SKU: A0.548694

A Bassoon Christmas/Easter classic! Duration: 4:55 Score: 3 pg. Bassoon part: 1 pg. Piano reads from the score. Schubert seems to have composed this piece as a song-setting. This is because he wanted to portray a poignant emotional event from a poem. The poem was Walter Scott's The Lady of the Lake. Consequently, this song became an integral part of Schubert's Song cycle. Therefore the cycle is called: the Lady of the Lake. In the poem, Ellen Douglas is the Lady of the Lake. The lake is probably Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands. First of all, Ellen goes with her father to stay in the Goblin's cave. They go because he earlier refused to join in a rebellion against King James. Roderick Dhu, the chief of the rebellious Alpine Clan, marches up the mountain with his army. But before the battle, he, first of all, hears Ellen singing. She is singing a prayer calling for help from the Virgin Mary. Schubert's piece was first performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in Steyregg, Austria.  Schubert dedicated the arrangement to her, and as a result, she became famous as the lady of the lake.The incipit of Ellen's song is Ave Maria which is Latin for Hail Mary. It seems like this similarity led Schubert to adapt the melody to accommodate the Roman Catholic prayer Ave Maria. Consequently, the Latin version of Ave Maria finally became more famous than the original so that consequently many believe he wrote the Latin version first.

Schubert

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was, in fact, a famous Austrian composer. Moreover, he composed during the late Classical and early Romantic periods. Schubert was comparatively prolific. He wrote more than 600 secular vocal works, seven symphonies, and, correspondingly, a massive amount of piano and chamber music. Critics agree, as a matter of fact, that his most famous works include his Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667 (also known as the Trout Quintet), the Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759 (Unfinished Symphony), the last sonatas for piano (D. 958–960), and the song cycles Die schöne Müllerin (D. 795) and Winterreise (D. 911).

Education

Schubert was furthermore a musical child prodigy. He studied violin with his father as well as piano with his older brother. In addition, when Schubert was eleven he studied at Stadtkonvikt school, where he became familiar with the orchestral music of Haydn, Mozart, and likewise Beethoven. In due time he left school and returned home where he studied to become an educator; nevertheless, he continued studying composition with Antonio Salieri.

Performance

Eventually, Schubert was admitted to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde as a performer. This appointment straightaway established his name in Vienna as a composer and pianist. Finally, he gave his only composition recital in 1828. He died suddenly a few months later probably due to typhoid fever.

Legacy

Schubert’s music was by and large underappreciated while he was alive. There were all in all only a few enthusiasts in Vienna. After he died, however, interest in his work in fact increased. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other famous composers in due time discovered his compositions. Nowadays, historians rank Schubert expressly among the greatest composers of the era, and his music remains in general very popular.