The last rose of summer (Wytze Oostenbrug)
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- (Posted 2024-05-06) CPDL #80524:
- Editor: Wytze Oostenbrug (submitted 2024-05-06). Score information: A4, 4 pages, 252 kB Copyright: CPDL
- Edition notes: This is the 3rd of 5 english folksongs.
General Information
Title: The last rose of summer
Composer: Wytze Oostenbrug
Lyricist: Thomas Moore
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Folksong
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
First published: 2024
Description: "The Last Rose of Summer" is a poem by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. He wrote it in 1805, while staying at Jenkinstown Castle in County Kilkenny, Ireland, where he was said to have been inspired by a specimen of Rosa 'Old Blush'.
The poem is set to a traditional tune called "Aisling an Óigfhear", or "The Young Man's Dream",[2] which was transcribed by Edward Bunting in 1792, based on a performance by harper Denis Hempson (Donnchadh Ó hAmhsaigh) at the Belfast Harp Festival.[3] The poem and the tune together were published in December 1813 in volume 5 of Thomas Moore's A Selection of Irish Melodies. The original piano accompaniment was written by John Andrew Stevenson, several other arrangements followed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The poem is now probably at least as well known in its song form as in the original.
External websites:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Rose_of_Summer
- composers website: https://wytzeoostenbrugmuziek.com/folksongs/
- playing score and audio: https://youtu.be/eIUEce6V4Bo
Original text and translations
English text
3. The last rose of summer
Irish Traditional — Lyrics: Thomas Moore (1805)
'Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes, or give sigh for sigh.
I'll leave thee, thou lone one, to pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping, go sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly I scatter thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where the mates of the garden lie scentless and dead.
So soon may I follow when friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle the gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered and fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit this bleak world alone?