The Sound of Music

The Lady of the Lake

I make quite a few references to music, mostly classical given the period – 1833. This is rather cheeky of me because I am definitely not a musician of any description. It is all research. I refer to Schubert (1797-1828), Mozart (1756-1791), both Austrian (notice Schubert was even younger than Mozart when he died), Beethoven (1770-1827) and the Englishman,  John Gay and his ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ (1683-1732). I have my protagonist as a accomplished pianist. For any pianists out there, is Ave Maria a particularly difficult piece to play? Hannah attends a recital of Chopin’s music at Drury Lane but it is not by the genius himself. He did visit London but well before and after my dates.

Franz Schubert wrote the score to the beautiful Ave Maria in 1825. It was inspired by Sir Walter Scott’s poem, ‘The Lady of the Lake’.  My heroine, Hannah, is Scottish and so I couldn’t resist some references to her countrymen’s great writers, even if there are a few degrees of separation. 

 See the following information from 'SongFacts' for more information.

The original words of Ave Maria (Hail Mary) were in English, being part of a poem called The Lady of the Lake, written in 1810 by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). The poem drew on the romance of the legend regarding the 5th century British leader King Arthur, but transferred it to Scott's native Scotland. In 1825 during a holiday in Upper Austria, the composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) set to music a prayer from the poem using a German translation by Adam Storck. Scored for piano and voice, it was first published in 1826 as "D839 Op 52 no 6." Schubert called his piece "Ellens dritter Gesang" (Ellen's third song) and it was written as a prayer to the Virgin Mary from a frightened girl, Ellen Douglas, who had been forced into hiding.

The song cycle proved to be one of Schubert's most financially successful works, the Austrian composer being paid by his publisher 20 pounds sterling, a sizable sum for a musical work in the 1820s. Though not written for liturgical services, the music proved to be inspirational to listeners, particularly Roman Catholics, and a Latin text was substituted to make it suitable for use in church. It is today most widely known in its Latin "Ave Maria" form.

I have always loved the music of Ave Maria but I mostly listen to just the score. I have not been able to find a better rendition that that of the Chinese pianist, Lang Lang, available on YouTube. I challenge you not to be moved.

I even took the resolution of my love story into the music room where my protagonist is playing Beetoven's Fur Elise. It some sections played with only one hand, which is handy (no pun intended). No spoilers though.