Pieces › Franz Schubert

Ellens Gesang III, D.839 (Ave Maria)

Op. 52 · No. 6

Franz Schubert · 1825 · B♭ major · 17 bars · 45 chords analysed

Ellen's third song, from Walter Scott's poem “The Lady of the Lake”, is a prayer to the Virgin Mary. Its opening words “Ave Maria” made it one of the most famous melodies ever written.

Schubert wrote more than 600 songs in a short life, turning the German Lied into a major art form. A song (in German, a Lied) sets a poem for voice and piano. The piano is a full partner: it paints the scene, the weather and the singer's mood. This score comes from the OpenScore Lieder Corpus, a free collection of 19th-century songs that includes many women composers.

Keys visited: B♭ major, G minor, F major.