Ave Maria

AVE MARIA
 
 
“Ave Maria”  (originally “Ellen’s Third Song”) was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott’s popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.  It has become one of Schubert’s most popular works.  The opening words and refrain of “Ellen’s Third Song”, namely “Ave Maria” (Latin for “Hail Mary”), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert’s melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer “Ave Maria”.  The Latin version of the “Ave Maria” is now so frequently used with Schubert’s melody that it has led to the misconception that he originally wrote the melody as a setting for the “Ave Maria”.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

Wikipedia states:  “The band [Eleven] cites their major influences as Jimmy Page and Led ZeppelinQueenThe Beatles, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Sergei Prokofiev.  With Chris Cornell [of Soundgarden and Audioslave], they recorded [Natasha] Shneider’s arrangement of Franz Schubert’sAve Maria’, which appears on the album, A Very Special Christmas 3 [1997], in the liner notes of which they state they deliberately chose a classical work to help interest young people in classical music.” 

 

(April 2015/1)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021