Franz Schubert Ave Maria

Just to clarify This piece is often referred to as Schubert s Ave Maria; but it was originally composed as a setting of a song from Walter Scott s popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation by Adam Storck (17801822), and thus forms part of Schubert s Liederzyklus vom Fräulein vom See. In Scott s poem the character Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake (Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands) has gone with her father to hide in the Goblin s cave nearby to avoid drawing the vengeance of the King on their host, Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, who has been sheltering them since the King had exiled them. She sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help. Roderick Dhu, who is higher on the mountain raising the clan for war, does not hear her song. Although the piece you are listening to is in the original German, many versions exist with the lyrics replaced entirely with the Latin Ave Maria prayer.