Schubert / Liszt, "Ave Maria"

 
Of the total number of lieder composed by Franz Peter Schubert during his short life of 31 years, those written for a single voice amount to an impressive 634, composed over a period of 13 years, between 1814 (at the age of 17) and 1827 (a year before his death). Schubert was not the inventor of the musical form, of course, but he was the one who took it to its highest peaks. This was greatly influenced by the composer's connection with the literary personalities with whom he shared a certain space and an era, the Vienna of the first quarter of the 19th century.

The poets
Some of them were his friends. Others, although far from his environment, were also a source of inspiration for his songs. This is the case of Schiller, or Heine, or Goethe, the latter a poet who, needless to say, did not bother to listen to the music that Schubert had created inspired by his texts.
But there was plenty to choose from, and the little master did not hesitate to draw inspiration from the great figures of world literature. Sir Walter Scott was one of them.

The Lady of the Lake
In 1810, the Scottish poet and novelist author of Ivanhoe and inventor of the romantic historical novel had published a narrative poem entitled "The Lady of the Lake," made up of three stories taken from folk tradition.
The last cantos narrate a war between the Lowland Scots led by King James V and the Highland clans following one of the heroes, Roderick Dhu, who also fights for the love of Ellen Douglas, the female character, the Lady of the Lake.

Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832)

Ellens Dritter Gesang
Translated into German, Schubert set three of Ellen Douglas's cantos to music. The last of these became the most successful and popular to this day, the lied "Ellens Dritter Gesang" (Third Song of Ellen). It is the prayer with which the protagonist cries for help for her and her father, victims of the conflict. Roderick was supposed to help her, but in the middle of the mountains, he does not listen to her. Ellen reinforces her prayer by invoking the Virgin Mary.

"Ave Maria"
The lied was composed in 1825 and published the following year. The piece was thus incorporated into the seven songs that make up the cycle of lieder "The Lady of the Lake" on the epic poem by Walter Scott. Some time later, taking advantage of the fact that Ellen's third song begins with the words "Ave Maria", Sir Walter Scott's text was changed to the traditional Catholic prayer in Latin that begins with the same invocation.

Piano transcription
By the middle of the 19th century, Franz Liszt had already invented the piano recital. He achieved this by greatly increasing the piano repertoire through transcriptions of orchestral works, opera arias, and, incidentally, lieder. Such was his musical inventiveness that he was able to make more than one transcription per work. For the lied "Ellens Dritter Gesang", the Hungarian master made three transcriptions. Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa presents here one of them.