October 1st, 2016

Premiered at the 808 Gallery in Boston, MA (live recording below)

Sarah Brailey, soprano & cellist
(arrangement exists also for mezzo and bass)
5′

Boston Musical Intelligencer

PROGRAM NOTE

“The Last Rose” is a setting of Thomas Moore’s poem “The Last Rose of Summer” that serves as a commentary on how certain uses of social media, the internet, and texting can make humans feel even lonelier than before this technology was invented. Many thanks to amazing soprano/cellist Sarah Brailey for making this happen, and to the Lorelei Ensemble for programming it. 

TEXT

‘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 not 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 thy 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?