Composer: Matthew ErpeldingDetailsFormat: Mixed Choir - 4 voicesVoicing: SATBIncidental Divisi: S, A, T, BAccompaniment: unaccompaniedNotation: standardPerformance Length: 5:30 Study Scores & Audio FilesStudy Score & Audio Texts & TranslationsLanguage(s): EnglishText Source: Sarah May: The RoseText: I've never had a rose; I've never known that sweet and heady fragrance, floating free upon the lazy breeze, and softly flown - I've never known how lovely it can be. O, true, I've heard the tales, wondrous told, the songs and rhymes that paint the shining air and too, the doting stories, far of old that paint each petal bright and light and fair. A thousand songs and stories bless it grace and beauty - soft as skin, as warm as light - so someday, blossom fair, show me your face and light and gold will overflow my sight; be mine, o fragrant star! - I'd love a rose. Such sweetness in no earthly garden grows. Programming AidsPerformance Difficulty: difficultSeasonal Usage: SpringDescriptive Terms: flowersbeautyyearningAllow Excerpts: Composition is a single movementComposer’s Notes: In 2005, Illinois high school senior Sarah May won her high school’s fine arts poetry contest with her entry, “The Rose.” Written in a traditional English sonnet form, the poem speaks of beauty through the timeless symbol of a rose. The poem expresses the author’s yearning for an idealized, immaculate aesthetic experience for one shining moment in her life, implying that, as yet such beauty has never before been experienced. Without a deep analysis, the opening of the sonnet seems dark and bitter, as the lack of beauty perceived is punctuated by vivid descriptions of the rose itself. However, the overarching theme of the poem eventually reveals itself with one poignant word: “someday.” The text reads: “So someday, blossom fair, show me your face.” With two sweet syllables, the poet speaks not of hope, but of inevitability - there will be a day when beauty is present. The greatest irony is that the poem itself is of the highest artistic value, a work of such oblivious splendor that it does not even realize that it itself is the rose. Additional InformationDate of Completion: January, 2008Date of First Performance: Monday, May 12, 2008Premier Performance Data: Boylan High School Concert Choir (Matthew Erpelding, cond), St. Peter's Cathedral, Rockford, IllinoisAdditional Performances: May 18, 2017: Cocalico High School Choralaires (Kristen Diehl, cond), Cocalico High School, Denver, Pennsylvania
