Schubert’s Ave Maria is undoubtedly the most famous and well-known Ave Maria by the general public.
But perhaps not everyone knows its story, and it is worth telling it because it is very compelling.
The music for this aria was written by Franz Schubert in 1825 and was part of seven Lieder (songs) on a poem by Walter Scott entitled The Lady of the Lake.
The original title of the song was Ellens dritter Gesang (Ellen’s third song).
The protagonist Ellen Douglas sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary in the opera, invoking her help for the salvation of her father.
This music was then used to set the Ave Maria to music and immediately became very welcome and famous.
Other explanations say that the song is linked to a serious fact. It is assumed that Schubert himself was in love with a neighbor of his. This Lady had several suitors and one of them, out of an impulse of anger or jealousy, I kill her husband. It is said then that Schubert, who had composed the music and wrote some verses dedicated to this woman, withdrew the song and put it hidden in a drawer. He fished it out years later and adapted the music to the text of the Ave Maria in Latin. Apart from the tabloid theories invented or not, many bishops forbid the playing and singing of this Ave Maria within religious services.
The reason why this Ave Maria is not sung during functions, generally at weddings, is because it is identified as a religious but not liturgical song since the music was composed for profane purposes..
However, it is always at the discretion of the priest who celebrates the function.
Other famous Ave Maria are: that of Bach / Gounod, Caccini, Offenbach and that of Giuseppe Verdi.
TESTO:
Ave Maria, Grazia Plena
Maria Grazia Plena, Maria Grazia Plena
Ave, ave Dominus, Dominus tecum
Benedica tui mulieribus, et benediictus
Benedictus fructus ventris
Ventris tui Jeusus
Ave Maria.
Video: Ave Maria di Shubert
Un abbraccio/ a big Hug
Marcus Dardi
