Ave Maria (Schubert)

[TheOctopus]

Ave Maria (Schubert)

Anastasiya Petryshak, violin

Orchestra Cantelli
Franz Schubert
Ave Maria

Milan, Basilica sant'Ambrogio - 18 December 2015


"The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Three) from Walter Scott's popular narrative poem The Lady of the Lake,[2] in a German translation by Adam Storck [de] (1780–1822),[3] and thus forms part of Schubert's Liederzyklus vom Fräulein vom See. In Scott's poem the character Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake (Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands), has gone with her exiled father to stay in the Goblin's cave as he has declined to join their previous host, Roderick Dhu, in rebellion against King James. Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, sets off up the mountain with his warriors, but lingers and hears the distant sound of the harpist Allan-bane, accompanying Ellen who sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help. Roderick Dhu pauses, then goes on to battle.[4]

Schubert's arrangement is said to have first been performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in the little Austrian town of Steyregg and dedicated to her, which led to her becoming known as "the lady of the lake" herself.[5]

The opening words and refrain of Ellen's song, namely "Ave Maria" (Latin for "Hail Mary"), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert's melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer "Ave Maria". The Latin version of the "Ave Maria" is now so frequently used with Schubert's melody that it has led to the misconception that he originally wrote the melody as a setting for the "Ave Maria"."

Ave Maria, F. Schubert - Anastasiya Petryshak Ave Maria, F. Schubert - Anastasiya Petryshak - YouTube

 

[Shadowfax]

Awesome! This is a fav of my Italian wife's and sends chills up my arms when I hear good versions. I have always liked the version in the Stereophile Test CD 2.

[7] Franz Schubert: Ave Maria (DDD) 4:35
Takaoki Sugitani (violin), William "Pat" Partridge (Aeolian-Skinner organ)

Recording Venue: Christchurch Cathedral, St. Louis, MO
Recording Date: October 1990
Recording Engineer: John M. Blaine
Microphones: Three B&K 4006s (black grilles) in spaced-omni configuration, with a Schoeps MK4 cardioid on violin
Microphone preamplifier: Schoeps CMC 5
Recorder: Sony PCM-601ES A/D converter, Sony Beta VCR, transferred in the digital domain to Panasonic 3700 DAT recorder

 

[TheOctopus]

Awesome! This is a fav of my Italian wife's and sends chills up my arms when I hear good versions. I have always liked the version in the Stereophile Test CD 2.

[7] Franz Schubert: Ave Maria (DDD) 4:35
Takaoki Sugitani (violin), William "Pat" Partridge (Aeolian-Skinner organ)

Recording Venue: Christchurch Cathedral, St. Louis, MO
Recording Date: October 1990
Recording Engineer: John M. Blaine
Microphones: Three B&K 4006s (black grilles) in spaced-omni configuration, with a Schoeps MK4 cardioid on violin
Microphone preamplifier: Schoeps CMC 5
Recorder: Sony PCM-601ES A/D converter, Sony Beta VCR, transferred in the digital domain to Panasonic 3700 DAT recorder

Besides the usual suspects like Pavarotti, Bocelli, I think it was this performance that truly moved me on Ave Maria. Andre Rieu concert from a few years ago.

André Rieu & Mirusia - Ave Maria - YouTube

 

[a.wayne]

Awesome , thou i do fine Ave Maria needs a really big 10hz pipe organ to sound right ..

 

[TheOctopus]

Awesome , thou i do fine Ave Maria needs a really big 10hz pipe organ to sound right ..

Pretty sure a 10Hz wave is 112 ft so one needs a room of at least the size of a half-length or 56 ft long to reproduce 10Hz if the rest of the system is up to it. That kind of performance is really reserved for live music.

 

[a.wayne]

Not quite try a 1/4 , 32-34 ft will get you there ...

If you can find a copy of Dave Wilson’s recording of the San Francisco , Grace Cathedral and choir he captures their mighty organ perfectly...


Regards

 

[TheOctopus]

Not quite try a 1/4 , 32-34 ft will get you there ...

If you can find a copy of Dave Wilson’s recording of the San Francisco , Grace Cathedral and choir he captures their mighty organ perfectly...


Regards

Not the topic of this thread but it is a half-wave that is needed to reproduce low frequencies accurately. Length of Sound Waves & Wavelengths In Our Rooms – Acoustic Fields

Wilson Audiophile recordings are available on Qobuz. I have 19 of them in Roon. It is a magnificent recording but my system is not capable of reproducing the low energy of that recording. The headphones do get me further and it is a splendid recording.

 

[TheOctopus]

If someone is curious as to how headphones can produce better bass than a main system How Do Headphones Produce Bass Frequencies? | zZounds Music Blog

It is not without our physiological trickery built into us... "Your eardrums themselves don’t react much to frequencies lower than about 80 Hz, but your brain can perceive frequencies all the way down to 20 Hz, because those low sub-bass frequencies resonate in your body cavities like your chest and stomach — and the bones of the skull."

 

[TheOctopus]

Speaking of Grace Cathedral of San Francisco, quite the appropriate place to unleash the lowest, deepest and most impressive low frequencies and the power of an organ.

Its dimensions are Overall, Grace Cathedral is 329 ft (100 m) long, 162 ft (49 m) wide at the transepts, with a central spire ( flèche) rising 247 ft (75 m) above street level. The towers are 174 ft (53 m) above street level.

Although listed as Opus 910A of Ernest M. Skinner, America’s greatest organ designer of the early 1900s, the Alexander organ was largely designed by Englishman G. Donald Harrison (1889-1956). One of Aeolian-Skinner’s first major organs in the West, it was one of the earliest and finest examples of what Harrison dubbed the “American classic organ”. Balancing Baroque and orchestral sounds by using a broad mix of pipes and stops, the American classic organ could accommodate the eclectic repertoire of church music that developed in the early 20th century, while also expressing the brighter and more crisp sounds of earlier styles.

When built, the organ had five divisions: Choir, Great, Swell, Solo and Pedal, and 6,077 pipes, and a 20-horsepower blower in the crypt of the Cathedral. Thanks to the sustained interest and generosity of Harrison and his successor Joseph S. Whiteford, additions and minor tonal alterations were made in 1952 and 1956, raising the total to 7,286 pipes.

Nick Bowden plays Bach "Sinfonia" from Cantata No. 29 at Grace Cathedral - YouTube

 

[a.wayne]

Not the topic of this thread but it is a half-wave that is needed to reproduce low frequencies accurately. Length of Sound Waves & Wavelengths In Our Rooms – Acoustic Fields

Wilson Audiophile recordings are available on Qobuz. I have 19 of them in Roon. It is a magnificent recording but my system is not capable of reproducing the low energy of that recording. The headphones do get me further and it is a splendid recording.

Ok , but we are talking Organs, research wave lengths thru pipes , organs with a 32 ft pipe will produce a 15hz wave , also pipe diameter makes a difference to not only magnitude but length required ..


Regards

 

[TheOctopus]

Ok , but we are talking Organs, research wave lengths thru pipes , organs with a 32 ft pipe will produce a 15hz wave , also pipe diameter makes a difference to not only magnitude but length required ..


Regards

I was talking about low frequency wavelength in listening rooms as my initial comment. It is one thing to "listen" to a live organ and a totally another issue trying to recreate it in one's listening room. :lol:

By the way, I don't know how some audiophiles insist they can recreate a live performance from their rooms/systems.... Well, if they are capable of reaching 4Hz, like the German Cathedral with its 128' stop and actually registering on a nearby/local earthquake detector/seismometer... Well, then I guess they can. But I'd love to see that system and room...


For Organ Fans, this recording is one of my absolute favorites. Sit back, pour a drink, dim the lights and crank it up a bit...