INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT "AVE MARIA"

No doubt "Ave Maria" is one of the most beautiful songs of all time. At the same time it is one of the most mysterious song. The authors of the most popular versions of “Ave Maria”, Franz Schubert and J.S.Bach, never wrote a songs with this title and “Ave Maria”, which was for a long time misattributed to baroque composer Giulio Caccini, was actually composed fifteen years ago.

Ave Maria by Franz Schubert

Schubert's version of Ave Maria was composed in 1825. Originally this song was entitled “Ellens dritter Gesang” (Ellen's Third Song).
The words to Ave Maria song were taken from Sir Walter Scott's poem "The Lady of the Lake" and Adam Storck wrote the German translation Schubert used for his Ave Maria song.
The confusion over the song title probably arose due to the opening verse of the song:
Ave Maria! Maiden mild!
Listen to a maiden's prayer!....

Ave Maria lyrics in German

Original English lyrics by Walter Scott

The German lyrics that Schubert set to music is not a perfect translation, but a fairly close one. The Lied may have first been performed at the home of Sophie Weissenwolff (1794-1847), who made it clear that she would like the dedication, and she received it.
Countess Weissenwolff subsequently became known as "The Lady Of The Lake."

The person who first set the Latin lyrics to Schubert's Ave Maria song remains a mystery to this day.

Listen to Schubert's "Ave Maria" in German

Ave Maria by J.S.Bach/Charls Gounod

This popular version of "Ave Maria" is acctually variation on the 1st prelude of Bach 's ""Well-Tempered Clavier".
In 1853 Charls Gounod made variation on the Bach's prelude. Originally it was instrumental piece for violin and piano, and only six years later the words to were added to this composition and this made it so popular.
Just as in case with Schubert’s song, the person who first set the lyrics to Gounod's variation on Bach's prelude remains a mystery untill now.
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"Ave Maria" And The Biggest Musical Hoax
The most beautiful version of "Ave Maria" which is usually misatributed to Italian composer Giulio Caccini (1551 – 1618) was actually composed and first performed by Russian guitarist, lutenist and composer Vladimir Vavilov (1925-1973).
In 1970 Vavilov recorded and publish this song on the album “Lute Music of the XVI-XVII centuries” on the Russian Melodia label with  the  song attribution to “Anonymous”.
Almost all songs on this album were composed by Vladimir Vavilov and ascribed to composers of Baroque era. The reason for such a hoax was banal. At that time it was impossible to imagine that the major Russian label will release the music of unknown soviet composer. As Vavilove’s  daughter Tamara mentioned "My father was convinced that the self-taught works of unknown composer with a trivial name "Vavilov" will  never be published. But he really wanted his music reached the audience and he went so far as to give all the glory to the medieval composers and "unknown authors."

Listen and download Ave Maria