Schubert’s “Ave Maria” is one of the most beloved songs ever written, but Schubert did not set the Latin Hail Mary. In 1825 he composed Ellens dritter Gesang (“Ellen’s Third Song”, D 839), a setting of a German translation of a prayer to the Virgin from Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake. Because the song begins with the words “Ave Maria”, singers soon began to sing it with the Latin Hail Mary, and that is the version heard today at weddings and funerals. Here are the Latin words sung today, Scott’s original English poem, the German text Schubert actually set, and the story of the song.
The Latin words sung today
At weddings, funerals and concerts, Schubert’s melody is usually sung with the Latin Hail Mary:
Ave, Maria, grátia plena,
Dóminus tecum.
Benedícta tu in muliéribus,
et benedíctus fructus ventris tui,
Iesus.
Sancta María, Mater Dei,
ora pro nobis peccatóribus,
nunc et in hora mortis nostræ.
Amen.
In English (Baltimore Catechism, 1891):
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
The Latin prayer was fitted to Schubert’s melody after his death; it does not match the musical phrases exactly, so singers repeat or stretch some words.
Walter Scott’s original English poem (1810)
In The Lady of the Lake (Canto III), the young Ellen Douglas, hiding with her outlawed father in a mountain cave, sings this “Hymn to the Virgin”:
Ave Maria! maiden mild!
Listen to a maiden’s prayer!
Thou canst hear though from the wild,
Thou canst save amid despair.
Safe may we sleep beneath thy care,
Though banished, outcast, and reviled–
Maiden! hear a maiden’s prayer;
Mother, hear a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! undefiled!
The flinty couch we now must share
Shall seem with down of eider piled,
If thy protection hover there.
The murky cavern’s heavy air
Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled;
Then, Maiden! hear a maiden’s prayer,
Mother, list a suppliant child!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! stainless styled!
Foul demons of the earth and air,
From this their wonted haunt exiled,
Shall flee before thy presence fair.
We bow us to our lot of care,
Beneath thy guidance reconciled:
Hear for a maid a maiden’s prayer,
And for a father hear a child!
Ave Maria!
The German text Schubert set (1825)
Schubert used the German translation by Adam Storck:
Ave Maria! Jungfrau mild,
Erhöre einer Jungfrau Flehen,
Aus diesem Felsen starr und wild
Soll mein Gebet zu dir hinwehen.
Wir schlafen sicher bis zum Morgen,
Ob Menschen noch so grausam sind.
O Jungfrau, sieh der Jungfrau Sorgen,
O Mutter, hör ein bittend Kind!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! Unbefleckt!
Wenn wir auf diesen Fels hinsinken
Zum Schlaf, und uns dein Schutz bedeckt
Wird weich der harte Fels uns dünken.
Du lächelst, Rosendüfte wehen
In dieser dumpfen Felsenkluft,
O Mutter, höre Kindes Flehen,
O Jungfrau, eine Jungfrau ruft!
Ave Maria!
Ave Maria! Reine Magd!
Der Erde und der Luft Dämonen,
Von deines Auges Huld verjagt,
Sie können hier nicht bei uns wohnen,
Wir woll’n uns still dem Schicksal beugen,
Da uns dein heil’ger Trost anweht;
Der Jungfrau wolle hold dich neigen,
Dem Kind, das für den Vater fleht!
Ave Maria!
The story of Schubert’s Ave Maria
- 1810: Walter Scott publishes The Lady of the Lake, a long narrative poem set in the Scottish Highlands. Ellen’s prayer to the Virgin is one of its songs.
- 1825: during a summer journey in Upper Austria, Schubert sets seven songs from the poem in Storck’s German translation. The third song of Ellen becomes famous at once.
- Schubert’s own comment: in a letter to his family of July 1825 he wrote that people were surprised by the devotion expressed in his hymn to the Blessed Virgin, which seemed to move everyone; he explained that he never forced himself to feel devotion.
- 1826: the song is published as Op. 52 No. 6, with both the German and the English words.
- Afterwards: singers and arrangers adapted the melody to the Latin Hail Mary, and in that form it entered Catholic weddings and funerals around the world.
Can Schubert’s Ave Maria be sung at Mass?
It is not a liturgical text in its German or English form, but the Latin version is the Hail Mary itself. Many parishes allow it at weddings and funerals, usually during the preparation of the gifts, after Communion or during a moment of devotion to Mary. Practice varies, so ask your parish priest or music director when planning the celebration. See the Catholic wedding guide and Catholic funeral hymns.
Frequently asked questions
Who wrote the words of Schubert’s Ave Maria?
Walter Scott wrote the original English poem (1810); Adam Storck translated it into German, and Schubert set Storck’s text in 1825. The Latin words usually sung today are the traditional Hail Mary.
Is Schubert’s Ave Maria a Catholic prayer?
Its words are a prayer to the Virgin Mary, and in its Latin form it is the Hail Mary, the best-known Catholic prayer to Mary.
What is the difference between Schubert’s and Bach-Gounod’s Ave Maria?
They are different pieces. The Bach-Gounod Ave Maria (1859) is a melody by Charles Gounod written over the first prelude of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, sung with the Latin Hail Mary from the start.
More Marian prayers
- Hail Mary
- Hail Mary in Latin
- Ave Maris Stella
- Catholic hymns
- Memorare
- In Spanish: Ave María de Schubert; in Italian: Ave Maria di Schubert
Sources
- Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake (1810), Canto III, “Hymn to the Virgin” (Project Gutenberg #3011).
- Adam Storck’s German translation as set by Schubert, Ellens Gesang III, D 839, Op. 52 No. 6 (1825).
- Schubert’s letter to his parents, July 1825 (O. E. Deutsch, Schubert: Die Dokumente seines Lebens).
- Hail Mary: Latin text; English from the Baltimore Catechism (1891).