Ave Maria (Schubert)
52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's 1810 popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.
[1] The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Three) from Walter Scott's popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake,[2] in a German translation by Adam Storck [de] (1780–1822),[3] 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 exiled father to stay in the Goblin's cave as he has declined to join their previous host, Roderick Dhu, in rebellion against King James.
Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, sets off up the mountain with his warriors, but lingers and hears the distant sound of the harpist Allan-bane, accompanying Ellen who sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help.
[4] Schubert's setting is said to have first been performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in the little Austrian town of Steyregg and dedicated to her, which led to her becoming known as "the lady of the lake" herself.
[5] The opening words and refrain of Ellen's 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".
Wir schlafen sicher bis zum Morgen, Ob Menschen noch so grausam sind.
Wir woll'n uns still dem Schicksal beugen, Da uns dein heil'ger Trost anweht; Der Jungfrau wolle hold dich neigen, Dem Kind, das für den Vater fleht.
The murky cavern's heavy air Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; Then, Maiden!
Foul demons of the earth and air, From this their wonted haunt exiled, Shall flee before thy presence fair.
Walt Disney used Schubert's song in the final part of his 1940 film Fantasia, where he linked it to Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain in one of his most famous pastiches.
The end of Mussorgsky's work blends with almost no break into the beginning of Schubert's song, and as Deems Taylor remarked, the bells in Night on Bald Mountain, originally meant to signal the coming of dawn, which cause the demon Chernabog to stop his dark worship and the ghosts to return to the grave, now seem to be church bells signalling the beginning of religious services.
Now your ageless bell so sweetly sounds for listening ears, from heights of Heaven to brink of Hell in tender notes have echoed through the years.
Aloft from earth's far boundaries Each poor petition, every prayer, the hopes of foolish ones and wise must mount in thanks or grim despair.
You were not spared one pang of flesh, or mortal tear; So rough the paths your feet have shared, So great the bitter burden of your fear.
In dust you laid your weary head, the hopeless vigil of defeat was yours and flinty stone for bread Ave Maria!
The version heard in Fantasia was arranged by Leopold Stokowski especially for the film, and unlike the original, which is for a solo voice, is scored for soprano and mixed chorus, accompanied by the string section of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
