Ann Fontanella plays the transcription of Schubert's Ave Maria. The Sir Walter Scott poem "The Lady of the Lake" inspired Schubert's composition. This work describes a fictional struggle in the sixteenth-century between several Scottish Highland clans, some loyal to King James V of Scotland, and some not. The beautiful young heroine, Ellen Douglas, is forced to hide out in a mountain cave, along with her father, James Douglas. In that cave, she sings a song, "Hymn to the Virgin", a prayer to the Virgin Mary for help and comfort. The words of the poem play along with the music. Schubert composed his version to the German interpretation of the poem, but I use the original English version above.
Ave Maria was later adapted to the Latin prayer Ave Maria written in the 11th century