Song of the Rose - simplified version for string orchestra (Grade 2.5)

Premiere performance: https://youtu.be/ZaeCk8HuG5g?si=enwR1VaOoPPsm4H6

In Oscar Wilde’s 1888 short story “The Nightingale and the Rose” a nightingale seeks the rose a young man needs to win his sweetheart’s favor. The bush, damaged by cold weather, tells her the only way: “you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with your own heart's-blood. You must sing to me with your breast against a thorn. All night long you must sing to me, and the thorn must pierce your heart, and your life-blood must flow into my veins, and become mine.” The three iterations of the melody represent the three verses Wilde describes: sweet new love, the awakening of passion, and finally, love in death, concluding with “one last burst of music,” as Wilde writes, sacrificing her life for art, beauty, and love—all themes highly valued by Wilde himself.

"Song of the Rose" was originally written for clarinet and piano, and was premiered in 1999 by Army Band MSG Marty Gold, who was Stahl's classmate at University of Florida at the time. In 2021 it was recorded by Gainesville Orchestra principal trombone Dr. Jemmie Robertson and his University of Florida colleague Dr. Jasmin Arakawa on the album Red Dragonfly, and was also performed at the International Trombone Festival by the UF trombone choir that same year. This simplified version for string orchestra, supported by Victor Rivera and Joshua Weathers, is suitable for young players and is rewritten from the original to use quarter notes rather than eighth notes as the moving note.

Scoring: violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello, string bass

Difficulty level: 2.5 (Easy, but has some accidentals)