 " Ave Maria " is a song by American R & B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album I Am ... Sasha Fierce ( 2008 ) . Amanda Ghost , Ian Dench and Makeba Riddick wrote the song in collaboration with its producers Knowles and production duo Stargate . As stated by Ghost , " Ave Maria " was inspired by Knowles ' and her own respective marriages . The song is a re @-@ write of Franz Schubert 's " Ave Maria " . It is instrumentally complete with a piano and strings . Throughout the ballad , Knowles sings in a lower register with an operatic soprano . Lyrically , it speaks about being surrounded by friends but still feeling alone . 
