Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway is a song written and composed by

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

in 1850. This song is written in the style of a

parlor ballad Parlour music is a type of popular music which, as the name suggests, is intended to be performed in the parlours of houses, usually by amateur singers and pianists. Disseminated as sheet music, its heyday came in the 19th century, as a result of ...

– a genre of popular song at the time intended to be performed at a slow tempo and to communicate a sentimental quality.

Description

Stephen Foster's "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!" is different from Foster's minstrel songs of the same period. This song is an example of a parlor ballad. This ballad may have roots in the Anglo-Scots-Irish song tradition. Foster's "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!" is similar to Irish musician

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

's "

The Last Rose of Summer "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 ...

The song begins with a piano introduction. The first vocal line of "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!" begins on a high note that is held with a

fermata A fermata (; "from ''fermare'', to stay, or stop"; also known as a hold, pause, colloquially a birdseye or cyclops eye, or as a grand pause when placed on a note or a rest) is a symbol of musical notation indicating that the note should be ...

. Music historians have postulated that this may give the setting an image of stalling the passage of time. Foster has placed additional fermatas throughout the song, possibly with similar effects in mind. Also of interest is Foster's use of the marking ad lib in several places in the song. This flexibility allotted to the singer is atypical from Foster's usual preference of precise, literally exact note for note, interpretations. Thus, the ad lib designation was scarcely used by Foster and can, in fact, be found in only two of the composer's previous songs: "Mary Loves the Flowers" (1850) and " Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (1854). Foster may have anticipated that the publication of his parlor songs helped to improve his notoriety, but the ballads did not generate the hoped-for income when compared to his minstrel songs. Foster recorded that "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!" had earned $8.12 in royalties over a seven-year period in his ledger. As a result, Foster concentrated more on minstrel songs, which returned ten times more than parlor songs. Foster did return to writing parlor songs in 1860, most notably " Beautiful Dreamer," published in 1864 just after the composer's death. While not as well known as many of Foster's other popular tunes, the song features prominently in arranger Robert Russell Bennett's ''A Commemoration Symphony - "Stephen Foster"''- the first three movements are purely orchestral, but the four-part chorus appears in grandeur in movement IV (Allegro Quasi Recitativo) with "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway." The arrangement retains all of Foster's fermatas from the printed edition, which lends it both rubato and the sense of timelessness described above.

Lyrics

Ah! may the red

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

live alway,
To smile upon earth and sky!
Why should the beautiful ever weep?
Why should the beautiful die?
Lending a charm to every ray
That falls on her cheeks of light,
Giving the zephyr kiss for kiss,
And nursing the dew-drop bright --
Ah! may the red rose live alway,
To smile upon earth and sky!
Why should the beautiful ever weep?
Why should the beautiful die?'' Long may the daisies dance the field,
Frolicking far and near!
Why should the innocent hide their heads?
Why should the innocent fear?
Spreading their petals in mute delight
When morn in its radiance breaks,
Keeping a floral festival
Till the night-loving primrose wakes --
Long may the daisies dance the field,
Frolicking far and near!
Why should the innocent hide their heads?
Why should the innocent fear? Lulled be the

dirge A dirge ( la, dirige, naenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as would be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegi ...

in the cypress bough,
That tells of departed flowers!
Ah! that the

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

's gilded wing
Fluttered in evergreen bowers!
Sad is my heart for the blighted plants --
Its pleasures are aye as brief --
They bloom at the young year's joyful call,
And fade with the autumn leaf:
Ah! may the red rose live alway,
To smile upon earth and sky!
Why should the beautiful ever weep?
Why should the beautiful die?

Notable Performances

*''A Commemoration Symphony - "Stephen Foster."'' Arranged and orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett; The

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an America ...

; The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh;

William Steinberg William Steinberg (Cologne, August 1, 1899New York City, May 16, 1978) was a German-American conductor. Biography Steinberg was born Hans Wilhelm Steinberg in Cologne, Germany. He displayed early talent as a violinist, pianist, and composer, ...

, conductor. Everest LPBR 6063, 1960. LP *"Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway." On ''Beautiful dreamer: Robert White sings Stephen Foster.'' Robert White, tenor;

National Philharmonic Orchestra The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was creat ...

; Charles Gerhardt, conductor. RCA Red Seal RCD1-5853, 1986. CD *"Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway." On ''Songs Of Stephen Foster''.

Jan DeGaetani Jan (Janice) DeGaetani (July 10, 1933 – September 15, 1989) was an American mezzo-soprano known for her performances of contemporary classical vocal compositions. DeGaetani was born in Massillon, Ohio. Educated at The Juilliard School with ...

(mezzo-soprano), Leslie Guinn (bass),

Gilbert Kalish Gilbert Kalish (born July 2, 1935) is an American pianist. He was born in New York and studied with Leonard Shure, Julius Hereford and Isabelle Vengerova. He was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a pioneering new music gro ...

(piano). Electra Nonesuch 9 79158-2, 1987. CD *"Ah! May the Red Rose Live Always." On ''Beautiful Dreamer: Songs Of Stephen Foster''.

Suzy Boggus Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

, vocals. American Roots Publishing 591594-2, 2004. CD *"Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway." On ''Ashokan Farewell/Beautiful Dreamer: Songs Of Stephen Foster''.

Thomas Hampson Thomas Walter Hampson (born June 28, 1955) is an American lyric baritone, a classical singer who has appeared world-wide in major opera houses and concert halls and made over 170 musical recordings. Hampson's operatic repertoire spans a range ...

(tenor),

Jay Ungar Jay Ungar (born November 14, 1946) is an American folk musician and composer. Life and career Ungar was born in the Bronx, New York City. He frequented Greenwich Village music venues during his formative period in the 1960s. In the late 1960s, ...

(violin), David Alpher (piano). Classics For Pleasure 0946 3 82225 2 1, 2007. CD

Archived content

Archived copies of the published work is available.

References

{{authority control 1850 songs American folk songs Songs written by Stephen Foster

Description

Lyrics

Notable Performances

Archived content

See also

References