some sort of agenda.
 
Noah1 said:
Very offended by this commercial. Should never use this song anywhere outside of a church. Amazon hurt me with this one.
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The song was not written for the Church. It was adopted by the Church later, but it never did belong to the Church.

Many people who were offended by the commercial did not watch it to the end. Therefore they got the mistaken impression that all the crude stuff that other members of the family were doing was being done to the same Ave Maria music. At the end we learn that only one member of the family was listening to the music, and to all appearances it seemed that person was listening to it with reverence - the same way any one might listen to it in church. There was nothing improper about the use of this secular composition in a secular commercial.
 
I think most everyone watched it to the end and realized the message of the
commercial and the man was the only one listening to Ave Maria.
 
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