Schubert's Ave Maria Exposed

Wikipedia sources say: This composition has become so famous under "Schubert's Ave Maria," that few today refer to it/call it by its real name of "Ellen's Third Song." Likewise, the march from the second act of Lohengrin (the wedding march) is hardly if ever refer to as such....

Schubert composed "Ellens dritter Gesang" (Ellen's Third Song) to a poem/words by Walter Scott from his famous epic poem: The lady of The lake. Ellen (Ellen Douglas) is the protagonist in the novel. Ellen has gone to hide in a cave (Scottish Highlands: Goblin's Cave). The refuge was supplied by no other than the king's enemies (Roderick Dhu) whom the king himself is searching for and seeking revenge on. Ellen sings her song seeking the virgin's help in the matter. The original version of the Ave Maria set in Latin has little to do with the words when sung in its original German version of the song, however: years later the melody was adapted to the Latin sacred text (prayer), and it's in this version that most of the world has come to know this song by.

The name "Lady of The Lake" was given to the song by an Austrian countess whom refer to it as such, but neither "Ave Maria" or "The Lady of The Lake" are the song's true titles.

Schubert is the father of the art song. He's considered by many to have been one of the greatest song writer/lyricist (although these terms didn't exist when Schubert was around) that has ever lived; Schubert composed more than 500 art songs (song's which tell a story, as in the case of the song/composition being discussed in this article today).

The words to Ellen's Third Song (poem actually) can be found at Wikipedia, and they tell the story of what is actually taking place in Scott's epic, and if you read the epic poem: you can see the story/plot unfolding.

The "Dritter" (Three) is made reference to because Schubert composed seven art songs to Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake, but this one is hands down his most famous and beloved of all the songs Schubert wrote, and this includes the other 490 plus art songs that he set to texts by Shakespeare, Goethe, Scott, etc., etc.... (Only song number five of the seven songs remained in the original English version, the remaining six other songs were all translated into German.)

This melody is recognizable by most/everyone under the sun, but ironically enough: few people know it by its real name. But even more ironic than this: is that unlike the Gounod "Ave Maria," this composition was not written for/or with the church in mind....