Great Soprano: Amelita Galli-Curci - The Last Rose of Summer 1927

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Amelita Galli-Curci -- Soprano. Piano accomp. by Homer Samuels -- Last Rose Of Summer (Moore) HMV (Recorded originally for Victor, USA 1927; re-pressed in UK by HMV)

NOTE - taken from two interesting comments of Youtubers, I found while browsing through Galli-Curci's presentations in YT, in search for the date of this particular recording.

" By 1927 Amelita Galli-Curci was long past her fabulous prime. Like Callas, Farrar, Moffa her heavenly voice could not stand the pressures of a long career (...) Galli-Curci recorded this song about four times, two acoustic and two electric recordings. In the acoustic recordings her voice is in better shape, particularly at the end, but in the electric (especially this one), the unique timbre of her voice shines through. In any case, hardly anyone else sang the song with such beauty, although Patti and Sembrich come close. The tenor Kenneth McKellar also made a fine recording of the piece".

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Today, we have in Poland the celebration of All Sous' Day. On the contrary to Anglo-Saxon tradition of arranging on that night the street-ball with crowds of guised people celebrating the night of Samhain - the ancient Druidic god of the death - in Poland the 31 Oct - 1 Nov are days of the prayer and remembering of the the dead dear ones, as well as the trustful contemplation. According to the Christian belief, the moment of death is not merely the end -- but it also means the beginning of the new life in God. Lovely last days of the Indian summer add to the unique atmosphere of that evening. All over Poland, myriads of shining lamps and candles twinkle among the dry yellow leaves on thepaths and graves, creating huge orange -red gleam in the sky over the cemetries.... Therefore, this film with its music and a poem is dedicated to all who are gone away from us -- althouhg they always dwell in our hearts and loving memory... until, we all will meet again... )

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LAST ROSE OF SUMMER (T. Moore)

'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?

"Last Rose of Summer" is a poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore, who was a friend of Byron and Shelley. Moore wrote it in 1805 while at Jenkinstown Park in County Kilkenny, Ireland. John Stevenson set the poem to its widely known melody, which was published in 1813.