Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway

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's "The Last Rose of Summer". 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 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 in the cypress bough, That tells of departed flowers! Ah! that the butterfly'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 Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh; William Steinberg, 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; Charles Gerhardt, conductor. RCA Red Seal RCD1-5853, 1986. CD • "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway." On Songs Of Stephen Foster. Jan DeGaetani (mezzo-soprano), Leslie Guinn (bass), Gilbert Kalish (piano). Electra Nonesuch 9 79158-2, 1987. CD • "Ah! May the Red Rose Live Always." On Beautiful Dreamer: Songs Of Stephen Foster. Suzy Bogguss, 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 (tenor), Jay Ungar (violin), David Alpher (piano). Classics For Pleasure 0946 3 82225 2 1, 2007. CD ==Archived content==

Archived copies of the published work is available. ==See also==