«Ave Maris Stella»
The earliest reference to Ave Maris Stella is to be found in a letter written by Christian Lahusen on March 27, 1947. By then he had come a long way in terms of his spiritual and musical development. Lahusen based his compositions on truly wonderful texts, texts to which he clearly felt whole-hearted affinity as a human being and in which the Mother of God often symbolizes God's aspect of compassion and love, always inclinated to the humble ones and to those who are open to the spiritual dimension of existence. Many of these settings are among the most intimate of the works he left to posterity.
Furthermore, Lahusen's decision to compose «Ave Maria Stella» was triggered by his refreshing contacts with the Benedictine nuns who had re-opened the big convent school near Überlingen under extremely difficult conditions in May 1946.