First published in 1810, Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake was an immensely popular work throughout the 19th century. Indeed, one of its plots, namely the uprising of the highland clans against the lowland Scots, helped inspire some years later a renewed interest in Scottish culture known as the Highland Revival. The poem’s influence even reached as far as Austria, where in 1825 Franz Schubert composed settings of seven songs, one of which was his immensely popular and beloved Ave Maria (Ellens dritter Gesang), from the work based on a loose German translation made by Adam Storck. The cycle, however, was not intended for one performer. The first, second and sixth songs are the songs of Ellen Douglas and written for female voice; the fifth and seventh for male voice, specifically the baritone Johann Michael Vogl; and the third and fourth for male quartet and female choir, respectively.Published the following year as his opus 52, the cycle was dedicated to Countess Sophie Weissenwolff, for which she herself became known as the “the lady of the lake,” and it is believed the songs were also first performed at her castle in the Austrian town of Steyregg.
In Ellen’s second song, “Jäger, ruhe von der Jagd” (“Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done”), Schubert evokes the sounds of the hunt with an opening melodic motif reminiscent of hunting horns and a prevalent dotted-eighth rhythms. The three-stanza poem is given a simple ternary form. The outer stanzas are strophic, and the vocal melody is fragmentary, divided by the motif heard in the piano introduction. Building off of already-heard material, the middle stanza is given a more dramatic treatment by shifting into the key of the relative minor but eventually modulating into C-flat major. After the final stanza, the song comes full circle to close with the introduction with which it began.Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Soprano
Franz Schubert
Ellens Gesang II, D. 838 Play
Recorded on 08/16/2009, uploaded on 11/10/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
First published in 1810, Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady of the Lake was an immensely popular work throughout the 19th century. Indeed, one of its plots, namely the uprising of the highland clans against the lowland Scots, helped inspire some years later a renewed interest in Scottish culture known as the Highland Revival. The poem’s influence even reached as far as Austria, where in 1825 Franz Schubert composed settings of seven songs, one of which was his immensely popular and beloved Ave Maria (Ellens dritter Gesang), from the work based on a loose German translation made by Adam Storck. The cycle, however, was not intended for one performer. The first, second and sixth songs are the songs of Ellen Douglas and written for female voice; the fifth and seventh for male voice, specifically the baritone Johann Michael Vogl; and the third and fourth for male quartet and female choir, respectively. Published the following year as his opus 52, the cycle was dedicated to Countess Sophie Weissenwolff, for which she herself became known as the “the lady of the lake,” and it is believed the songs were also first performed at her castle in the Austrian town of Steyregg.
In Ellen’s second song, “Jäger, ruhe von der Jagd” (“Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done”), Schubert evokes the sounds of the hunt with an opening melodic motif reminiscent of hunting horns and a prevalent dotted-eighth rhythms. The three-stanza poem is given a simple ternary form. The outer stanzas are strophic, and the vocal melody is fragmentary, divided by the motif heard in the piano introduction. Building off of already-heard material, the middle stanza is given a more dramatic treatment by shifting into the key of the relative minor but eventually modulating into C-flat major. After the final stanza, the song comes full circle to close with the introduction with which it began. Joseph DuBose
courtesy of the Steans Music Institute
More music by Franz Schubert
Der Wanderer an den Mond
Tränenregen, from Die schöne Müllerin
Moment musicaux, D. 780 No. 4
Erlkönig
Piano Sonata D. 958, Finale: Allegro
Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 30, D617
Impromptu Op. 90 No. 2 in E-flat Major, D. 899
Notturno
Standchen, Lieder for Flute and Piano
Impromptu No. 2 in E-flat, Op. Posth. D.946
Performances by same musician(s)
En sourdine
Fantoches
Offrande
En sourdine
Ellens Gesang I, D. 837
Claire de lune, from Quatre chansons de jeunesse
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
The Steans Music Institute is the Ravinia Festival's professional studies program for young musicians.