The Song of the Rose
“The Song of the
Rose” is an exuberant setting of an anonymous 15th century poem in a
modern translation by Brian Stone. The
simple strophic structure of the poem is mirrored in music that is punctuated
by an increasingly insistent refrain: “Of
a rose, of a lovely rose, of a rose is all my song”. The carol dates from 1970, when it originally
appeared as a supplement in The Musical Times.
© Christopher Brown
2011