Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, CBE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was a British classical musician and academic, best known for his tenure as director of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, between 1974 and 1982 and as director of Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1982 until his retirement in 2001. He was also a composer of choral music and an organist.
Ledger was born in Bexhill-on-Sea in 1937 and educated at King's College, Cambridge. His appointment as master of the music at Chelmsford Cathedral in 1961 made him the youngest cathedral organist in the country. In 1965 he took up the directorate of music at the University of East Anglia, where he was also dean of the School of Fine Arts and Music and responsible for the establishment of an award-winning building for the University’s Music Centre, opened in 1973.
In 1968, Ledger became an artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, conducting at the Snape Maltings on many occasions including the opening concert after its rebuilding, and playing in first performances of works by Britten. He worked regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra during this period. He was director of music at King's College, Cambridge from 1974 to 1982, and conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society from 1973 to 1982. During his years in Cambridge, he directed the Choir of King’s College in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, made an extensive range of recordings and took the choir to the United States, Australia, and Japan for the first time. Ledger was subsequently principal of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama from 1982 to 2001.
Also known as the Ave Maria (Latin) or Angelic Salutation, the Hail Mary is a traditional Christian prayer asking for the intervention of the Blessed Mother in the lives of individuals on Earth. In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, a similar prayer is used in formal liturgies, both in Greek and in translations. It is also used by many other groups within the Catholic tradition of Christianity including Anglicans, Independent Catholics, and Old Catholics. Some Protestant denominations, such as Lutherans, also make use of a form of the prayer.
Based on the greeting of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in the Gospel of Luke, the prayer takes different forms in various traditions. It has often been set to music, although the most famous musical expression of the words Ave Maria — that by Franz Schubert — does not actually contain the Hail Mary prayer.
The prayer incorporates two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee," and "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." In mid-13th-century Western Europe the prayer consisted only of these words with the single addition of the name "Mary" after the word "Hail," as is evident from the commentary of Saint Thomas Aquinas on the prayer.
"Ellens dritter Gesang" ("Ellens Gesang III", D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6, 1825), in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.
It has become one of Schubert's most popular works, recorded by a wide variety and large number of singers, under the title of "Ave Maria", in arrangements with various lyrics which commonly differ from the original context of the poem. It was arranged in three versions for piano by Franz Liszt.
The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Third) from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation by Adam Storck (1780–1822), 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.
Ave Maria Press is a Roman Catholic publishing company which was founded in 1865 by Father Edward Sorin, a Holy Cross priest who had founded the University of Notre Dame.
Sorin founded the company in order to publish the Ave Maria magazine, a magazine focused on Catholic families, honoring The Virgin Mary, and showcasing Catholic writings. Sorin then made Sister Angela Gilespie, a nurse veteran of the Civil War, in charge. By 1900, Ave Maria was the largest English-language Catholic magazine worldwide. The magazine was started in 1865 and continued until 1970 when it was dropped due to decline in circulation. Ave Maria Press now focuses solely on the publishing of Catholic books.
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
Oo oo oo oo
Were taking over the station
Survivors of a different kind
Messages of old dimensions say that were wise
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
Oo oo oo oo
Sensations are out on parade now
Thoughts have ended up left behind
Going round in circles fighting hidden desires
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
The signals are there to read
It's never that hard to see
Stop wasting your time you will find
Natures not always kind
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
A ave Maria
A ave Maria