Highland Park Community College Vocal Ensemble, 1968
Ave Maria by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Soloist, Jeremiah Hassel, Baritone (HPCC and HPHS graduate 1967)
Although Schubert’s “Ave Maria” sounds like a sacred choral piece or a vocal prayer, it is neither. Surprisingly, this seemingly simple song has very complicated origins. It originated from the poem “Lady of the Lake” by the prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Although this poem expresses some religious sentiments, it is essentially secular. Adam Storck translated this popular poem into German and Sir Walter Scott composed a simple Lied from it (a solo voice with interwoven piano accompaniment), and called the Lied “Ellens dritter Gesang” (“Ellen’s third song”). The Ave Maria “Hail Mary” as we know it today is actually an attempt to set a maiden’s prayer in Latin to Schubert’s German secular music. Notes by Dr. Clifford Larkins with help from www.choralnet.org: ChoralNet Resource List posting on 28-October-2002 and www.wikipedia.org (free online encyclopedia).