tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post2080960236771365892..comments2024-03-26T07:58:59.761+00:00Comments on I'll think of something later: Not faded and goneDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-68073450822189314012011-03-23T00:29:58.979+00:002011-03-23T00:29:58.979+00:00Thanks for that very extraordinary perspective, wa...Thanks for that very extraordinary perspective, wanderer, and yes, only five minutes ago as I locked up my bike I was thinking, crumbs, my ma really is 80 - some physical frailty, but the memory is excellent and the will to enjoy as strong (and tiring!) as ever. 102, though - that's some way to go (not 'way to go', that bizarre Americanism I just don't get).<br /><br />Anyway your advice has at last been taken; we had a Sunday to treasure, and I learnt things about my parents before I was born from their godchildren and niece I certainly didn't know before.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-8939245044031223912011-03-22T22:16:02.474+00:002011-03-22T22:16:02.474+00:00I belong to the RA gap club and have found this po...I belong to the RA gap club and have found this post particularly personal and touching as this was song (Joan of course, the big lush orchestral version and the big lushy voice) I chose to begin my mother's funeral service, just one year ago to this day. She was a Doyle from a Kevin from Maynooth, and yes she was called Bessie, the youngest of six. At 102 she was indeed the last. Treasure your mother's birthdays David, not that you need to be told.wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08196036534397389760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-50798219350811996572011-03-22T17:03:35.084+00:002011-03-22T17:03:35.084+00:00The Emperor of Japan sits on the Chrysanthemum Thr...The Emperor of Japan sits on the Chrysanthemum Throne...... (I seem to remember a large gold crysanthemum motive on the front of each of the Rolls Royces in the Imperial Service) So the transition to chrysanthemum in the Japanese version of The Last Rose of Summer has an additional poignancyDavid Damantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-57273556208852975942011-03-21T23:13:30.215+00:002011-03-21T23:13:30.215+00:00Thinking of your plight and so many others, Elizab...Thinking of your plight and so many others, Elizabeth, I find the last four lines of that extraordinary poem even more remarkable, bearing in mind that Moore didn't live long after the last of his five children had died. Despite Bessy as his one remaining comfort, he declared he was sinking into a vegetable existence, and after some kind of stroke spent the last three years in a helpless state, barely recognising anyone. And so, at the end of a poem which if you read it carefully is about putting the poor old last rose out of its misery:<br /><br />When true hearts lie wither'd,<br />And fond ones are flown, <br />Oh! Who would inhabit<br />This bleak world alone!Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-63540978317704266182011-03-21T20:13:30.375+00:002011-03-21T20:13:30.375+00:00My one encounter live with "The Last Rose&quo...My one encounter live with "The Last Rose" was as part of a rare performance of Martha starring Victoria de los Angeles.<br /><br />It was not a happy occasion for her, her last Metropolitan Opera engagement and a poor substitute for Louise that she had really wanted. But she was a trouper and sang it very beautifully indeed, with that pure glowing sound for which she was so well known.Willhttp://designerblog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-27695093816862105882011-03-21T19:41:23.774+00:002011-03-21T19:41:23.774+00:00"All her lovely companions are faded and gone..."All her lovely companions are faded and gone..."<br />Beautiful, and especially moving to me right now.<br />Thanks for sharing this. I'd love to hear other interpretations of his music! Perhaps now contemporary singers will revisit it.Elizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11889294120616809157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-48043782941995333102011-03-21T12:56:10.360+00:002011-03-21T12:56:10.360+00:00Yes, he is, and no, he won't.Yes, he is, and no, he won't.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-81760790680274240892011-03-21T12:52:15.813+00:002011-03-21T12:52:15.813+00:00Who IS that handsome Irish-looking gentleman, anyw...Who IS that handsome Irish-looking gentleman, anyway? Is he yours and won't he let you say?Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-59432047340382532152011-03-21T11:06:39.908+00:002011-03-21T11:06:39.908+00:00Yes, David, you are right.
The Japanese for '...Yes, David, you are right.<br /><br />The Japanese for 'chrysanthemum' is simply 'kiku' and 'white chrysanthemum' is pronounced as 'shira-giku.' Because of alteration of the flower, the Japanese version of "The Last Rose" had turned into an elegy for leaving autumn.Shin-ichi Numabehttp://numabe.exblog.jpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-6267227744963605452011-03-21T10:16:06.008+00:002011-03-21T10:16:06.008+00:00Fascinating, Shin-ichi: only made possible by the ...Fascinating, Shin-ichi: only made possible by the fact that the Japanese for 'chrysanthemum' is less of a golden mouthful than ours...Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-71998488384024455592011-03-21T02:22:21.650+00:002011-03-21T02:22:21.650+00:00"The Last Rose of Summer" has been a lon..."The Last Rose of Summer" has been a long-time favourite also in Japan. The song was first introduced as early as 1884 in a music textbook for primary schools. In those days rose flowers were rather unfamiliar for Japanese, so the name of the flower in the lyrics had to be changed to 'chrysanthemum.'<br /><br />Japanese text, titled "Niwa no chigusa" goes as follows:<br /><br />Weeds in the garden and the chirps of insects<br />Have been disappeared eventually.<br />Oh, white chrysanthemum, white chrysanthemum!<br />It blooms alone behind the times.<br />...Shin-ichi Numabehttp://numabe.exblog.jpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-22215772737454145752011-03-20T22:50:35.493+00:002011-03-20T22:50:35.493+00:00Kind of you, RA, not to point out that some of it ...Kind of you, RA, not to point out that some of it must have made no sense whatever when you read it: just back at the end of an exhausting week, which has included helping my ma to celebrate her 80th birthday in style, and the brain was addled. Still not certain it's much more lucid, but it was time I tried to write something about the Moore events...<br /><br />Anyway, I'm not sure if that many supposedly musical folk know exactly Moore's role in 'The Last Rose' vis a vis the way the music and the words work together. The situation is confused by the fact that sometimes TM also wrote the music.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14506881804082382739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1248503935075362425.post-46893035407978866132011-03-20T21:21:14.986+00:002011-03-20T21:21:14.986+00:00Among many other interesting bits in this post, it...Among many other interesting bits in this post, it was fun to listen to the "Last Roses" side-by-side. While I've known the song forever, I'd never known who wrote it! (More evidence that my musical knowledge is mostly made of gaps.)Susan Scheid (Raining Acorns)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02827286681242730183noreply@blogger.com