Classical The following is an incomplete selection of "theme and variations" created during the 19th and 20th centuries. •
Ludwig van Beethoven used "The Last Rose of Summer" twice: • as no. 6 "Sad and Luckless was the Season" in volume 2 of his
Irish Songs, WoO 153 (written 1814, published 1816) • as no. 4 of his
Six National Airs with Variations, Op. 105 for flute and piano (composed 1818, published 1819) •
Ferdinand Ries: ''Grand sestetto ... in which is introduced the admired air 'The Last Rose Summer''', Op. 100, for string quartet, double bass, piano (1819) •
Friedrich Kalkbrenner:
Eighth Fantasia for the piano forte in which is introduced a favourite Irish melody, Op. 50, for piano (1821) •
Charles Bochsa:
Fantaisie et variations sur un air favori irlandais, for harp (1822) •
Mauro Giuliani: No. 2 of
Six Airs irlandois nationales variés, Op. 125, for guitar (c.1825) •
Ignaz Moscheles:
The Recollections of Ireland, Op. 69, for piano and orchestra (1826) •
Felix Mendelssohn: ''Fantasia on 'The Last Rose of Summer''', Op. 15, for piano (c.1827) •
Jean-Louis Tulou:
Souvenir anglais, Op. 51, for 2 flutes and piano (1828) •
Friedrich Kuhlau:
Variations on an Irish Folksong, Op. 105, for flute and piano (1829) •
Kaspar Kummer:
Des Sommers letzte Rose, no. 6 in:
Transcriptionen über beliebte Themen, Op. 57, for 2 flutes (1829) •
Auguste Franchomme:
Variations sur des thèmes russes et écossais, Op. 6 (1835) •
Henri Herz:
The Last Rose of Summer, Op. 159, for piano (1842) •
William Vincent Wallace:
The Last Rose of Summer (1846) •
Friedrich von Flotow: aria "Letzte Rose" in the opera
Martha (1847) •
Charles Mayer:
La Dernière rose. Fantaisie variée, for piano (mid-1840s) •
Mikhail Glinka:
Theme ecossais varie based on the Irish tune 'The Last Rose of Summer', for piano (1847) •
Joachim Raff:
The Last Rose of Summer. La Dernière rose. Impromptu, Op. 46, for piano (1849) • :
Des Sommers letzte Rose, Op. 141 no. 3, for mixed choir (1850) •
Brinley Richards:
The Last Rose of Summer, Op. 45, for piano (1853) •
Charles Oberthür: ''Fantaisie brillante, on motives of Flotow's Martha, introducing the air 'The Last Rose of Summer''', Op. 116, for harp (1854) •
Sigismond Thalberg:
The Last Rose of Summer. Air irlandais varié, Op. 73, for piano (1857) •
Jean-Chrisostome Hess: ''La Dernière rose d'été''. Rêverie, Op. 66, for piano (1860) •
Henri Vieuxtemps: No. 5 of
Bouquet Américain, Op. 33 ("Dernière rose de l'été"), for violin and piano (1860) •
Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: No. 6 of
Sechs mehrstimmige Etüden (Six Polyphonic Studies): Variations on 'The Last Rose of Summer', for violin solo (1865) •
Joseph O'Kelly:
La Dernière rose; no. 6 of
Les Soirées enfantines, 2nd series, versions for piano solo and 4-hands (1866) •
Jules Danbé:
La Dernière rose. Mélodie irlandaise, fantaisie, for violin and piano (1870) •
Charles Gounod:
The Last Rose of Summer, for mixed choir (1873) •
Dudley Buck:
The Last Rose of Summer, Op. 59; introduction, theme, and variations for organ (1877) •
Sydney Smith:
The Last Rose of Summer. Paraphrase de concert, Op. 173, for piano (c.1880) •
Félix Godefroid: ''La Dernière rose d'été''. Mélodie irlandaise, for harp (1891) •
Max Reger: ''Vierstimmiger Kanon über das Lied 'Letzte Rose''', for piano (1903) •
Paul Hindemith alluded to both words and music in his ''On Hearing 'The Last Rose of Summer'
, part of Nine English Songs'' (1944) •
Benjamin Britten: no. 9 of ''Folksong Arrangements, vol. 4: Moore's Irish Melodies'' (1958) •
Jörg Widmann:
The Last Rose of Summer. A Farewell Song for viola and small orchestra (2023)
Popular • In Japan, the melody is widely known as the song , meaning "The Plants in the Garden". The poem was adapted by Tadashi Satomi (1824–1886) and published as part of
Primary School Songbooks (Volume III) in 1884 by the
Japanese Education Ministry. •
Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album
On the Sentimental Side (1962). •
Nina Simone covered it on her album
Broadway-Blues-Ballads (1964). •
Mary O'Hara sang it, and accompanied herself on harp, on her album of the same name (1965). • A Swedish language poem "Vid Roines strand" by
Zacharias Topelius has several times been recorded with this tune, among others by
Hootenanny Singers in 1966. •
Judas Priest recorded a song entitled "Last Rose of Summer" on their 1977 album
Sin After Sin. Written by
Rob Halford and
Glenn Tipton, the song is all about "unyielding love". •
Clannad released a rendition of "The Last Rose of Summer" on their 1980 album
Crann Úll. • The poem is alluded to in the
Grateful Dead song "Black Muddy River", which is sung to the original tune, on their 1987 album
In the Dark. •
Sarah Brightman recorded "The Last Rose of Summer" for her 1988 album
The Trees They Grow So High. •
Tom Waits included a song entitled "The Last Rose of Summer" on his 1993 album
The Black Rider, based on the eponymous stage production by Waits,
Robert Wilson (director) and
William S. Burroughs. In it, the singer talks about the petals of his "favourite rose" being shrouded "in shadows dark and long". The song ends with the lines: "I can be found in the garden singing this song / When the last rose of summer is gone". •
Charlotte Church recorded "The Last Rose of Summer" on her 1999 album
Charlotte Church. • The
Irish Tenors covered the song on their 2000 CD/DVD release
Live in Belfast. • It is sung in the musical group
Celtic Woman by
Méav Ní Mhaolchatha and
Hayley Westenra.
Chloë Agnew's solo version is recorded on her 2002 album
Chloë. Ní Mhaolchatha's solo version is included in her 2006
A Celtic Journey album. In the 2007
Celtic Woman: A New Journey tours, Agnew sang duets with Ní Mhaolchatha, Westenra, and the vocalist-guitarist of the same group,
Lynn Hilary. •
James Galway:
Over the Sea to Skye – The Celtic Connection, James Galway & The Chieftains (2009). • In 2010,
Fionnuala Sherry of the
New Instrumental duo
Secret Garden released a version of the song titled "The Last Rose" on her solo debut album
Songs From Before. •
Laura Wright recorded a version, featured on her album
The Last Rose (2011). •
Kanye West refers to the poem in his song
Blood on the Leaves on his album
Yeezus wherein the rapper writes, "That summer night holdin' long and long, 'din long Now waiting for the summer rose and (breathe)" (2013). •
Anna Meredith recorded a version as "Last Rose" featured on her album "
Varmints" (2016). •
Gintaras Januševičius uses the melody (with its Irish title "Aislean an Oigfear") as the opening of his 2019 narrative recital programme "
The New Colossus". The programme is dedicated to people who built New York and their stories. The melody is included as a tribute to Irish people. Januševičius then uses attacca to go into the next piece – "L'isle Joyeuse" by
Claude Debussy. ==Literary allusions==